- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will consult MSP staff trade unions before deciding on uprating the Staff Cost Provision in the 2025-26 financial year.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2024
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 21 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04853 by Mairi Gougeon on 14 December 2021, how many of the Fixed Penalty Notices issued since 25 January 2019 remain unpaid, and, of those, how many have been (a) referred to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and (b) proceeded in the courts, and, of any that resulted in convictions, what the (i) nature of the offence, (ii) value of the original Fixed Penalty Notice and (iii) court disposal was.
Answer
Since 25 January 2019 until 13 October 2021, the period covered by S6W-03688 on 29 October 2021 and S6W-04853 on 14 December 2021, there have been 19 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) unpaid prior to referral to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, compared to 93 paid. This makes a payment rate over the period of 83%.
The breakdown is as follows:
(a) 8 of the 19 cases were referred to the COPFS for consideration of prosecution; 2 of the 8 cases resulted in the original FPNs being paid after agreement with the Procurator Fiscal, ultimately resulting in 17 unpaid FPNs in total and;
(b) 4 of the 8 cases resulted in convictions and fines with the breakdown as follows:
| | Offence | FPN Offered (£) | Court Disposal (£) |
1 | Breach of hobby fishermen regulations | 2000 | 500 |
2 | Non submission of statutory returns | 2000 | 3000 |
3 | Marine Protected Area incursion | 4000 | 2000 |
4 | Fishing gear offence | 3000 | 2075 |
All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 21 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the national service specification for alcohol and drug services.
Answer
Development of the National Specification for substance use services is underway and we expect to publish in the first quarter of 2025
- Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to ensure that the supply chain for primary school meals is (a) sustainable, (b) environmentally friendly and (c) aligned with the national climate goals.
Answer
Under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, a public body with an annual procurement spend of at least £5 million must report each year on how, when its procurements involve the provision of food, it is improving the health, wellbeing and education of communities in the body’s area, and promoting the highest standards of animal welfare.
The Scottish Government continues to support the delivery of the Food for Life Programme in local authorities across Scotland which has a primary focus on school meals. Food for Life accreditation ensures that at least 75% of school food is fresh and unprocessed, as well as greatly increasing the amount of fresh fruit (including berries) and vegetables; fish; and wholegrains on the menu. There are currently 16 councils who hold Food for Life accreditation, with ongoing work to ensure retention, expansion and development of the programme.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 21 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is on track to meet its commitment to (a) increase frontline health spending by at least £2.5 billion, (b) increase primary care spending by 25%, (c) increase mental health investment by 25% and (d) invest £250 million on dealing with the drug deaths emergency over the course of the current parliamentary session.
Answer
Against a challenging economic and financial context, the Scottish Government continues to increase funding for health and social care services.
Providing over £1.9 billion additional investment in frontline health spend since 2021-22 - ahead of trajectory to meet the £2.5 billion target by 2026-27.
Supporting a 20% increase in Primary Care investment over the same time frame – ensuring we remain on track to deliver our commitment to reach 25% by 2026-27.
Mental health remains a priority, with overall increases in spend and total investment now standing at over £1.3 billion across the Scottish Government and NHS Boards - enabling record numbers of staff in providing more varied support and services to a larger number of people than ever before.
We remain committed to making an additional £250 million available for the National Mission on Drugs over the course of the parliament, and we will continue to publish a financial breakdown in the National Mission Annual Reports.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 21 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to address the reported issue that e-cigarette or vaping device use was most prevalent among those aged 16 to 24 (22%), an increase of seven percentage points since 2022.
Answer
Within our 2024-25 Programme for Government we committed to working across the four nations on banning the sale of single use vapes (SUV) as well as the UK Tobacco and Vapes Bill. SUV’s have been linked to a rapid increase in the number of young people vaping, particularly due to their low price. The SUV ban will be implemented from 1 June 2025 in line with the rest of the UK. If passed the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, will restrict the promotion, advertisement and brandsharing of vapes.
