- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what support it can provide to any local authorities that are struggling to meet the rising costs associated with providing school transport, so that children and young people can travel to school in a safe, efficient and affordable manner.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2024
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 13 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the processing time for major planning applications in Q1 and Q2 of 2023-24 was 62.1 weeks, in light of the statutory timeframe being 16 weeks.
Answer
There can be many reasons for delays in determining applications including requests for and submission of additional information, delays with responses from statutory consultees and the requirement for a legal agreement. The specific reasons for the time taken to determine individual major planning applications would be held by the individual planning authority making the determination.
The average timescale for all major applications determined without a processing agreement was 35.2 weeks in Q1 and Q2 of 2023-24. Due to the low number of applications involved, average determination timescales are volatile and can be affected by one or two lengthy cases. In the same period, 23 of the 57 major applications not subject to processing agreements were determined within the statutory timescale, and 46 of those 57 major applications determined within the same period were determined in a time faster than the national average.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with local authorities regarding their obligations under section 42 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 in the last 12 months.
Answer
The statutory minimum walking distances set out in legislation are a long-standing feature of our education system and there are no plans to change them. The Scottish Government published guidance for local authorities regarding home to school transport in 2021.
The Scottish Government regularly engages with representative bodies for local government on education related matters. However, no requests have been made to discuss local authorities’ obligations under section 42 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 in the last 12 months. The provision of home to school transport is responsibility of local authorities and decisions about changes to eligibility for free school transport are for local authorities to make, subject to the applicable statutory requirements.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 12 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to announce or propose any further Council Tax freezes during the current parliamentary session, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer
The Council Tax Freeze that was announced by the First Minister, and accepted by almost all Councils, relates only to the 2024-25 financial year. It will provide certainty to households during a time of economic uncertainty and rising prices.
The funding provided in 2024-25 for the purposes of freezing Council Tax will be baselined into the General Revenue Grant in future years for those councils which freeze their Council Tax.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government when the (a) First Minister and (b) Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills plans to read the recent Educational Institute for Scotland (EIS) report on violence in schools, in light of it highlighting an EIS survey of nearly 800 members in Aberdeen, which found that 42% of respondents reported violent pupil behaviour in school every day, 37% said they had been physically assaulted by a pupil, over 50% felt their school did not have clear strategies to prevent violence and 60% of teachers in Aberdeen were considering leaving the profession.
Answer
The Scottish Government received a copy of the EIS report on violence in schools in Aberdeen on 26 February 2024. The First Minister and myself have both read the report.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that consumers have confidence in consumer protection awards for food items produced and packaged in Scotland.
Answer
Consumer protection awards are not a matter for the Scottish Government. Consumer assurance in relation to food produced and packaged in Scotland comes from the comprehensive system of food law we have in Scotland that all food businesses must comply with, which covers food and feed safety, food standards and labelling, and any claims related to health or provenance. Compliance with food law is verified through food business inspections and routine sampling and monitoring of food products placed on the market.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 11 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many age-appropriate inpatient mental health beds for children and young people each NHS board currently has.
Answer
There are currently 54 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) inpatient beds across Scotland for children and adolescents.
Forty eight of these beds are commissioned on a regional basis. These are split across:
- North of Scotland Region - Dudhope Young People’s Inpatient Unit - 12 beds;
- South and East Region - Melville Young People’s Mental Health Unit - 12 beds;
- West Region Skye House Adolescent Inpatient Unit - 24 beds.
These units admit children and young people from Health Boards in that region, with the flexibility to admit from other regions if the unit closest to a child or young person is full.
Additionally, the National Child Psychiatry Inpatient Unit in the Glasgow Royal Hospital for Children has 6 beds for children under 12 years and admits children from across Scotland, based on clinical need. This includes one to two national beds for children with profound learning disabilities and mental health disorders.
The National Adolescent Secure Inpatient Unit, Foxgrove, is due to open later in 2024 and initially will provide 4 beds for young people who require care in an inpatient setting with medium levels of security.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 11 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24886 by Michael Matheson on 5 February 2024, whether it will provide details of how exactly frontline staff are supervised and supported to improve their knowledge, in respect of mental health.
Answer
All frontline staff have monthly call reviews and one-to-one meetings with their line manager, real time clinical supervision and coaching with debrief sessions at the end of each shift. This is in addition to mandatory e-learning and personal development plans.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 11 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what steps local authorities should take in the event that a Dog Control Notice already exists on an XL Bully-type dog.
Answer
It can be noted the new safeguards on XL Bully dogs operate independently of any Dog Control Notices (DCNs) that may have been imposed on individual XL Bully dogs. A dog can both be subject to the safeguards required through being a XL Bully and subject to conditions imposed in a DCN as a result of being assessed as a dog that was previously out of control.
Within this context, the operation of the DCN regime, as set out in the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010 (“the 2010 Act”), is entirely a matter for local authorities. It would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to intervene in such operational matters.
The 2010 Act places a duty on local authorities to monitor the effectiveness of and enforce all DCNs issued by local authority appointed officers.
The Scottish Government is committed to keeping the 2010 Act statutory guidance document under review and will work with local authorities and the National Dog Warden Association to consider any specific updates that may be required in light of the introduction of the new safeguards on XL Bully dogs.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 11 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the position paper on embodied carbon regulation that was published by the Institution of Structural Engineers on 31 January 2024.
Answer
In December 2021, our Response to Scotland’s Climate Assembly: Recommendations for Action included the commitment to investigate opportunities for whole life emission reporting.
Following this commitment we engaged with Zero Waste Scotland and some of the UK’s leading embodied carbon experts to scope research which produced the report Regulating Embodied Carbon in Scotland’s Buildings .
National Planning Framework 4 makes clear that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a cross-cutting outcome of development and includes policy that requires a minimisation of lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions and the use of materials with the lowest forms of embodied emissions, such as recycled and natural construction materials.
We are currently engaging with key organisations and UK counterparts to understand the viability of such action and benefit that can be derived from a requirement to report on the broader environmental impact of new development, including the assertion that this could be addressed through building regulations.
