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-34574

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding support is available in 2025-26 for Scottish cultural organisations seeking to tour across the UK.

The Scottish Government will provide an additional £20m to Creative Scotland for its Multi Year Funding programme in 2025-26. 193 of the 251 successful organisations that will be supported by Multi Year Funding are undertaking performances, exhibitions or events which include UK-wide tour dates.

Creative Scotland’s Open Fund for Organisations, with a total budget of £6m for 2025/26 funded by the National Lottery, will also allow applications from Scottish cultural organisations for UK tours of up to three venues.

The Scottish Government is also providing £4m additional funding for Scottish Festivals in 2025/26. This includes £3m to significantly increase the value and reach of our Festivals EXPO Fund, which supports the development of work that can be taken across the UK and internationally.

The EXPO fund will also continue to support the Made in Scotland programme. So far, 104 shows have toured to 44 countries with the support of Made in Scotland’s Onward Touring fund, with some shows even touring year on year since 2009.

Question reference: S6W-34784

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are currently in receipt of the enhanced mobility award of adult disability payment, also broken down by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) quintile; how many (a) are and (b) are not in employment, and how many have been in receipt of the payment for (i) one to two, (ii) more than two to three and (iii) more than three years.

As of 31 October 2024, 156,045 clients were in receipt of the enhanced mobility award of Adult Disability Payment.

Social Security Scotland does not currently publish statistics on Adult Disability Payment caseload broken from by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). It also does not hold information on the employment status of clients as it is not necessary to collect information on a client’s employment to assess their application.

Adult Disability Payment provides financial support for adults with a disability or long-term health conditions and is available to applicants regardless of their employment status which is the same as Department for Work and Pensions’ Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

Social Security Scotland routinely publishes statistics on Adult Disability Payment caseload, broken down by mobility award level. However, it does not currently publish statistics on Adult Disability Payment caseload broken down by both mobility award level and duration.

Social Security Scotland does not hold this information for clients who have been in receipt of Adult Disability Payment for one to two, and two to three years. Adult Disability Payment was introduced in March 2022; hence no clients have been in receipt of Adult Disability Payment for more than three years.

The latest Adult Disability Payment official statistics publication can be found at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications/statistics. The next release of Adult Disability Payment statistics which will cover the period to the end of January 2025, is due to be published on 18 March 2025.

Question reference: S6W-34512

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the previous announcement by the former First Minister, Humza Yousaf, in October 2023, how much has been spent to date on preparation work for it issuing bonds.

Question reference: S6W-34511

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the previous announcement by the former First Minister, Humza Yousaf, whether it still plans to issue bonds to finance key infrastructure in Scotland in the current parliamentary session.

The Scottish Government published a further update to the work on Scottish Government bonds alongside the 2025-26 Scottish Budget https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781836910558.

This explains the outcome of the initial phase of due diligence and the work required in the next stage in the due diligence process. This phase will include timing considerations for an inaugural issuance given market conditions and related events.

The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring Parliament is updated on this work as it progresses.

Question reference: S6W-35206

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants are working on delivering the actions set out in the Artificial intelligence strategy: trustworthy, ethical and inclusive, published in August 2022.

Question reference: S6W-35139

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) physician associate and (b) other medical associate profession students graduated in the 2023-24 academic year.

Question reference: S6W-35179

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the attrition rate of staff employed by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service has been in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-35146

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to integrate (a) physician associate and (b) other medical associate profession roles into multi-disciplinary healthcare teams in NHS Scotland.

The Scottish Government is supportive of a gradual and carefully managed expansion of physician associate (PA) and anaesthesia associate (AA) roles, underpinned by robust evidence of the benefit that can be derived from these roles in specific settings and contexts.

In order to achieve this, we have established a national Programme Board to advise on key aspects of the roles and NHS Scotland’s approach to their deployment. This work builds on action already undertaken to introduce statutory regulation of the roles which we consider is vital for patient safety. GMC regulation has, for the first time, introduced UK-wide standards for education, training and professional practice with meaningful consequences when these are not met.

Question reference: S6W-35141

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) physician associates and (b) people in other medical associate profession roles were dismissed by NHS Scotland in 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-35147

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its freedom of information (FOI) release FOI/202400433327 (Scope of Practice and Medical Associate Professionals), when the Medical Associate Professionals Programme Board will make its recommendations regarding the development and implementation roles of (a) physician associate and (b) other medical associate professional roles in NHS Scotland.