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-29999

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government on what date (a) it currently anticipates that CMAL will deliver the Glen Sannox to CalMac, (b) the operator currently anticipates that it will begin delivery to operational sea trials of the vessel and (c) it currently anticipates that the Glen Sannox will enter service on the Troon-Brodick route.

In his most recent letter to the NZET committee on 12 September, the interim Chief Executive of Ferguson Marine indicated that the handover date for MV Glen Sannox of 30 September 2024 was delayed by around two weeks. Following successful Builder’s LNG sea trials the vessel is on track for delivery by mid-October 2024.

Following delivery there will be a period of familiarisation needed by the operator, usually around 6-8 weeks, to conduct further owner’s sea and berthing trials and conduct final operational readiness preparations before she is ready to enter service.

CalMac anticipate the vessel entering service on the Troon-Brodick route around the end of November based on current planning assumptions.

Question reference: S6W-30003

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29541 by Fiona Hyslop on 18 September 2024, when it expects the present refresh of the Decarbonisation Action Plan to be concluded.

Question reference: S6W-30103

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) charges and (b) convictions for kerb crawling offences there have been in each local authority area in each year since 2018, including 2024 to date.

As there isn’t a specific offence of ‘kerb crawling’, information has been provided in the following table on the number of charges and convictions for (i) Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Act 2007 S1 (1) – Person solicits relevant place for purpose of obtaining services of prostitute and (ii) Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Act 2007 S1 (3) – Person loiters in relevant place so that infer purpose obtain services of prostitute.

(a) Charges reported to COPFS, 2018-19 to 2024-25*.

Charge	Reported to Procurator Fiscal Office:-	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25
Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Act 2007 S1(1) - Person solicits relevant place for purpose of obtaining services of prostitute	Aberdeen	10	9	8	5	13	5	1
	Dundee	1	2	0	0	0	0	0
	Edinburgh	3	5	2	0	0	1	0
	Glasgow	51	33	1	2	9	7	1
Total		65	49	11	7	22	13	2
Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Act 2007 S1(3) - Person loiters in relevant place so that infer purpose obtain services of prostitute	Aberdeen	3	3	0	2	2	1	2
	Dundee	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Dunfermline	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Edinburgh	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Glasgow	52	13	0	2	7	6	1
	Inverness	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Total		57	16	0	4	9	10	3
Grand Total		122	65	11	11	31	23	5

Source: COPFS

Please note:

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service does not hold local authority data. The location of the PF office has been provided as an alternative.

*Data for 2024-25 covers only a partial year - specifically the period 1 April 2024 to 31 August 2024

(b) People convicted, where main crime, by crime type, 2018-19 to 2021-22.

		2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
PROSTITUTION (PUBLIC PLACES)(SCOTLAND) ACT 2007 SECTION 1(1)	Aberdeen City	3	5	-	3
	Dundee City	-	1	-	-
	Edinburgh, City of	1	1	1	1
	Glasgow City	8	23	4	3
Total		12	30	5	7
PROSTITUTION (PUBLIC PLACES)(SCOTLAND) ACT 2007 SECTION 1(3)	Aberdeen City	-	1	1	-
	Edinburgh, City of	1	-	-	-
	Glasgow City	13	7	1	1
Total		14	8	2	1
Grand Total		26	38	7	8

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Please note:

The Criminal Proceedings local authority data is based on court location.

Data for 2020-21 and 2021-22 are affected by the pandemic, subsequent court closures, reduced court capacity due to physical distancing measures and delays to cases where key participants were forced to self-isolate after testing positive for COVID-19, and should not be considered indicative of long term trends.

The latest available data is for 2021-22. Information for 2022-23 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2022-23 Statistical Bulletin. This is planned to be published in late 2024.

Question reference: S6W-30097

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the £10 occasional licence fee, in light of reported concerns by South Ayrshire Council's Licensing Board regarding the fee's inadequacy in covering the administrative costs of larger events.

