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: S6O-03494

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to restart the GP Sustainability Loan Scheme, including by what date it expects to restart the scheme.

Question reference: S6W-27067

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 1 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to reopening a Scottish Development International office in Taiwan.

Question reference: S6W-26879

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to use the Medium Term Financial Strategy to provide clarity on its commitment to introduce multi-year funding for the voluntary sector in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-26880

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it will utilise the Medium Term Financial Strategy to progress its commitment to Fairer Funding by 2026, beyond multi-year funding.

Question reference: S6W-26878

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to use the Medium Term Financial Strategy to ensure greater certainty and security for the voluntary sector in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-03387

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has followed the advice issued by the Information Commissioner's Office regarding appropriate governance and controls for the use of children’s Scottish Candidate Numbers for research in the education system.

Question reference: S6W-26428

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 17 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that its new Renters' Rights Campaign reaches older private renters, in light of the recently published report, Homing in: How to improve the lives of older renters in Scotland, by Independent Age, which found that only 30% of older renters feel fully informed of their housing rights.

The Scottish Government's Renters' Rights campaign ran from 27 February to 26 March 2024, aiming to increase awareness of both new and existing rights for all private tenants in Scotland.

We worked collaboratively with public and third sector partners to disseminate the campaign information, enabling them to reach minority audiences, specialist groups and those who are less likely to be online. This included the Older People’s Strategic Advisory Forum (OPSAF), who represent the following organisations: Age Scotland, Generations Working Together, LGBT Age Project, Outside the Box, We are Hourglass, Independent Age, Scottish Trades Union Congress, The Scottish Older People’s Assembly, Faith in Older People, LGBT Health and Wellbeing, Glasgow Disability Alliance and Minority Ethnic Carers of People Programme.

Renters’ Rights information was also directly provided to Citizens Advice Bureaux, Crisis, Living Rent, Property Mark, Scottish Landlords, Scottish Land and Estates, UK Finance, Poverty Alliance, Generation Rent, the Scottish Property Federation, the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland, Local Authorities, NHS Health Boards, Social Security Scotland and third sector equality partners such as BEMIS and CEMVO.

It is vitally important that all tenants, including older renters, are aware of the strong rights and protections available to them and we will continue to identify opportunities and work with a range of key partners in order to continue to raise awareness.

Question reference: S6W-26018

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 20 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the policy proposal to remove the Disclosure Scotland fee waiver for volunteers in qualifying voluntary organisations and replace this with a fee discount, what its position is on whether such a proposal reflects its commitment to volunteering through the Volunteering Action Plan.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Disclosure Scotland is consulting on how disclosure fees could be discounted in future. No decisions have been made on this. The consultation response from stakeholders and the public will help to shape decisions by Scottish Ministers. Since 2011, Disclosure Scotland has fully subsidised qualifying voluntary organisations to get free PVG disclosures for volunteers. Reviewing the policy on fee waivers and discounts helps to ensure the effective use of public finances and the potential impact of any changes, whilst providing an effective public service.

Wider Scottish Government initiatives and guidance, including the Volunteering Action Plan and the Scottish Public Finance Manual, form part of the consideration given to any changes to fees policy at Disclosure Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-24899

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 26 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is promoting traditional building practices training in Edinburgh, in light of reports that the City of Edinburgh Council considers that the Archorfield tenement on Lindsay Road "carries a high risk of structural failure that could pose significant health and safety risk to residents and public both inside and outside the property", and of Edinburgh College's reported decision to cease delivering stonemasonry apprenticeship training.

Historic Environment Scotland continues to champion traditional skills and is working with stakeholders across the country to address traditional skills gaps to help ensure Scotland’s historic buildings can thrive as part of the country’s sustainable future.

Skills Development Scotland delivers careers information, advice and guidance in all state secondary schools, dedicated centres and community locations nationwide. Its all-age service empowers people from all communities to make their own learning and career decisions, based on the best available career intelligence.

Regarding the cessation of stonemasonry apprenticeship training at Edinburgh College, the then Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development and I met Historic Environment Scotland in recent months to discuss stonemasonry and we await their proposals to address the skills issues in the sector.

Question reference: S6O-03134

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 February 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to provide access to life skills programmes for disabled young people.