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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 48973 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-26740

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many community children’s nurses are employed by NHS Scotland, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-26729

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 08 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much money would have been allocated to GPs through the GP Premises Sustainability Fund over the current financial year that will now not be allocated.

The Scottish Government did not allocate money to GP practices through the GP Premises Sustainability fund.

GP practices could apply for GP Sustainability Loans to their Health Boards. These were funded by the Scottish Government as and when loans were completed.

The GP Sustainability Loans scheme is currently paused while the Scottish Government reimburses Health Boards for loans that were completed in 2023-24. This is due to a greater than anticipated number of loans having completed last year.

Question reference: S6W-26479

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the size is of any backlog of cases that the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) has, and what the SPSO is doing to reduce any such backlog.

As of 18 April 2024, the SPSO had a backlog of 286 non-priority cases awaiting allocation and 0 priority cases awaiting allocation. Over the past two years, the timescales for cases requiring further investigation being allocated has reduced from 11 months to 4 months. This is despite a 33% increase in the number of complaints being received in 2023-24 when compared to 2022-23. The SPSO have received funding from the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body to recruit more staff to assist with continuing to reduce timescales. In addition, the SPSO continues to monitor resources and service delivery to make best use of their resources.

Question reference: S6W-26433

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many domestic abuse cases resulted in the accused receiving an absolute discharge in each of the last five years.

There is no single crime of domestic abuse. Instead domestic abuse can refer to any crime that carries a domestic abuse aggravator, which includes offences under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018. Data on people prosecuted and convicted in Scottish criminal courts are presented in the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland statistical bulletin. The most recent available version covers the financial years 2012-13 to 2021-22. People convicted where the main charge carried a domestic abuse aggravation and the main penalty was an absolute discharge are shown in the following table for the most recent five years for which data are available.

2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21 1	2021-22 1
157	131	108	78	131

1. Data for 2020-21 and 2021-22 were affected by the pandemic and subsequent court closures, reduced court capacities and delayed cases where key participants tested positive for COVID-19. Volumes for these years should be treated with caution and not considered indicative of longer term trends.

Question reference: S6W-26715

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the Bòrd na Gàidhlig will be ending its Gaelic Officers scheme as a result of the Scottish Government not providing an uplift in funding of £354,000 alongside the 2024-25 budget for the Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

Following the 2024-25 budget settlement, the Scottish Government reviewed a number of budget lines in Education and Skills. In relation to Gaelic the outcome of this review is that there will now be no reduction to the MG ALBA funding for 2024-25. There will also be no reduction of the Gaelic, Education and Culture budget line which would have had an impact on the funding of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Storlann and other organisations and the Scottish Government has now provided additional funding to enable Bòrd na Gidhlig to continue its support for the Gaelic Officers’ Scheme in 2024-25.

Question reference: S6W-26724

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish guidance for local authorities on bond calculations, inspections and approvals in relation to housebuilding, and whether it has discussed the adoption of a standardised approach toward bond calculations, inspections and approvals in relation to housebuilding with COSLA.

The Scottish Government is reviewing the Competition & Markets Authority’s ‘Housing Markets Study’ which was published on 28 February 2024. The report recommends consideration by the Scottish, Welsh and UK governments of standardised approaches to bond calculations, inspections, and approvals. We are considering the recommendations for Scotland and will respond in a way which respects the Verity House Agreement.

Question reference: S6W-26932

Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 April 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Shona Robison on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its commitment to pursue the devolution of powers for a Building Safety Levy in Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s 2023-24 Programme for Government announced that we would be seeking the devolution of powers to introduce a levy equivalent to the UK Government’s Building Safety Levy for England, the revenues from which will be used to provide funding for the Scottish Government’s Cladding Remediation Programme.

As the Scottish Parliament cannot legislate for a new national tax in Scotland without devolution of powers from the UK Parliament, the Scottish Government has formally requested the transfer of powers from the UK Government under Section 80B of the Scotland Act 1998.

To inform the UK Government’s decision on this request, the Scottish and UK Governments launched a joint consultation on 8 January. The consultation ran for eight weeks, from 8 January 2024 to 19 February 2024. Respondents were asked to provide evidence that devolving the power may impose a disproportionate negative impact on UK macroeconomic policy or impede the single UK market in housebuilding. They were also asked whether the powers for a Building Safety Levy in Scotland should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish and UK Governments agree that the consultation has surfaced no evidence to prevent the transfer of powers from proceeding. As such, the UK Government has confirmed that it will proceed to legislate for the transfer of powers. An Order in Council will now be subject to scrutiny in both the UK and Scottish Parliaments.

The Scottish Government has been clear that it will do what is right and necessary to fix the issue of unsafe cladding fully and from the outset. This is a significant step towards ensuring that the appropriate funding is in place to meet the associated costs of doing this.

In line with our New Deal for Business, the Scottish Government will now proceed to engage with the residential property development sector and wider stakeholders to ensure that the design and delivery of the Levy is informed by the widest possible range of views. Our approach to design and delivery of tax policy will also be guided by the principles set out in our Framework for Tax.

Question reference: S6W-26853

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking with its partners to support farmers in the North East Scotland region who are affected by accumulative heavy rainfall, which is reportedly damaging crops and having a potentially devastating impact on the lambing season.

We recognise the ongoing impact that adverse weather conditions are having on Scotland’s agricultural industry – conditions that are a direct result of climate change.

The poor weather conditions experienced in the early spring will be presenting challenges to farmers and crofters at the time of peak lambing and calving, and will be impacting the ability to sow crops. The Farm Advisory Service, funded by the Scottish Government, provides resources for farmers and crofters in responding to the wet weather this year.

The Farm Advisory Service is also signposting people towards the charity RSABI. RSABI provide practical, emotional and financial support to all people involved in the Scottish agricultural industry.

Question reference: S6W-26765

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to Sistema Scotland in the financial years (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25.

Question reference: S6W-26549

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will explore options to address the reported rise in van traffic, which "has risen faster than that of any other vehicle type in the past 20 years", in light of the Climate Change Committee’s recommendation in its 2023 Report to Parliament.

The Scottish Government is grateful for the latest advice from the Climate Change Committee and remains fully committed to delivering net zero by 2045. As published alongside the statement to the Chamber on the Climate Change Bill, we will develop measures to accelerate the switch from ICE to zero emission vans and other vehicles in order to help reduce ICE van kms, with the intention of achieving early progress with the largest companies while ensuring appropriate support mechanisms for smaller businesses and independent traders.

We will carefully consider the report’s recommendations in relation to van traffic and provide a response in due course.

Parliament dissolved ahead of election

Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Filter your results Hide all filters

Answer

Answer

Answer

Answer

Answer

Answer

Answer

Answer

Answer

Answer