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-02428

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 October 2023

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of any impact of operational changes in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service on response times to recent incidents, including the fires at the Ayr Station Hotel and Kitty’s nightclub in Kirkcaldy.

Question reference: S6F-02433

Asked by: Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 October 2023

To ask the First Minister what support the Scottish Government is providing to Creative Scotland.

Question reference: S6F-02423

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 October 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-21066

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of police morale, in light of reports of officers leaving the service to pursue an alternative career as a response to a lack of pay increase in line with the level of pay increases awarded to other emergency services.

We welcome the agreements reached with police officers and staff, which sees them receive a 7% pay increase for 2023/24. The agreement reached with officers, through the Police Negotiating Board for Scotland, means that police officers in Scotland remain the best paid in the UK.

The agreements recognise the valuable contribution police officers and staff make to keeping people and communities across Scotland safe, while cognisant of the current economic climate. They provide a fair pay deal amounting to 12% over 2 years, which broadly mirrors wage growth for firefighters over the same period.

Police welfare, wellbeing and morale are matters for the Chief Constable, who has set out a range of support for officers and staff through the Your Wellbeing Matters and Your Voice Matters programmes.

Question reference: S6W-21696

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on financially supporting the reparation of historical artefacts that reside in Scotland as the result of colonialism or imperialism, in light of reports that it did not initially wish to pay for the return of the House of Ni’isjoohl memorial pole from the National Museum of Scotland to the Nisga’a Nation in Canada.

Question reference: S6W-21593

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to redevelop the site of HMP Shotts.

The Scottish Government remains committed to modernising and improving the prison estate, to ensure it is fit for purpose for those that live and work in prisons and supports the rehabilitation of people living there.

Our current infrastructure priorities are the replacements for HMP Barlinnie and HMP Inverness.

Neither the Scottish Government or the Scottish Prison Service have current plans to redevelop the site of HMP Shotts.

Question reference: S6W-21454

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the next Criminal Proceedings in Scotland statistics are due to be published.

Question reference: S6W-21325

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the latest statistics published by the Private Healthcare Information Network, which reports a 12.3% year on year rise in the first quarter of 2023 in admissions to private hospitals for treatment funded by a combination of private healthcare insurance and self-paid, which also accounts for the largest such comparable rise in any part of the UK.

Private Healthcare Information Network figures for the first quarter of 2023 show Scotland has a lower rate of take up of private healthcare compared to England and Wales. The rate of people self-funding for private inpatient/day-case care is 16% higher in England, 51% higher in Wales and 40% higher Northern Ireland than in Scotland. When people who fund private healthcare through insurance is included, the rate per head in England is 76% higher than Scotland. In Wales it is 15% higher and in Northern Ireland 31% higher than in Scotland.

Scotland has a world-class National Health Service we can all be proud of but people have the choice to pay privately for care if they choose. It is important that all healthcare is safe, effective and person-centred and Healthcare Improvement Scotland have stringent regulation of private healthcare, including private hospitals, to ensure that’s the case.

Question reference: S6W-21478

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to a reported increase in still-births.

Question reference: S6W-21676

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 22 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 2 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many convictions there have been under section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 in each of the last 10 years.

The latest available information on convictions is for the financial year 2020-21 and is provided in the following table.

Number of people convicted under section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010, where main crime, 2011-12 to 2020-21.

2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
6,999	9,915	11,661	13,503	14,220	13,602	12,168	10,868	10,400	6,655

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database.

Please note: Data for 2020-21 are affected by the pandemic and subsequent court closures and may not be reflective of long term trend.

Information for 2021-22 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2021-22 Statistical Bulletin. This is due to be published on 24 October 2023.

The dates of all Scottish Government Official and National Statistics publications are pre-announced, and the up to date list of future publications can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/official-statistics-forthcoming-publications/