Question reference: S6W-30096

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received any representations from local authorities, other than South Ayrshire Council's Licensing Board, requesting a review of the occasional licence fee, and what its response has been to any such requests or concerns.

The administration of the alcohol licensing regime in Scotland, as set out in the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 is devolved to independent Licensing Boards. This is, in effect, the 32 Scottish local authorities. They undertake their day-to-day duties within the licensing legal framework.

In 2019 the Scottish Government consulted on whether the current £10 occasional licence fee should be reviewed, and also whether the Scottish Ministers should make regulations setting limits on the number and duration of occasional licences granted.

Those Licensing Boards that responded to the consultation generally commented that the £10 fee did not cover the administrative costs of processing occasional licence applications. Some Boards also highlighted the burden that the processing of these applications places on them. Some concerns were expressed by respondents in terms of any reforms avoiding any undue impact on certain events where occasional licences are regularly sought e.g. local gala days.

In total seventy six responses were received to the consultation, with sixty six respondents consenting to the publication of their response online. Those published responses, including from Licensing Boards, can be viewed on the Scottish Government Citizen Space website.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with local authority Licensing Board representatives through direct engagement with the Society of Local Authority Lawyers and Administrators in Scotland (SOLAR) about a variety of licensing policy issues, including the occasional licence fee and wider policy changes to the occasional licence regime. The Scottish Government is planning further engagement in the next few months with SOLAR and other licensing stakeholders to consider how policy in respect of occasional licences can be developed including assessing the various views offered.

Question reference: S6W-30037

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the position is of NatureScot regarding the policy intention to establish deer management nature restoration orders under the proposed Natural Environment Bill, and whether it will publish all of the correspondence and advice, including the minutes of any meetings, that it has received from NatureScot regarding these orders.

As set out in the 2024-25 Programme for Government, the Natural Environment Bill will include provisions to modernise the way in which deer are managed in Scotland.

In January the Scottish Government consulted on a range of potential reforms to deer management, including the introduction of new powers designed to secure effective deer management that supports Scottish Government nature and climate objectives (Deer Management Nature Restoration Orders). The 'Managing Deer for Climate and Nature: consultation' closed on 29 March 2024. We received around 1600 responses and the full analysis report of the responses was published on 9 September 2024.

The Scottish Government is currently giving careful consideration to all of the consultation responses, which will inform the development of the provisions to be included in the future Natural Environment Bill.

We have no plans to publish all correspondence and advice on the development of planned legislation. The minutes of the Strategic Deer Board relevant to the legislation are published on the Scottish Government website.

Question reference: S6W-30052

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it engages with dental practices in remote and rural areas to understand and respond to the reported challenges that they face, such as recruitment and retention.

As the Health Board makes the arrangements with independent dental contractors and bodies corporate, it is for the Board to have direct discussions with the rural practices.

Each NHS Board has a Director of Dentistry. Officials meet all NHS Boards regularly to discuss local issues, potential solutions and manage risk, which the Director of Dentistry attends.

The Scottish Government also regularly meet with the official representative body, British Dental Association Scotland, to discuss a range of matters including recruitment and retention across rural and island Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-30050

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the impact of Scottish Dental Access Initiative grants, and what its position is on whether the funding is supporting NHS dentistry in remote and rural areas.

Scottish Dental Access Initiative (SDAI) grants are Health Board led and are subject to continuous review.

The purpose of SDAI grants is to provide targeted additional funding to those areas in Scotland where there is clear evidence of unmet need in NHS dental service provision.

The significant national policy intervention was made on the 1st November 2023, to increase fees and make NHS Dentistry more attractive to providers. This clearly benefits and supports NHS dentistry in rural areas.

Question reference: S6T-02121

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that pensioners can afford to heat their homes this winter.

Question reference: S6T-02122

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to council leaders withdrawing support for its National Care Service Bill.