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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 46716 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-19732

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with Scotland’s National Centre for Languages since May 2021, and what the agreed outcomes were of any such meetings.

Scottish Government officials have held quarterly meetings with Scotland’s National Centre for Languages (SCILT) since May 2021 as part of the grant management process. Officials have also met with staff from SCILT to discuss projects on an ad-hoc basis.

The outcomes of such meetings have included agreed objectives relating to grant funding to SCILT and decisions on whether to continue to provide funding and the amount of funding available.

Question reference: S6W-19541

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its progress towards its target for out-of-area residential placements and inappropriate hospital stays to be greatly reduced by March 2024, as set out in its report, Coming Home Implementation: A report from the working group on complex care and delayed discharge.

We are committed to delivering the Coming Home recommendations to reduce inappropriate out-of-area placements and delayed discharges experienced by people with learning disabilities and complex care needs. We continue to work closely with COSLA and the local partners which have statutory responsibility for providing and commissioning appropriate services to meet their population’s needs.

In terms of progressing the recommendations, Dynamic Support Registers have been developed and launched, and local partners are now populating these. The Registers will provide an overview of the position across Scotland and help local areas to plan for people with learning disabilities and complex care needs to live in their home communities. We know that a number of local areas are already using these registers.

The Practitioner Peer Support Network to support local areas to share best practice will go live soon and we are also progressing work to establish a National Support Panel, to support local areas to share best practice and ensure genuine change is delivered.

Question reference: S6W-19546

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made an assessment of the impact of the redevelopment of Ardrossan harbour on the ferry routes servicing Arran, and, if so, whether it will provide details of this assessment.

Question reference: S6W-19543

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many pupils were suspended from schools in each of the last four years, broken down by local authority area.

Information on the number of pupils and cases of exclusions is collected and published every two years. Statistics on the number of pupils excluded by local authority from 2007-08 to 2020-21 are available in Table 2.3 here:

https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/statistics/2018/06/school-exclusions-statistics/documents/school-exclusions-2020-21/school-exclusions-2020-21/govscot%3Adocument/Exclusion%2Bstatistics%2B202021.xlsx

Cases of exclusion have fallen from a high of 44,794 in 2006-07 to 8,323 in 2020-21. There was a particularly notable decrease in exclusion between 2018-19 and 2020-21, with cases of exclusion falling 44%. This decrease is partly attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over 99% of all exclusions were for a fixed period of time (referred to as temporary exclusions), with pupils expected to return to their original school when the exclusion period is completed.

Question reference: S6W-19508

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide an update on its policy position regarding the implementation of individual payments for Universal Credit.

Question reference: S6W-19524

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the owners of publicly accessible ice rinks to mitigate against any increase in energy bills.

We are fully aware that energy costs are an issue facing many sports facilities, particularly ice rinks.

However, given that the levers to respond to rising energy prices and the wider cost of living crisis are reserved, we continue to urge the UK Government to use all the powers at its disposal to tackle this crisis.

Scottish Government officials recently met with the Scottish Ice Rink Association to discuss the difficulties facing ice rinks.

It is vital that partners at a local level work together to explore all avenues and approaches to support local sport and leisure facilities.

Question reference: S6W-19542

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many rural bus services have been discontinued in each year since May 2018, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-19764

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the total amount of grant funding was that was (a) available and (b) distributed for its Creative Communities programme in each year since it was established.

Question reference: S6W-19723

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with the National Theatre of Scotland since May 2021, and what the agreed outcomes were of any such meetings.

National Theatre of Scotland is one of Scotland’s five National Performing Companies and has met with Scottish Ministers on two occasions since May 2021.

On 28 September 2021, National Theatre of Scotland held an introductory meeting with the Minister for Culture, Europe and international Development, where the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions and support for the culture sector were discussed

On 11 January 2023, National Theatre of Scotland, along with the other National Performing Companies, met with the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture to explore how their international tours could further enhance the reputation and brand of Scotland overseas.

As a National Performing Company the National Theatre of Scotland receive direct funding from Scottish Government. Scottish Government officials have met regularly since May 2021 with the National Theatre Scotland as part of normal grant management processes.

Question reference: S6W-19422

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-18387 by Mairi McAllan on 9 June 2023, whether it will provide an update on its work with ATCO and COSLA in developing the Community Bus Fund, and when it plans to launch the Community Bus Fund.