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-31752

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its 2030 child poverty targets, what additional, targeted actions it is considering to ensure that families with a baby are lifted out of poverty.

Eradicating child poverty is a national mission and the top priority of this Government. We remain firmly focused on supporting the six priority family types identified as being at a higher risk of poverty within our first Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, which includes families with a child under one.

The first 12 months of a child’s life are an absolutely crucial time and we have taken action to ensure there is wide-ranging support for parents of babies and young children. Our Universal Health Visiting Pathway directs Health Visitors to enquire about family finances and signpost families to appropriate support services. The Family Nurse Partnership also offers intensive support for young, first time mothers in up to 4,000 families a year. In addition, we are increasing perinatal and infant health services in Scotland leading to new or expanded Community Perinatal Mental Health Services, Infant Mental Health Services and Maternity and Neonatal Psychological Intervention Services.

We are also providing financial support to families on low incomes through our five family payments, which include our three Best Start Grant payments, Best Start Foods and Scottish Child Payment. For eligible families with a child under one, support includes the Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment, which provides £754.65 for a first child and £377.35 for all subsequent children, support through Best Start Foods which is worth £42.40 every four weeks for each child from birth until they’re one year old, as well as the ‘game-changing’ Scottish Child Payment of £26.70 per eligible child per week. To ensure investment in our benefits is protected, we will amend the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 to ensure all benefits are increased each year to reflect inflation, giving financial certainty to households.

We are absolutely committed to meeting the 2030 child poverty targets, and will continue to do everything within the scope of our powers and budget to deliver the change needed including for families with a baby.

The Scottish Government will publish the third Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan by the end of March 2026, covering the period 2026-31, which will set out the actions we will take as a Government to meet the ambitious child poverty targets set for 2030.

Question reference: S6W-31500

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 10 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it has a role in facilitating a scheme similar to Project Pegasus in Scotland to tackle retail crime, and, if so, whether it is considering (a) setting up and (b) funding such a scheme.

The Scottish Government recognises the vital role of retailers in our society and want to ensure that they are protected. We also recognise the distress caused by retail crime, particularly to staff. The investigation of criminal activity and deployment of resources is a matter for Police Scotland and they remain focused on keeping communities safe from harm, and investigating criminal activity. However, Policing itself also remains a priority for this Government. We are aware that some of the perpetrators of shoplifting offences have links to organised crime.

In our 2025-26 draft budget, the Scottish Government has proposed up to £3 million in funding to be used for the purpose of exploring the implementation of a partnership between the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and Scotland’s retail sector in an effort to combat organised retail crime. This is in line with our Programme for Government (PfG) commitment to address organised crime, which is an area of significant and growing concern to retailers.

The Scottish Government and its partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce are fully committed to tackling serious organised crime in all its guises and reducing the harm it causes to our communities.

Question reference: S6W-31499

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 10 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has undertaken on Project Pegasus in England and Wales to tackle retail crime, and what conclusions it has drawn from this research.

Discussions regarding retail crime have taken place between the Scottish Government and retail stakeholders through the Retail Industry Leadership Group (ILG), Co-Chaired by the Minister for Employment and Investment. Additionally, there has been early engagement between Scottish Government officials and Police Scotland around potentially developing a similar system in Scotland alongside partner organisations. No research has currently been undertaken by Scottish Government officials on this matter but the early findings from Project Pegasus will be of interest in taking forward action in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-31739

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms it has put in place to monitor the effective implementation of the provision of free period products across local authorities.

As outlined in the Access to period products: Monitoring and Evaluation strategy 2021/22 - 2024/25, we intended to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021(the Act) in 2025. However, due to funding for local authorities being baselined from this financial year (2024-25) under the Verity House Agreement, the Scottish Government and COSLA agreed that local authorities will not be asked to collect any data going forward. This means that the planned evaluation will no longer take place.

Local authorities are under a statutory duty to meet the requirements of the Act and are open to challenge by Judicial Review.

