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: S6F-03538

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2024

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that its spending on private consultants has almost doubled in the space of five years.

Question reference: S6F-03526

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2024

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6F-03519

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-03527

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2024

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reported concerns that its proposed formula for calculating rent controls in the Housing (Scotland) Bill will require above-inflation rent rises for hundreds of thousands of renters, thus not tackling unaffordable rents.

Question reference: S6F-03520

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-30962

Asked by: Ruth Maguire, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29907 by Dorothy Bain on 26 September 2024, how many contracts and service level agreements for pathology and mortuary services the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has; whether all contracts and service level agreements require pathologists to meet with the nearest relatives if they wish to discuss the post mortem examination findings; what training pathologists are given to ensure that, when they meet with the nearest relatives to discuss the post mortem examination findings, information is provided “in a respectful and sensitive manner”; what checks are in place to ensure that (a) pathology training standards are maintained and (b) practitioners are kept up to date with best practice; which organisation oversees training standards in pathology and their uniformity across Scotland; what the terms of reference are for the Death Investigation Improvement Board, and who the members are; what plans COPFS has to engage with service users, regarding reported experiences of service delivery, to inform the Death Investigation Improvement Board; what the current metrics in Scotland show in relation to the experiences reported in the independent review of the forensic pathology response to the Hillsborough disaster, and what metrics are planned to enable (i) comparable and (ii) more accurate measurement of performance in Scotland compared with (A) that reported in the independent review of the forensic pathology response to the Hillsborough disaster and (B) international best practice.

COPFS has 16 contracts and service level agreements in place for pathology mortuary and toxicology services across Scotland.

All pathology agreements require pathologists to discuss post mortem findings with bereaved relatives if requested. Their assistance is invaluable to relatives seeking to understand the circumstances of their loved one’s death and is greatly appreciated by COPFS.

All doctors receive undergraduate medical school education in patient communication. This continues into forensic pathology training and consultancy when meeting with families to discuss post mortem findings. All doctors are expected to work within the standards set out by the General Medical Council for good medical practice.

The Royal College of Pathologists and NHS Education for Scotland oversee training standards in pathology and their uniformity across Scotland.

The purpose of the Death Investigation Improvement Board is to take forward three key areas for improvement in the death investigation system – (i) raising public awareness of the death investigation service, sharing lessons learned to reduce the incidence of avoidable deaths, (ii) providing bereaved relatives with the timeous provision of information they need to ensure they can effectively participate in the process and (iii) reducing the journey time for concluding death investigations, including FAIs.

The Board is chaired by the Deputy Crown Agent, Specialist Casework and its membership has representatives from each of the specialist death investigation units, Communications and Business Management.

The Board has a number of ongoing workstreams, including the creation of a Lived Experience Advisory Panel to enable participants with experience of the death investigation process to help inform improvements to the process by providing independent advice to the Board on issues such as the provision of information to relatives.

COPFS regularly meets and engages with pathology providers on a range of issues, including communication with bereaved relatives. These also allow discussion on any feedback received. Consideration is being given to the terms of the review and any further appropriate measures to be put in place.

Question reference: S6W-30972

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made an assessment of the capacity reduction on Caithness–Orkney routes (a) in absolute terms and (b) per capita resulting from the chartering of the MV Alfred.

Question reference: S6W-30968

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the domestic abuse statistics recorded by Police Scotland for the fiscal year 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-30971

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made an assessment of the capacity increase on Arran ferry routes (a) in absolute terms and (b) per capita resulting from the chartering of the MV Alfred.

Question reference: S6W-30823

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has conducted on the impact of economic inactivity on the economy.

The Scottish Government routinely analyses labour market data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with the latest Scotland's Labour Market Insights: October 2024 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) statistical publication released on 28 October 2024. The latest ONS Labour Force Survey statistics for June to August 2024 show that Scotland had an estimated economic inactivity rate of 23.2% compared to 21.8% for the UK.

Analysis suggests that the recent upturn in economic inactivity in Scotland appears to be driven by increases in those who are long-term sick or disabled. ONS Annual Population Survey (APS) statistics for July 2023 to June 2024 estimate that 32.0% of inactive people in Scotland were inactive due to being long-term sick or disabled. The second most common reason for being economically inactive was being a student (24.6%), followed by looking after family/home (16.1%) then retired (14.5%).

The Scottish Government’s latest Scottish Economic Insights report, Overview - Scottish economic insights: October 2024 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) published on 18 October 2024, provided an illustrative example of how an increase in economic activity of individuals aged 16+ could impact the economy. It found that even a relatively small increase of 0.25 percentage points in the economic activity rate could boost GDP in the long-term by around 0.1%, or around £180 million a year (in 2024-25 prices).

Economic inactivity due to ill health is a key concern of the Scottish Government and as outlined in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, published in September 2024, we are taking action to help people access and stay in the labour market.

Parliament dissolved ahead of election

Chamber and committees

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