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-27680

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 June 2024

Question reference: S6W-27693

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it provides to each NHS board for audiology services.

The Scottish Government provides policies, frameworks and resources to NHS Boards to deliver services that meet the needs of their local population. We are providing an increased investment of half a billion for NHS boards in 2024-25, taking funding to over £14.2 billion - an increase of almost 3% in real terms. An investment of £30 million is also being provided and will target reductions to the national backlogs that built up throughout the pandemic, including audiology.

However, it is NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally who have responsibility for service delivery and patient treatment. Therefore details of the funding NHS Boards have allocated to audiology services is held locally.

Question reference: S6W-27506

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the resources that are given to local rehabilitation services are adequate to ensure that all adults can access the appropriate support as close to their local areas as possible, as set out in the Framework for Supporting People through Recovery and Rehabilitation during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The resourcing and commissioning of local rehabilitation services is the responsibility of individual Health Boards.

The Once for Scotland Rehabilitation Approach which supersedes the Framework for Supporting People through Recovery and Rehabilitation during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic (‘The Framework’) sets out the Six Principles of Good Rehabilitation. The Scottish Government expects that Health Boards have given consideration to these Principles to provide a good standard of rehabilitation services across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-27681

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost was of providing (a) bus and (b) taxi replacement services for any cancelled scheduled ScotRail train services in financial year (i) 2021-22, (ii) 2022-23 and (iii) 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-27617

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to establish the extent of the use of informal exclusions in schools.

We are committed to ensuring that all children and young people get the support that they need to reach their full learning potential.

Our national guidance on exclusion, ‘Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2’ makes clear that exclusion should be the last resort. Where exclusion is used, it should be as a proportionate response where there is no appropriate alternative, and the wellbeing of the child or young person should be the key consideration. The guidance makes clear that the practice of “sending home” or “informal exclusion” is illegal and denies pupils and parents their rights. Following an incident where the decision is made that the child or young person cannot remain in school, for one of the reasons specified in regulation 4 of the Schools General (Scotland) Regulations 1975 as amended, this must be recorded as an exclusion. This will ensure transparency, allow for appropriate monitoring and enable support to be put in place through the education authority’s staged intervention system.

Question reference: S6W-27771

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 3 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress has been made towards delivering the 2027 River Basin Management Plan.

SEPA's River Basin Management Plan for Scotland 2021-2027 (RBMP) sets out a range of actions aiming to improve the overall condition of Scotland’s water environment from 66% currently classified at good condition to 81% by 2027.

The Scottish Government supports SEPA to deliver the RMBP and invested almost £5m last year in the Water Environment Fund, a key element of the plan. Work continues this year providing access to rivers for migratory fish and restoring urban rivers providing benefits for biodiversity, climate change adaptation and flood management.

The most detailed and up to date classification information for all parameters is available in the water classification hub .

Question reference: S6W-27621

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 3 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to reform legislation on adults with incapacity, as recommended by the Scottish mental health law review.

In our response to the Scottish Mental Health Law Review, published in June 2023, we committed to establishing a Mental Health and Capacity Reform Programme. We are due to publish the first Delivery Plan under this Programme shortly. Our main priority for early law reform centres on the updating of the Adults with Incapacity Act. Work has already begun to consider options for addressing long-standing gaps in Adults with Incapacity law, to ensure stronger rights, protections and safeguards.

Question reference: S6W-27543

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 3 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the rationale is for the figure of 1,000 hectares as the threshold for a public interest test for the purpose of sale or transfer of land in the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Mairi Gougeon: The transfer test will provide an opportunity for Scottish Ministers to consider potential transfers of landholdings over 1000 hectares. Potentially, this could lead to some landholdings being lotted into smaller parts, if that may help local communities.

In setting the appropriate thresholds for these proposals, I have considered both the policy aims of the proposals and the risk of disproportionate impacts following from these additional requirements, particularly in relation to smaller businesses.

The size threshold for the transfer test requires to be set at a level at which there could plausibly be concentration of landownership in the relevant area with impacts on land availability and supply. When land is transferred at scale this can restrict who can purchase land due to the size and value. This can contribute to the supply of land being insufficient in particular areas, which can be detrimental to the sustainability of those communities.

The Scottish Land Commission, in its discussion paper on Legislative proposals to address the impact of Scotland’s concentration of land ownership, said that when considering at what scale of landholding for transfer such a test should apply to, suggested that “the aim should be to establish a threshold that would ensure that family farms and small businesses would not fall in scope, but that modest estates that could pose risks would. It may be reasonable to expect that, for example, holdings over 10,000ha would always be in scope, while those under 1,000ha would always be exempt.”

This advice has been taken into account, alongside other Scottish Land Commission research, data on land transactions and land ownership in Scotland, the consultation on the Bill and stakeholder engagement, in determining the 1000-hectare size threshold for this proposal.

Question reference: S6W-27698

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 31 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26254 by Tom Arthur on 27 March 2024, by what date it expects to have completed its analysis and feasibility exercise regarding a Community Wealth Building Bill.

Question reference: S6W-27580

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 31 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made provision within its 2024-25 Budget for child welfare reporters, in light of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020, and when it expects any new child welfare reporters to be appointed.

We are currently prioritising work across the Scottish Government in light of increased budget pressures.

We estimate that establishing a register of child welfare reporters under the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 may cost around £5 million a year. This is based on calculations in the Financial Memorandum Children (Scotland) Bill (parliament.scot) that accompanied the Children (Scotland) Bill (now the Children (Scotland) Act 2020).

This is a significant financial pressure at the current time, and there is insufficient budget available within our 2024-25 allocation to implement the new register.

However, we plan to establish a short-life working group on child welfare reporters later this year with key stakeholders. This will inform further development of policy around the new register.