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: S6W-18364

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many GP surgeries there are; what percentage of those have dedicated mental health professionals, and how many (a) additional mental health professionals in GP surgeries have been recruited under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 and (b) mental health professionals in total are based in GP surgeries, as of 1 May 2023.

There were 905 general practices in Scotland at 1 April 2023( General practice list size and demographics information - General practice data - General practice - Our areas of work - Public Health Scotland ).

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the percentage of general practices with dedicated mental health professionals; or on the total number of mental health professionals based in GP surgeries.

However, at 31 st March 2022, nearly 80% of GP practices across Scotland had access to a Mental Health Worker under either the Primary Care Improvement Fund (PCIF) and/or Action 15. Under Action 15, an additional 958.9 whole time equivalent (WTE) mental health roles had been filled by the end of the commitment in March 2022, including 356.1 WTE posts in GP practices. The final Action 15 figures up to 01 April 2022, were published on 12 July 2022 ( Mental health workers: quarterly performance reports - gov.scot(www.gov.scot).

We have allocated over £107 million since 2018-19 to enable recruitment to these posts and will continue to provide the necessary funding to ensure that these posts are protected in 2022-23 and beyond.

Under the PCIF, a total of 259.9 WTE mental health workers had been recruited at March 2022 ( Primary Care Improvement Plans: Summary of Implementation Progress at March 2022 ). PCIF data to March 2023 will be published in summer 2023.

There are also mental health professionals directly employed by general practices in addition to those employed under the PCIF and Action 15. These professionals are not separately identifiable within the published GP in-hours workforce survey results . We expect numbers to be relatively small.

Question reference: S6W-18178

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported comments from NASUWT that the Scottish Government has failed to tackle serious violence and abuse from pupils in schools.

As I highlighted in a recent parliamentary debate and at the NASUWT conference last month, I am determined that teachers and school staff are supported to deal with challenging behaviours in our schools.

Any incidents of violence or abuse towards anyone are completely unacceptable and the safety of our children, young people and staff at school is of paramount importance.

We have produced guidance for local authorities and schools to promote positive relationships and manage behaviour, including de-escalation of violent behaviour. We are also investing £2 million of funding to support violence prevention activities within schools and communities.

We are currently gathering evidence that will help us better understand the extent of behavioural issues at a national level through our Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research, which started in February.

We will use this research and engagement with stakeholders, including the Scottish Advisory Group for Relationships and Behaviour in Schools, to inform the development of further future policy, guidance and support for schools and school staff.

And as I recently announced, I will also convene a summit bringing together partners and stakeholders to discuss relationships and behaviour in schools and focussing on practical support at classroom, school and local level.

Question reference: S6W-18184

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported findings that the attainment gap among primary school children in South Lanarkshire has increased by a third during 2020-21.

Question reference: S6W-18179

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has issued sanctions to any local authorities that have not achieved the pupil teacher ratio since it was established.

Question reference: S6W-18230

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that global temperatures are likely to break the key 1.5C warming limit within the next four years.

The stark warning from the World Meteorological Organisation that global temperatures will temporarily breach 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming during the next five years means that we will experience increased intensity and frequency of heatwaves, flooding, wildfires, supply chain disruption and storm events here in Scotland. This underlines why it is more important than ever that we take lasting action to secure a net zero and climate resilient future in a way that is fair and just for everyone.

We are making progress on reducing our domestic emissions through delivery of our updated Climate Change Plan. The latest data show our emissions are down by over 50% since the 1990 baseline, over halfway to net zero. The hardest part of the journey is ahead of us, as we need to halve our emissions again by 2030, and we can only achieve this through collaboration. The Scottish Government is currently in the process of developing our next draft Climate Change Plan on emissions reduction, alongside three sectoral Just Transition Plans, on Transport, Buildings and Construction, and Land Use and Agriculture. We will also be taking account of consultation responses to revise the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan to deliver a just transition to net zero in the energy sector.

Alongside this, we are continuing to deliver over 170 policies and proposals in the current Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme, the Scottish Government is also now developing the next programme. Public consultation is anticipated for the start of 2024 with the aim of publishing a final statutory programme in Autumn 2024. While progress is being made, we acknowledge that more needs to be done.

Scotland cannot act with credibility here at home if we are blind to the fact that the impacts of climate change and a transition to net zero are not felt equally – that those who have done the least to contribute to the climate crisis are impacted first and worse by it. Developed countries like Scotland have a moral responsibility to support developing countries to help secure a global transition in a way that is fair and just. Through the Climate Justice Fund, Scottish Government will meet this responsibility through continuing to lead international advocacy for climate justice and action on loss and damage.

Question reference: S6W-18285

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can confirm how many sewage discharge points there are along the River (a) Don and (b) Dee; when these monitors were last monitored, and what assessment was made of them.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water I have asked them to respond. Their answer is:

The number of sewage discharge points for each river, including its tributaries, is:

River Don - 42 Wastewater Treatment Works and 99 discharge points
River Dee - 26 Wastewater Treatment Works and 69 discharge points

SEPA's licencing conditions do not currently require Scottish Water to report discharge data at these locations.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) publishes river water quality data on their website at: www.sepa.org.uk/data-visualisation/water-classification-hub. SEPA currently classifies waterbodies in the River Dee catchment as 92% at good or better water quality and the River Don catchment as 84% at good or better water quality.

Question reference: S6W-18551

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last evaluated the pathway into educational psychology.

The Scottish Government and COSLA agreed a joint funding model in 2018 to support the training of new Educational Psychologists. This model was agreed and developed by the National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychologists (NSSGEP). The NSSGEP is chaired by the Scottish Government and includes representation from professional bodies, ADES, COSLA and EIS.

The training programme is evaluated by Dundee University in several ways. A six-yearly cycle of periodic programme review is undertaken and was last completed in September 2021. This review concluded with a very positive evaluation of the training programme. The British Psychological Society re-accredits the programme every three years, and provided a positive evaluation in September 2021. The University also conducts an annual programme evaluation to ensure the training programme is meeting the needs of students and to make small improvements as required.

The Scottish Government and COSLA engage and work closely with our training and delivery partners to ensure that the training programme remains robust and sustainable.

Question reference: S6W-18569

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many referrals of cases to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have been made by Marine Scotland in each year since 2009.

Question reference: S6W-18533

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on its work to reduce teachers' class contact time.

We will continue to explore with the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) how we might progress this commitment which is, at least in part, linked to the commitment to recruit additional teachers. In doing so, we will need to be cognisant of financial sustainability given the requirement to fund the recent pay deal for teachers.

An update on timescales will be provided to the Scottish Parliament by the end of this session.

Question reference: S6W-18617

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many seal licences have been granted for "imperative reasons of overriding public interest, including those of a social or economic nature", and how many seals have been killed or taken by licence holders of this type, in each year for which data is available.

Year	Cases referred to COPFS
2009	No Data
2010	15
2011	18
2012	1
2013	10
2014	9
2015	17
2016	13
2017	27
2018	4
2019	11
2020	4
2021	1
2022	15
2023 to 7 June 23	3