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: S6T-01077

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that, during freezing temperatures in December, ambulances were called out to 800 people with hypothermia.

Question reference: S6W-13008

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 9 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the planned action in its Bairns’ Hoose project plan to "engage with key stakeholders to identify the potential number of Bairns' Hoose' required to ensure access for all children in line with our Programme for Government commitment", whether it has carried out this work, and, if so, what the required number is.

Scottish Government officials, in conjunction with the Chair of the National Bairns’ Hoose Governance Group, have carried out extensive engagement with key partners from across children’s services, health, justice, and the third sector. This includes Chief Officers’ Public Protection Groups (COGs), who will play a key role in the delivery of Bairns’ Hoose.

We are currently working with our partners to develop a phased approach to implementation of Bairns’ Hoose across Scotland, with a Pathfinder phase beginning in 2023. We will publish further information on our plans for delivery in the coming months.

The design and delivery of Bairns’ Hoose will be between partners at a local level and though local structures. It is anticipated that COGs will collaborate regionally, according to their needs and proximity to local resources, to identify the number of Bairns’ Hooses required in their area.

Bairns’ Hooses will build on the Scottish Child Interview Model for Joint Investigative Interviews, which is being introduced nationally from 2021 to 2024 and will be seen as the ‘justice room’ of the Bairns’ Hoose.

Question reference: S6W-13059

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 9 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-03423 by Kevin Stewart on 25 October 2021, what the Office of the Public Guardian in Scotland (OPG) backlog is of power of attorney applications from September 2021 to date, and what support it is offering OPG to address this backlog.

The latest available figure, as at 27 October 2022, there are 31,793 Power of Attorney (PoA) deeds awaiting registration.

For week commencing 6 September 2021 the Office of the Public Guardian in Scotland (OPG) were processing the following Power of Attorney applications:

Electronic (EPOAR) submissions received on 12 March 2021
Postal submissions received around 22 February 2021

For week commencing 19 December 2022, the Office of the Public Guardian in Scotland (OPG) were processing the following Power of Attorney applications:

Electronic (EPOAR) submissions received on 19 May 2022
Postal submissions received around 10 May 2022

There is an expedited system for more urgent applications.

Within the 2023-24 Budget, the Scottish Government has provided COVID recovery funding to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) totalling £26.8m which includes £0.3m for OPG recovery.

The Scottish Government has also provided additional capital funding to SCTS for 2023-24 including for the Office of the Public Guardian IT system

Question reference: S6W-13099

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 9 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it can provide that there will be an increase in childminding places by 2026.

Question reference: S6W-13101

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 9 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to reduce waiting lists for afterschool childcare.

The Scottish Government recognises the critical importance of school age childcare and the benefits it brings for the whole family. That is why we are committed to designing an all-year-round system of school age childcare, which will be funded for those families on the lowest incomes.

In early 2023, we will publish a School Age Childcare Framework setting out the approach and principles that will apply to design and build a robust system of school age childcare. In developing our future system, we are taking a place-based, person-centred approach to designing services and will work collaboratively with families, childcare providers, communities, and the wider public sector to build a system that meets their needs.

We are also developing and testing the role that organised children’s activities will play in a school age childcare system, alongside the regulated childcare sector, to support families, provide choice and improve access to these activities for children.

I recognise that, as with many areas of the economy, there are workforce challenges in the childcare sector which may be contributing to waiting lists for afterschool childcare. We are committed to working with the sector to address these.

I would also refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-13097 and S6W-13098 on 9 January 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at Questions and answers | Scottish Parliament Website.

Question reference: S6W-13100

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 9 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to private nurseries that cannot compete with salaries offered by local authorities.

The Scottish Government recognises the value and importance of providers in the private, third and childminding sectors in delivering 1140 hours of high quality funded Early Learning and Childcare.

That is why we have made the payment of sustainable rates - that reflect the cost of delivery and enable the payment of the Real Living Wage to those workers delivering funded ELC - by local authorities to services in the private, third and childminding sectors a central to our policy on Funding Follows the Child.

We also provide resources to support recruitment and retention to all parts of the sector. For example, we have invested over £11 million in creating over 1400 additional places on degree-level qualifications since 2017-18, offering opportunities for practitioners to train to fill manager-level positions.

However, it is important to recognise that the childcare market is a mixed economy and employers in the private and third sectors are responsible for making their own decisions about pay and conditions.

Question reference: S6W-13009

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 9 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many clients Social Security Scotland has referred to VoiceAbility advocacy service.

VoiceAbility has received a total of 673 referrals, leading to 463 people receiving the appropriate advocacy support when accessing and applying for Social Security Scotland benefits. Of those 673 referrals, 23 were directly referred by Social Security Scotland. This figure does not include support provided as a result of indirect referrals or signposting from Social Security Scotland, which cannot be quantified.

The advocacy service is independent from Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland. As such, VoiceAbility offer a number of direct referral routes including self-referral, being referred by a friend or family member or being referred by other support organisations.

Question reference: S6W-13066

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Supreme Court ruling on buffer zones surrounding abortion clinics in Northern Ireland, when it will introduce legislation to support the creation of similar zones in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-13010

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 9 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the process is for Social Security Scotland to refer clients to VoiceAbility advocacy service.

Question reference: S6W-13159

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 9 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what therapeutic support is available for people who have been adopted or fostered and their families.

Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) commits to providing all children, young people and their families with the right support at the right time, and where extra help is needed this can include a personalised child’s plan, which might contain therapeutic support, depending on the circumstances.

This year, we have also initiated a Whole Family Wellbeing programme of activity to help transform the delivery of holistic family support. This includes investing £32 million through Children’s Services Planning Partnerships and supporting them in driving this work at the local level. This is to ensure that all families, including adoptive and foster care families, can access support based on their needs, where and when they need it.

All local authorities have a legal duty to provide support to meet the needs of people who have been adopted and their families. We provided £128,000 this year for specific therapeutic support, namely to Adoption UK Scotland for the TESSA programme which provides therapeutic input for adoptive families, and to Health in Mind to run a Trauma Support Service for people affected by historical adoption practices, as well as implementing peer support for both groups and individuals.