Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S7W-01053

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 13 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many youth workers (a) were employed in 2016 and b) are currently employed.

Youth work falls within the scope of The Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013. This regulation, in effect, requires local authorities to identify need and plan provision of Community Learning and Development (CLD) in their areas.

As the regulatory requirements for CLD are placed with education authorities, the Scottish Government does not collate information on youth workers.

The independent review of Community Learning and Development (Learning: For All. For Life.) report was published in July 2024 and recommended that the CLD Standards Council should lead on work to develop a CLD Workforce Plan.

The CLD Standards Council have established a working group with representation across the CLD sector to progress the recommendation and have also undertaken a National CLD Workforce Survey which will provide more detailed information on the youth work workforce.

Question reference: S7W-01050

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 13 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many local authority-operated youth a) clubs and b) centres were in operation on 1 April 2016 and how many are currently in operation.

As the regulatory requirements for Community Learning and Development are placed with education authorities, the Scottish Government does not collate this information.

Question reference: S7W-01049

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 13 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many reports of vandalism by under-18s have been recorded in each local authority area, in each of the last five years.

The Scottish Government published the annual Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2025-26 statistical bulletin on 23 June 2026. The publication provides information on crimes and offences recorded by the police across Scotland, including breakdowns by crime type and local authority area. Supporting tables published alongside the bulletin include local authority-level data for a range of crime categories, including vandalism.

While data on crimes of vandalism recorded by the police is available at local authority level, the published statistics do not include information on the ages of suspected perpetrators. Although age breakdowns are available for some crime types through other statistical publications, equivalent data is not published for vandalism. Consequently, it is not possible to identify from these statistics the number of vandalism incidents involving individuals under the age of 18.

The statistics show that vandalism has fallen substantially over the longer term. More generally, recorded crimes of damage and reckless behaviour—of which vandalism accounts for the majority—are now at their lowest level since 1976.

The member may wish to contact Police Scotland, who may be able to provide further information. They can be contacted at: [email protected].Postal requests should be addressed to: FOI - Information Management, Police Scotland, Clyde Gateway, 2 French Street, Glasgow, G40 4EH.

Question reference: S7W-01052

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 13 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how many local authority-operated youth a) clubs and b) centres have permanently closed since 1 April 2016.

Question reference: S7W-01012

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 10 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many level 2 complaints have been made against teachers in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S7W-01044

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 10 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to schools on responding to incidents involving knives.

Question reference: S7W-01013

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 10 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers have been suspended from teaching in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S7W-01015

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 10 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers have been dismissed in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S7W-01631

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect and strengthen additional learning provision for deaf children and young people, including access to specialist teachers, communication support and other educational services, in light of reported concerns regarding reductions in local authority resources and any potential impact on educational outcomes.

Question reference: S7W-01040

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kirsten Oswald on 9 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to businesses affected by persistent youth disorder and vandalism.

I deplore any instances of disorder and vandalism and would urge any business affected by such behaviour to report it to Police Scotland.

We are aware of collaborative approaches being adopted by partners including a number of local authorities and Police Scotland to address issues in town centres and other communities.

The Scottish Government supports these efforts through record funding for local government and Police Scotland, helping to ensure that local agencies have the resources they need to respond to community concerns and support businesses affected by crime and antisocial behaviour.