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-15863

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-15493

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the Independent Living Fund (ILF) Scotland 2015 Fund will open to new applicants.

Question reference: S6W-15500

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what specific steps it is taking to engage with Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) people to meet the target of recruiting 4% BME teachers in schools by 2030, as recommended in the report, Teaching in a diverse Scotland: increasing and retaining minority ethnic teachers.

The Scottish Government is clear that the continued under-representation of minority ethnic teachers, at all levels, is unacceptable and requires continued action. Through our Diversity in the Teaching Profession and Education Workforce (DITPEW) working group we are taking a range of specific steps - all of which are predicated on engagement with minority ethnic people with anti racist and educational expertise - to meet the 4% target. These include:

Appointing 2 minority ethnic, senior education professionals to co-chair the DITPEW working group and drive forward Professor Arshad's recommendations. DITPEW working group members also have lived experience of racism, professional experience in education and in developing anti-racist practice.
Working with the General Teaching Council for Scotland to develop the new National Race Diversity Lead post which is supported by SG funding in 2022-24. It sees the postholder working across local authorities, regional improvement collaboratives and schools, to facilitate increased racial diversity within the teaching profession.
Working with Dr Khadija Mohammed, Associate Dean of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at University of the West of Scotland in the development of an anti-racist framework for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers. The framework's aim is to ensure that minority ethnic ITE students have an anti-racist experience from initial application stage through to becoming a newly qualified teacher.
Working with minority ethnic teachers to deliver sessions through the Developing the Young Workforce Live platform, aimed at encouraging minority ethnic children and young people to consider teaching as a career.

Key to informing the development and delivery of these ambitions is the annual Scottish Government Diversity in the Teaching Profession Data report, which will be published at the end of March.

Question reference: S6W-15639

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 10 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it plans to achieve full compliance with the Aarhus Convention.

The Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (“ACCC”) has previously welcomed significant progress made by Scotland in addressing the concerns identified by the ACCC. In response to decision VII/8s, issued by the ACCC in October 2021, the UK submitted an action plan to the ACCC on 1 July 2022. Work is in progress in relation to the areas of concern raised by the ACCC in order to strengthen Scotland’s compliance. The Scottish Government has now introduced an exemption from court fees for Aarhus Convention cases in the Court of Session. The Scottish Civil Justice Council is undertaking a review of court rules relating to Protective Expenses Orders, and this is currently underway. Policy development is ongoing in relation to a new Human Rights Bill, which is to include a human right to a healthy environment. The Scottish Government is committed to introducing legislation to reform legal aid in the course of the current Parliament. This work is informed by ongoing engagement with stakeholders. The deadline for addressing areas of concern set out in the Action Plan is October 2024. The Scottish Government is committed to strengthening compliance with the requirements of the Aarhus Convention.

Question reference: S6W-15467

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people it currently directly employs are paid at least £10.90 an hour or an equivalent salary.

Question reference: S6W-15494

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what commitments have been made by (a) the First Minister or (b) any other minister in relation to the Independent Living Fund, when any such commitments were made, and whether they have been delivered.

(a) In 2014, the Deputy First Minister committed to re-opening the Fund and provided £5.5 million per annum to enable ILF to re-open to new applicants for the first time since 2010.Through an extensive process of co-production, the ILF Scotland Transition Fund was developed as an alternative to re-opening the 2015 Fund. The Transition Fund was designed to support young disabled people with the transition to adult life. This entirely new fund opened to applications in December 2017.

(b) The Cabinet Secretary wrote to the ILF Scotland Board on 16 December 2022, 26 January 2023 and 27 February 2023 stating his support for ILF Scotland but indicating that re-opening the 2015 Fund could only progress when affordability and sustainability could be assured.

The Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care wrote to the Chair of ILF Scotland’s Advisory Group on 23 January 2023 stating that he remains committed to re-opening the 2015 Fund but is unable to do so due to financial constraints.

Question reference: S6W-15491

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any funding reserves in relation to the Independent Living Fund.

Question reference: S6W-15502

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the (a) Diffley Partnership report, Understanding Scotland – Economy, published in February 2023 and (b) finding that healthcare and the NHS were top priorities for survey respondents.

The Scottish Government notes the findings from the Diffley Partnership report on Understanding Scotland - Economy.

The survey shows that Healthcare and the NHS has remained a high priority for survey respondents in recent years and has now overtaken the Cost of Living / Inflation as the top priority.

Improving access to healthcare is a key priority for this government. Our 2023-24 Scottish Health Budget provides record funding of over £19 billion, providing new investment of over £1 billion and supporting recovery and reform to secure sustainable public services.

Question reference: S6W-15474

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when any remaining funding will be released to local authorities to allow them to fulfil the Scottish National Party manifesto commitment to issue every pupil in Scotland with an electronic device.

We are committed to ensuring that every school-aged child has access to a device to support their learning by the end of this parliament in 2026.

We have already provided £25m to local authorities, which supported the purchase of 72,000 devices and 14,000 internet connections for school children across Scotland.

The Capital Spending Review, published May 2022, set out high level spending plans for capital and provided an indicative allocation of £140 million to support the rollout of digital devices.

The budget published in December 2022 allocated £13 million budget for 2023/24. We will continue to develop delivery plans in partnership with Cosla and local authorities, including phasing and funding options for this commitment.

Question reference: S6W-15492

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 10 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many new applications have been made to the Independent Living Fund in each year since 2015.

As the inherited Independent Living Fund (2015 Fund) is a closed scheme, no new applications have been made since 2015. The following provides information on the number of applications to ILF Scotland’s Transition Fund since launch in December 2017.

Year	Number of Transition Fund Applications
2017-18	128
2018-19	831
2019-20	1,337
2020-21	1,828
2021-22	2,276
2022-23	2,870
Note: 2017-18 and 2022-23 are part years. Full year estimate for 2022-23 is in excess of 3,000