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 48520 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-04357

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the pay deal reportedly agreed between the RMT trade union and Abellio ScotRail, whether it will instruct Serco Caledonian Sleeper to negotiate a pay deal for its workers that (a) provides parity with the pay deal agreed for ScotRail workers and (b) is not contingent on any efficiency measures being put in place.

The pay deal between the RMT and Abellio ScotRail was rightly negotiated between the operator and staff representatives, and the same applies to Serco Caledonian Sleepers Limited (SCSL) and the RMT.

Scotland’s railway faces significant financial challenges and it is only right that discussions around efficiencies, addressing ideas both from the business and the union, should form part of the dialogue around funding a pay deal.

We understand that, following discussions, SCSL made a pay offer which RMT’s Scottish leadership had confirmed would be acceptable. It is disappointing that the pay offer was then rejected, not least because when considered with the pay increase already awarded last year, the combined rate was as good as or better than any other deal for train operating company staff in the rail industry.

Question reference: S6W-04420

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payments have been made in each year since the scheme was established.

Social Security Scotland routinely publish information as part of the quarterly Official Statistics release ‘Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods’. This includes information on the value of payments issued for Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payments each month.

Number and value of Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payments issued, by year

	Number of payments issued	Value of payments issued
2018-19 (10 th December to 31 st March)	10,675	£4,072,200
2019-20	15,875	£6,638,100
2020-21	16,315	£6,942,600
2021-22 (1 st April to 31 st August)	7,755	£3,238,914

*NOTE: The Pregnancy and Baby Payment provides eligible families with £606 for a first child and £303 for any subsequent children. Prior to 1 April 2021, the value of the payment was £600 for a first child and £300 for a subsequent child.

The latest Official Statistics, covering the period from 10 December 2018 to
‎ 31 August 2021, were last published on the 26 October 2021 and are available from:

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/best-start-grant-and-best-start-foods-high-level-statistics-to-31-august-2021

Question reference: S6W-04494

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many farmers have received support through the Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme since 2018.

To ask the Scottish Government how many farmers have received support through the Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme since 2018

Claim year	Number of businesses that received a LFASS payment in an individual claim year
2018	11,057
2019	10,890
2020	10,827

Between 2018 and 2020, 11,654 unique businesses received a payment

The Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) provides essential income support to farming businesses in remote and constrained rural areas.

Funding is used to:

allow farmers and crofters to continue to operate as viable businesses
avoid the risk of land abandonment
help maintain the countryside by ensuring continued agricultural land use
maintain and promote sustainable farming systems
Applications are submitted yearly via the Single Application Form

Question reference: S6W-04288

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when the Victim Surcharge Fund is due to open its next round of funding applications from victims groups.

The Victim Surcharge Fund is opened for applications from victim support organisations once sufficient money has accumulated to enable a viable exercise, which in turn is dependent on the number and value of fines imposed by the courts.

The Scottish Government will reopen the Victim Surcharge Fund for applications from victim support organisations to allow funding to be allocated during the 2021-22 financial year.

The funds distributed will depend on the amount that has accumulated in the Fund and the level of successful applications received.

Question reference: S6W-04306

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many recorded incidents of bicycle theft there have been in the Inverclyde Council area in each year since 2016.

Question reference: S6W-04305

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been provided in the current financial year to police divisions that operate in rural areas for the purpose of tackling (a) sheep theft and (b) rural crime.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

This year the Scottish Government has increased funding for policing in Scotland by £75.5 million to more than £1.3 billion. The allocation of these resources across policing priorities is a matter for the Scottish Police Authority and the Chief Constable to determine.

People living in Scotland’s rural areas are less likely to be a victim of crime now than a decade ago, as detailed in the 2019-20 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey. Over three-quarters (76%) of those living in rural areas believed that the local crime rate had been stable or fallen in the previous two years.

The Scottish Government will continue to bear down on crime in Scotland, through protecting police budgets as well as through substantial investment in preventative programmes.

Question reference: S6W-04201

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any pharmacy that has failed to notify the relevant NHS board of its closure in the last year.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on any community pharmacy that has failed to notify the NHS Board of a closure in the last 12 months. The provision of community pharmacy pharmaceutical care services are the responsibility of territorial Health Boards as set out in the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009, including pharmacy closures.

Any challenges faced by community pharmacies in ensuring the safe and effective dispensing of treatments, should be discussed with the local Health Board to minimise impact and risk to patients.

Question reference: S6W-04303

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) reported incidents of, (b) prosecutions for and (c) convictions for wildlife crime there have been in each of the last five years.

(a) The latest available information for Recorded crime data is for the financial year 2020-21 and is presented in the following table:

Wildlife crime Recorded by Police Scotland, 2016-17 to 2020-21

Financial year	Total
2016-17	231
2017-18	236
2018-19	171
2019-20	198
2020-21	308

Source: Recorded Crime in Scotland National Statistics Dataset

(b)(c) The latest available information for criminal proceedings is for the financial year 2019-20 and is presented in the following table:

People proceeded against in Scottish courts for wildlife crimes, where main charge, 2015-16 to 2019-20

Financial year	Total prosecuted	Total convicted
2015-16	25	20
2016-17	23	22
2017-18	29	25
2018-19	15	10
2019-20	12	11

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

The statistics dealing with recorded crime and court proceedings are not directly comparable for a number of reasons. Recorded crime statistics count crimes and offences at the time that they came to the attention of Police Scotland while criminal proceedings statistics report on cases which have concluded in court. This means that a crime may be recorded by the police in one year and court proceedings concluded in a subsequent year. In addition, a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime, or a set of crimes with more than one victim, in a proceeding, but only the main charge is counted in these court proceedings statistics. There is also the possibility that the crime recorded by the police may be altered in the course of judicial proceedings. Crimes and offences alleged to have been committed by children under 16 years old are also generally dealt with through the children’s hearings system rather than through the courts.

Question reference: S6W-04124

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when ScotRail’s response to the public consultation on the Fit For the Future proposals will be published.

Question reference: S6W-03889

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS staff who are eligible for their COVID-19 booster vaccine have received this dose, and by what date all NHS staff will have received their COVID-19 booster vaccine.

Booster vaccinations in Scotland started as soon as possible once the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided their advice on boosters, which stated that the booster dose should be offered no earlier than six months after completion of the primary vaccine course, however there is some flexibility to offer a booster vaccination to the most vulnerable groups after five months.

1,342,841 people have received a booster or 3rd dose to Friday 19 November, and we are working as quickly as we can, prioritising those most vulnerable.

Data on boosters by JCVI priority group is not yet published. We continue to work closely with Public Health Scotland to develop the vaccination data to provide robust statistics that enhance public understanding.

Financial year	Number of crimes
2016-17	26
2017-18	21
2018-19	6
2019-20	19
2020-21	15