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 30623 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-00971

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 12 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will carry out a consultation on its proposed Land Reform Bill.

Question reference: S6W-01086

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many school clothing grant payments have been made since the scheme was introduced, broken down by local authority area.

Information about number of school clothing grants issued by local authorities has been recorded centrally through the Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics returns since the 2017-18 financial year. Information about the number of school clothing grants paid by local authorities prior to 2017-18 is not held centrally.

The number of school clothing grants issued in each local authority since 2017-18 is contained within the following table:

Local Authority	Number of School Clothing Grants Issued
	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20

Aberdeen City	2,401	2,728	3,373
Aberdeenshire	2,731	2,820	3,259
Angus	2,340	2,640	2,680
Argyll and Bute	1,345	1,456	1,672
Clackmannanshire	1,107	1,191	1,207
Dumfries and Galloway	2,769	2,904	3,522
Dundee City	6,628	6,512	6,690
East Ayrshire	4,421	4,764	4,780
East Dunbartonshire	2,109	2,475	2,260
East Lothian	990	1,110	1,573
East Renfrewshire	1,997	2,072	2,019
Edinburgh, City of	4,913	5,776	6,072
Eilean Siar (Western Isles)	403	493	449
Falkirk	3,850	4,562	4,980
Fife	12,890	13,197	13,526
Glasgow City	28,953	29,747	32,115
Highland	3,744	4,090	4,265
Inverclyde	2,298	2,354	2,983
Midlothian	1,873	1,855	2,236
Moray	1,315	1,366	1,342
North Ayrshire	5,400	6,079	6,077
North Lanarkshire	9,997	10,902	10,852
Orkney Islands	205	244	243
Perth and Kinross	1,133	1,325	1,826
Renfrewshire	5,625	6,147	6,293
Scottish Borders	2,488	2,480	2,408
Shetland Islands	307	392	434
South Ayrshire	3,092	3,358	3,380
South Lanarkshire	9,860	11,845	11,999
Stirling	1,505	1,829	1,820
West Dunbartonshire	4,577	4,329	4,099
West Lothian	6,338	6,226	7,151

These statistical returns are also available on the Scottish Government’s website which are contained within the following web links.

The number of school clothing grants issued by local authorities in the 2019-20 financial year is available on workbook 2019-20 LFR 01 - Education, within cell reference number G50 on each local authority tab: Scottish local government finance statistics (SLGFS) 2019-20: workbooks - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The number of school clothing grants issued by local authorities in the 2018-19 financial year is available on workbook 2018-19 LFR 01, within cell reference number G55 on each local authority tab: Scottish local government finance statistics (SLGFS) 2018-19: workbooks - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The number of school clothing grants issued by local authorities in the 2017-18 financial year is available on workbook 2017-18 LFR 01 revised, within cell reference number G55 on each local authority tab: Scottish local government finance statistics 2017-18: workbooks - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-01087

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much the school clothing grant has increased by since it was introduced, broken down by local authority area.

In May 2018, we reached a joint agreement with local authorities to set the school clothing grant at a national minimum level of £100 per eligible child or young person.

The following table provides information about the value of school clothing grants provided by local authorities in 2017-18, the year before the national minimum school clothing grant was introduced, in comparison to the amounts paid for the 2020-21 school year.

In June 2021 we reached an agreement with local authorities to increase the national minimum school clothing grant level further. The new national minimum level has been set at £120 for each eligible child in primary school and £150 for each eligible young person in secondary school for the 2021-22 school year. Information about the value of school clothing grants set by local authorities for 2021-22 is not held centrally.

Local Authority	Value of School Clothing Grant
	2017-18	2020-21	Increase (£)

Aberdeen City	£60	£100	+£40
Aberdeenshire	£50	£100	+£50
Angus	£50	£100	+£50
Argyll and Bute	£50	£100	+£50
Clackmannanshire	£55	£100	+£45
Dumfries and Galloway	£80	£134	+£54
Dundee City	£100	£100	£0
East Ayrshire	£100	£120	+£20
East Dunbartonshire	£50	£100	+£50
East Lothian	£60	£100	+£40
East Renfrewshire	£75	£100	+£25
Edinburgh, City of	£50	£100	+£50
Eilean Siar (Western Isles)	£65	£100	+£35
Falkirk	£50	£120	+£70
Fife	£55	£100	+£45
Glasgow City	£70	£110	+£40
Highland	£90	£140	+£50
Inverclyde	£90	£145	+£55
Midlothian	£65	£100	+£35
Moray	£45	£100	+£55
North Ayrshire	£40	£100	+£60
North Lanarkshire	£70	£110	+£40
Orkney Islands	£56	£100	+£44
Perth and Kinross	£50	£100	+£50
Renfrewshire	£70	£100	+£30
Scottish Borders	£70	£100	+£30
Shetland Islands	£70	£100	+£30
South Ayrshire	£75	£110	+£35
South Lanarkshire	£75	£100	+£25
Stirling	£50	£130	+£80
West Dunbartonshire	£100	£100	£0
West Lothian	£110 (£94 primary)	£135 (£125 primary)	+£25 (sec.) +£31 (pri.)