Our ‘Take Hold’ marketing campaign educates parents, carers and children about the dangers of vaping and increased the awareness of the harms and risks of nicotine addiction.
We continue to work with Young Scot to support young people to understand the risks of using tobacco and nicotine products, and raise awareness of available cessation services and avenues to support young people to stop smoking/vaping.
Our Tobacco and Vaping Framework recognises that price can be a critical factor in people’s decisions on starting to smoke and vape. The Scottish Government welcomes the UK Government’s commitment in the Autumn budget to introduce a duty on vapes from 2026 while ensuring the price differential between tobacco and vapes will be maintained.
- Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 21 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with Reach Advocacy, in Coatbridge, in light of its reported request for support to become a nationally commissioned service.
Answer
On 14 May 2024 Reach Advocacy wrote to the Scottish Government requesting to become a ‘Nationally Commissioned Advocacy Training Body’. The Scottish Government replied to Reach Advocacy on 28 May 2024 seeking to fully understand the basis on which Reach Advocacy were requesting this.
On 15 October 2024 Reach Advocacy submitted a business proposal to ask for funding from Scottish Government to deliver Reach Advocacy’s ‘Advocacy Practice Award’ and human rights-based training.
This proposal was submitted for consideration to relevant directorates under the responsibility of the Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, the Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, and the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport.
Scottish Government Officials from each directorate assessed that the request for funding was not the most appropriate means by which the Scottish Government’s current priorities and objectives would be achieved.
On 6 November 2024 a response was issued to Reach Advocacy to inform them of the decision and rationale.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 25 October 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 21 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many college and university course places have been developed to date to help address any skills shortages in the renewables industry workforce.
Answer
Our education and skills system is already adapting in response to the transition to net zero with colleges and universities acting as key anchor points for research, innovation, and training.
Due to the depth, breadth and variety of interrelated programmes of teaching for net zero skills run by both colleges and universities, it is not possible to provide an exact figure for courses specifically designed for and only catering to skills shortages in the renewables industry workforce at this stage.
A range of work is underway to help address need. For example, the Energy Skills Partnership, Built Environment - Smarter Transformation (BE-ST) Innovation Centre and the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, all funded by the Scottish Funding Council, support colleges and universities in developing their capability, capacity and curriculum pathways for the transition to net zero.
SFC have been leading collaborative regional pathfinders, in both the North-East and the South of Scotland, which have identified a range of important best practices for institutions which will help improve the system and ensure provision is more responsive to Scotland’s strategic skills needs.
A number of sector-based initiatives are also in place to inform system improvement. For example, the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) is taking forward crucial work that will help both industry and the public sector to identify and address future skills and workforce gaps.
- Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 21 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many public inquiries have been held by the Scottish Ministers in each year since 1999 after a planning authority has objected to an application under the Electricity Act 1989, also broken down by how many of these objections were upheld.
Answer
Independent reporters from DPEA have held 96 public inquires on behalf of Scottish Ministers since 1999.
These relate to public inquiries held where a planning authority and/or statutory consultee objected to an application under the Electricity Act.
Dates by year are not available for cases received prior to 2011
Report Year | Application Granted | Application Refused | Not yet Decided | Total |
1999 - 2010 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 12 |
2011 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
2012 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
2013 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
2014 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
2015 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
2016 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
2017 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
2018 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 10 |
2019 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
2020 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
2021 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
2022 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
2023 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
2024 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 13 |
Total | 41 | 32 | 11 | 96 |
- Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 21 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how it has been asked to input into the UK Government's Circular Economy Task Force.
Answer
Scottish Ministers are aware that Defra Ministers are establishing a taskforce, which we understand will inform the development of a circular economy strategy across the UK Government.
While the strategy will be England-only in scope, Scottish Government officials are already engaging with UK officials on input into the development of the strategy, recognising that there may be implications for, and opportunities to align policy with, devolved governments. The Scottish Government expects the taskforce’s work, and development of our own circular economy strategy, to be a topic for discussion at a future Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
