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-31873

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 12 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of the provisions of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 that (a) regulate child welfare reporters and (b) aim to improve the system of advocacy for children.

Section 9 of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (the 2020 Act) requires the Scottish Ministers to establish a register of child welfare reporters. These may be appointed by the court in cases under section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (the key legislation on parental responsibilities and rights, contact and residence) to obtain the views of the child and report on the best interests of the child.

Section 21 of the 2020 Act places a duty on the Scottish Ministers to ensure the availability of child advocacy services in contact and residence cases.

The Scottish Government is taking action in these areas in advance of full implementation:

We have established a short-life working group on child welfare reporters that will inform further development of policy around the new register and consider how changes from a previous working group are working in practice. The first meeting of the working group took place on 20 November 2024. A note of that meeting will be published in due course.
In relation to child advocacy services in contact and residence cases, the Scottish Government will hold discussions with key stakeholders in 2025 on what they would like to see in this area.

Implementation of the 2020 Act was discussed at the meeting of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee of the Parliament on 10 December. The Scottish Government is considering commencing further sections of the 2020 Act in 2025.

Question reference: S6W-31879

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 12 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that its Biodiversity Investment Plan aligns with the aims of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill.

The Land Reform Bill seeks to place legal responsibilities on the owners of the very largest landholdings to set out how they use their land and how that contributes to key public policy priorities, such as addressing climate change and protecting and restoring nature. Landowners will be required to set out how they manage or intend to manage the land in ways which contribute towards net zero emissions targets, climate change adaptations and increasing or sustaining biodiversity.

Question reference: S6W-31856

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-20007 and S6W-20008 by Fiona Hyslop on 14 August 2023, whether ScotRail considers (a) climate and sustainability objectives and (b) the potential for greater modal shift when making operational decisions about service patterns and potential consumer demand, on services such as "Rail and Sail" tickets served by the Cairnryan-Belfast ferry route.

Question reference: S6W-31855

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-20007 and S6W-20008 by Fiona Hyslop on 14 August 2023, how many meetings have taken place between (a) ScotRail, (b) the Scottish Ministers and (c) Scottish Government officials and Stena Line since 1 April 2022, and whether any such meetings involved discussions regarding increased connectivity on the Cairnryan-Belfast ferry route.

Question reference: S6W-31799

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 12 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04899 by Kevin Stewart on 15 December 2021, how many inspections of care homes for adults have been carried out by the Care Inspectorate in each year since 2021, and how many of these were return inspections.

Inspections of care homes for adults and older people completed 2021-22 to 2024-25 (to date)

	Inspection year
	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25 (Apr24 - Oct24)
	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25 (Apr24 - Oct24)
Total number of inspections completed in care homes for adults and older people	848	1151	1034	583
of which: 'Return inspections' completed (i.e. number of second and subsequent inspections)	391	329	346	120

Source: end of year inspection data files 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24, and 31 October 2024 inspections completed files.

Note: the return inspections are a subset of the total number of inspections completed, not in addition to the total number.

Question reference: S6O-04139

Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking, including in discussion with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, to promote electrical safety over the Christmas period.

Question reference: S6O-04138

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what impact its recently announced hub for offshore wind will have on the renewables sector in north east Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-04143

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024, what progress it has made towards implementing mandatory food waste reporting by larger businesses.

Question reference: S6O-04137

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it remains committed to rolling out universal entitlement to free school meals for all primary school children within the current parliamentary session.

Question reference: S6O-04142

Asked by: James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how its draft Budget 2025-26 will support the growth of the Scottish economy.