Question reference: S6W-31217

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ruth Charteris on 10 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) has been and (b) is due to be paid to litigants from all concluded civil cases relating to prosecutions arising from the administration of Rangers FC, broken down by financial year.

The following table provides the details of how much has been paid to litigants from all concluded civil cases relating to prosecutions arising from the administration of Rangers FC, broken down by financial year.

Please note that the total sum to date which has been paid out in respect of all settlements and legal expenses for the Pursuers is £52.2m.

The action concerning Imran Ahmad v the Lord Advocate, settlement of £528,615 was paid out in 2024-25 however the matter of expenses to be awarded to Mr Ahmad is still pending. Accordingly, as this action is not deemed to be concluded, this payment has not been included in the table below. The final sum due to be paid is to Mr Ahmad in respect of expenses incurred as a result of the civil action. This matter is still currently being considered by Lord Harrower.

The final outstanding matter concerns expenses due to the Lord Advocate for the cost of defending the action raised by Mr Grier against the Lord Advocate. This matter is due to go to taxation to be considered by the Auditor in January 2025.

Compensation costs when paid out:	2016-17	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	Total
Civil Cases	67,043.67	310,000.00	24,045,250.00	11,037,825.05	16,231,398.28	13,643.39		51,705,160.39

Question reference: S6W-32012

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the Tree Planting Task Force announced on 28 November 2024, and whether the task force will also consider the need to enhance biodiversity and plant native trees, rather than funding further expansion of Sitka Spruce plantations.

The first meeting of the Tree Planting Taskforce took place on 28 November with Ministers representing the Scottish, UK, Welsh and Northern Ireland Governments in attendance. The Scottish Government outlined the importance of forestry in Scotland, and our recent successes in delivering the majority of woodland creation across the UK.

The Taskforce was an opportunity to highlight the importance of all types of trees, both native and productive, as part of increasing biodiversity and driving woodland creation.

There was broad agreement within the group about the value of further cross-border collaboration and the collective challenges we face, such as future woodland management, addressing the skills shortage in the sector and tackling the threat of pests and diseases. The next steps and detailed future work of the Taskforce is still to be decided and agreed by its members.

Question reference: S6W-31869

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 10 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work to restore peatland.

Through the Peatland ACTION partnership we are funding the restoration of our peatlands. We are also working hard with our Peatland ACTION delivery partners to tackle the many barriers to upscaling peatland restoration in this relatively young sector.

We are making good progress towards our ambitious restoration targets with a total of around 75,000 hectares restored since 1990 and strong annual increases in rates. Since 2020, we have invested £67.8 million on peatland restoration in Scotland, and this year we committed £26.9 million.

The average rate of peatland restoration has more than doubled in the last two years and 2023-24 saw 10,360 hectares restored– the highest amount in a single year. We have committed to restoring over 10,000 ha in 2024-25 in the 2024 Programme for Government.

Through the Scottish Budget 2025 to 2026 we will invest £35.5 million to fund the restoration of around 14,000 hectares of degraded peatland in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-31909

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 10 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its paper, A Trading Nation: Realising Scotland's Hydrogen Potential - A Plan for Exports, which was published on 29 November 2024, what scope there will be for alternative models of ownership in its plans for scaling up the hydrogen industry.

The Scottish Government wants the people of Scotland to see maximum benefits from Scotland’s energy transition, including the scaling up of the hydrogen industry.

We are exploring options to encourage investment in energy-related technology, and infrastructure, including hydrogen, to promote economic development and provide direct economic benefits for the people of Scotland.

We are considering the best approach to secure investment that supports our ambitions while delivering maximum value for money for the taxpayer. This includes consideration of regional, local and community-based approaches.

Question reference: S6T-02241

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported review of more than 1,000 CT scans, in light of concerns regarding the quality of assessments made by a consultant radiologist.

Question reference: S6T-02237

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with the UK Government at the British Irish Council summit regarding ending the two-child benefit cap.