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-30058

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 2 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the announced £1 million of savings from its Nature Restoration budget will have on any projects in the Mid Scotland and Fife region funded by the Edinburgh Process strand of the Nature Restoration Fund.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-29617 on 17 September 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

In the period 2021-22 to 2023-24, individual Local Authorities across the Mid Scotland and Fife region have received around £2.89 million from the Nature Restoration Fund Edinburgh Process strand, to support a range of nature restoration projects. The competitive strand of the NRF, which is unaffected by this funding announcement, continues to support projects across Scotland, including in the Mid Scotland and Fife Region. Further details can be found at https://www.nature.scot/funding-and-projects/nature-restoration-fund/nature-restoration-fund-supported-projects.

Question reference: S6W-29955

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Retail Consortium’s suggestion in its Retail industry recommendations for the 2025-26 Scottish Budget paper, that spending restraint rather than tax rises should form the bulk of the measures to plug the projected gap in devolved government finances.

Prolonged Westminster austerity, the economic damage of Brexit, a global pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the cost of living crisis have all placed enormous and growing pressure on the public finances.

For example, Brexit has reduced the size of the UK economy by 2.5 per cent, equating to a £2.3 billion annual cut in revenue in Scotland.

Decisions for 2025-26 will be published as part of the 2025-26 Scottish Budget on 4 December. Scottish Income Tax policy for 2025-26 will be announced during the annual Budget process.

Question reference: S6W-30008

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to review the principle and methodology of council tax as a taxation method to contribute to the funding of local authorities, and what its position is on whether the current local taxation model is fit for purpose.

The Scottish Government is committed to fairer, more inclusive and fiscally sustainable forms of local taxation. We are exploring proposals for meaningful long-term changes to Council Tax in partnership with COSLA through the ‘Joint Working Group on Sources of Local Government Funding and Council Tax Reform’.

We continue to partner with COSLA and local authorities on local empowerment measures in the spirit of the Verity House Agreement. We have undertaken intensive collaborative work on a Fiscal Framework for local government. This includes facilitating opportunities for greater local fiscal empowerment in the future, with the aim to give councils more flexibility. Through the ‘Joint Working Group’ we can explore opportunities for local empowerment collaboratively with local government.

Question reference: S6W-30094

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 2 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the planned trunk road safety investigations on the A75 by Mouswald, Glenluce and Twynholm will be completed.

Question reference: S6W-30294

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-27441

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many data breaches that contained private or personal information of UK citizens have occurred within Police Scotland since figures were last disclosed through a Freedom of Information request in 2023, and whether any such information was related to alleged or convicted crimes.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. It is for the Chief Constable to determine Police Scotland’s approach to data management and to ensure there are policies and controls in place to ensure the organisation complies with the wide range of obligations required to discharge its statutory and regulatory responsibilities regarding the processing of data, with oversight and scrutiny undertaken by the Scottish Police Authority Board.

Question reference: S6W-28049

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many currently licensed short-term lets there are in the Lothian region; how many short-term lets in the Lothian region have been found to be in breach of the short-term let licensing regulations, either for not holding the appropriate license or another reason; for what reasons other than not holding the appropriate licence any such properties have been found to be in breach of regulations since the regulations came into force, including any civil and criminal citations, arrests and charges, and how many short-term lets have been visited or placed under investigation by Police Scotland in this period.

I have provided answers to the information you are seeking in previous parliamentary replies and refer you to these as follows:

how to access the Scottish Government’s official statistical publications on short-term let licensing application data (S6W-24548 responded to on 30 January 2024 and S6W-27007 responded to on 30 April 2024)
how to access information about short-term let licences on local authority public registers (S6W-23003 responded to on 4 December 2023)
what the Scottish Government holds about licence breaches and Police Scotland investigations (S6W-28008, S6W-28009 and S6W-28010 responded to on 11 June 2024 and S6W-28120 responded to on 18 June 2024, some of which also refer members to S6W-27902 answered on 11 June 2024).

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.”

Question reference: S6W-30009

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Transform Scotland report, In Reverse, which found that the Scottish Government had failed to meet seven out of 10 commitments made over the past five years to invest in, and prioritise, sustainable transport.

I recognise Transform Scotland’s valuable contributions to sustainable transport through research and briefing such as their "In Reverse" report, and I met with them on 16 July.

During 2024-25 we will spend over £3.87 billion on transport across Scotland, with almost £430 million in funding for concessionary travel and bus services. We will also invest over £1.6 billion to operate, maintain and improve Scotland’s railway and are continuing to support Scotland’s trunk road network, providing over £1 billion for our critical safety, adaptation, maintenance and improvement priorities. We are also investing £526 million to expand our vital support for rural and island connectivity.

We continue to take decisive climate action and work towards our commitment of reducing car use by 20% by 2030 by supporting making sustainable travel a more attractive option including providing up to 2.3 million people in Scotland with access to free bus travel. Over 150 million journeys have been made by under 22s across Scotland who are now benefitting from this. We will publish the updated route map to achieving car use reduction this autumn. On active travel, we have already distributed over £145 million of our 2024-25 budget to delivery partners for infrastructure and schemes which will work to transform communities and reduce barriers to everyday walking, wheeling and cycling.

Question reference: S6W-30100

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it provided to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation in (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-30084

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the question S6W-03645 by Ben Macpherson on 26 October 2021, whether it can provide an update on the number of Funeral Support Payments that have been made for each year since 2021.

Social Security Scotland routinely releases information on Funeral Support Payment including applications received, application outcomes and payments.

The latest statistics show that 6,100 payments were made in 2021-22 financial year, 5,020 payments were made in 2022-23 financial year and 6,735 payments were made in 2023-24 financial year. The latest published statistics cover to 30 June 2024 and show that 1,510 payments had been issued in the first three months of the 2024-25 financial year.

The latest statistics publication for this benefit can be found at: Social Security Scotland - Funeral Support Payment Statistics.