Question reference: S6W-00984

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 12 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what projects it is supporting at the Hunterston PARC site in North Ayrshire (a) as part of the Ayrshire Growth Deal and (b) by any other means.

The Ayrshire Growth Deal, signed in November 2019, includes a commitment from the Scottish Government of £103 million investment over the next 10 years ensuring the long term inclusive growth for Ayrshire. The UK Government will match this funding, and regional partners will contribute £45.5 million to a total Deal worth £251.5 million.

Hunterston Port and Resource Centre (PARC) will receive £18m investment from UK Government as part of the Deal. The Sottish Government are not contributing to the funding of this project, which has been selected by regional partners.

Scottish Enterprise have been working with Peel Ports to examine the opportunities at Hunterston PARC, focussing on Oil and Gas Decommissioning, Offshore Wind and Liquified Natural Gas. Following an assessment of these opportunities, Scottish Enterprise approved a contribution of £10 million towards a £30 million project to reconstruct the dry dock cassion gates and develop a new quayside serving the marine yard.

Question reference: S6W-01396

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 July 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will announce the outcome of the NHS National Services Scotland procurement exercise for mesh removal services.

I am pleased to confirm that the procurement exercise for mesh removal services outside of the NHS has now concluded and I can today announce that there have been two contracts awarded: one to Spire Healthcare in Bristol and the other to Mercy Hospital in St Louis, Missouri. The contracts are expected to start later this Summer and are subject to agreement of, and compliance with, the terms specified by NHS National Services Scotland (NHS NSS).

These additional services will complement the Complex Pelvic Mesh Removal Service already established in NHS Scotland and, alongside the option of referral to NHS England Centres, are intended to allow everyone affected by transvaginal mesh complications choice over where their treatment and care is delivered.

The procurement exercise has been undertaken in line with NHS NSS’s standard commissioning procedures, with quality of care and patient safety of paramount importance.

The Scottish Government is absolutely determined to do everything in its power to help those impacted by mesh complications and I hope that today’s announcement will be welcome news to those so badly affected.

Question reference: S6W-01351

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-01156

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many pupils have been expelled from school in each academic year since 2017-18.

There were three cases of pupils being 'removed from the register' of their school in 2018-19. When this occurs a pupil does not return to their original school and will be educated at another school or in some other educational provision.

More statistics on exclusions from school can be found in the following publication: https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-exclusion-statistics/

Information on exclusions is not available for 2017-18 or 2019-20 as this data is collected biennially. Information on exclusions in 2020-21 has yet to be collected.

Question reference: S6W-00922

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 9 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to move any of its civil service jobs from (a) Edinburgh and (b) Glasgow to other parts of the country.

A number civil service jobs in the Scottish Government and associated Agencies and bodies are already undertaken outwith Edinburgh and Glasgow. For example, Social Security Scotland has an office in Dundee, Scottish Public Pension Agency and Accountant in Bankruptcy are based in Galashiels and Kilwinning respectively, and the Scottish Prison Service and Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service have a number of locations across Scotland.

Working from home remains the default position for the majority of Scottish Government staff during the pandemic. As noted in the Strategic Framework published on 22 June 2021, there will be a phased return to more office working from Level 0 onwards but with continued support for working from home where possible and appropriate. Once the easing of restrictions allows more staff to return to buildings, our expectation is that we will introduce a hybrid working model which will enable Scottish Government staff, where the role allows, to have more flexibility in their work location across Scotland and include a mix of home and office working.

In March 2021, the Scottish Government’s Population Strategy recognised that these changes to working norms may offer new opportunities to support civil servants who wish to live and work in locations outside of Edinburgh and Glasgow. As part of this, the Scottish Government committed to actively considering its workplace footprint and exploring the opportunities of distributing its workforce in greater detail. This work is in its early stages. However, as a first step, the Scottish Government will be piloting local hubs outside of Edinburgh and Glasgow so that staff can work at office locations closer to their home.

Question reference: S6W-00960

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale is for implementing a ban on domestic coal use.

Question reference: S6W-00832

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to open an office of the Climate Change Committee.