- Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to integrate the Bright Start Breakfasts initiative with breakfast clubs operated in primary schools by not-for-profit providers.
Answer
The Draft Scottish Budget on 4 December 2024 announced plans to invest £3m in 2025-26 in Bright Start Breakfasts.
At this stage the Budget remains subject to Parliamentary approval and therefore, more detail about Bright Start Breakfasts will be provided ahead of the fund launching in Spring 2025, including how the scheme will operate.
- Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether any of the finance that has been announced for the Bright Start Breakfasts initiative will be allocated to not-for-profit organisations that operate breakfast clubs within schools, and, if so, whether this will include organisations that are not currently in receipt of public funding to support such activities.
Answer
The Draft Scottish Budget on 4 December 2024 announced plans to invest £3m in 2025-26 in Bright Start Breakfasts.
At this stage the Budget remains subject to Parliamentary approval and therefore, more detail about Bright Start Breakfasts will be provided ahead of the fund launching in Spring 2025.
- Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide more information on what specific formula and criteria will be used to determine the allocation of Bright Start Breakfasts funding across Scotland to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Answer
The Draft Scottish Budget on 4 December 2024 announced plans to invest £3m in 2025-26 for Bright Start Breakfasts.
At this stage the Budget remains subject to Parliamentary approval and therefore, more detail about Bright Start Breakfasts will be provided ahead of the fund launching in Spring 2025, including eligibility criteria and application processes.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of the reported emerging trend of unaccompanied young people arriving in Glasgow, and whether it is gathering any data on this issue.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware that unaccompanied young people have arrived in Glasgow in significant numbers in recent years.
Asylum processes are reserved to the UK Government, and therefore local authorities are not asked to routinely provide data to the Scottish Government on the number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking people arriving in their area. However in November and December 2023, the Scottish Government asked local authorities to provide information about their services for unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people. Glasgow City Council's returns show that at that time, it was looking after a total of more than 350 unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people.
In addition, the Scottish Government funds Guardianship Scotland, which provides support and advocacy for children and young people at risk of trafficking. The majority of people supported by Guardianship Scotland arrive in Scotland as unaccompanied asylum-seeing children. The figures below show the number of young people living in Glasgow who have been referred to Guardianship Scotland in each of the last three years.
- 2022 - 86
- 2023 - 56
- 2024 - 48
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-33091 by Ivan McKee on 14 January 2025, what the primary purposes are for which the cars in its fleet are used.
Answer
Pool cars are allocated to specific areas who have a business need for their use which cannot be met by public transport or other sustainable methods of travel. This includes conducting legislative and compliance inspections, animal and horticulture inspections, delivery of equipment and the transportation of Ministers.
- Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any structural damage to the Kingston Bridge in Glasgow, other than that reported on 14 January 2025.
Answer
The Kingston Bridge Complex in Glasgow receives a rigorous programme of regular inspections. The output from these inspections is used to inform current and future maintenance programmes. Any defects identified from these inspections are prioritised and taken forward for future repair, if necessary.
The concrete spalling reported on 14 January 2025, immediately above Paisley Road, was related to an historic concrete repair, which broke loose after the recent period of cold weather. There are other historic repairs within the complex and, to address this issue and to ensure public safety, Transport Scotland’s Operating Company, Amey, has instigated further close visual special inspections to identify and remove any loose concrete at these historic repairs. These inspections are underway and will continue over the next few weeks.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many journeys have been undertaken by the cars in its fleet in each of the last five years, broken down by fuel type.
Answer
We do not hold this information.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates that it will publish the next paper in the Building a New Scotland series.
Answer
The Scottish Government will publish further material on independence to give the people of Scotland the information they need. No date for publication has yet been determined.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how much it plans to spend in 2025-26 on work related to Scottish independence.
Answer
In December 2024, the Government’s proposed spending and tax plans for 2025 to 2026 were published here Scottish Budget - gov.scot. This includes budget provision for a range of activity related to the constitution which will be deployed across Ministerial priorities and commitments in this area.
- Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with law enforcement agencies to tackle the supply of pipes and other paraphernalia used to consume illicit drugs.
Answer
We remain committed to reducing harm for individuals from the use of unsafe paraphernalia and will continue collaborating with stakeholders and harm reduction services on this matter.
We acknowledge the risks posed by unsafe, makeshift inhalation pipes, often shared among drug users. We are working closely with Police Scotland, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and other law enforcement agencies through the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce to address these issues.
In 2021, the Drug Deaths Taskforce advocated for expanding drug paraphernalia provision for safer consumption and urged the UK Minister for Policing to reconsider legal restrictions. Though initially rejected, Scottish Government officials are engaging with the new UK administration to revisit this matter.