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-33597

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a summary of the reasons for the continued delay in the transfer of responsibility for delivery of the Employment Injury Assistance in Scotland to the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is prioritising longer term reform so that Employment Injury Assistance better meets Scotland’s needs. This is the option which was supported by the largest number of responses to our public consultation held last year.

Our work on Employment Injury Assistance has taken longer than initially intended due to the Covid-19 pandemic and associated delays to the development and delivery of social security benefits. Furthermore, we have prioritised the delivery of Scottish Child Payment, Child Disability Payment and Adult Disability Payment, in line with the expectations of disabled people and stakeholders.

The Industrial Injuries Scheme has undergone minimal reform by successive UK Government’s since it was introduced more than 75 years ago. While reform will therefore take time, a like-for-like replacement would have been complex, not offered value for money and would not meet the needs of people in the modern workforce.

Question reference: S6W-33581

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the equivalent weight in (a) pounds and (b) kilograms is of the 138,534 deer reportedly culled in the 2022-23 season.

Question reference: S6W-33299

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether there have been any consequences for any of its officials as a result of any investigations into any leaking of ministerial statements or other information to the media, and, if so, what the consequences were.

Question reference: S6W-34041

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to questions S6W-33478 and S6W-33530 by Neil Gray on 22 January 2025, whether it will contact the chief executive of NHS Grampian to request the information asked for in the questions.

Question reference: S6W-33516

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many times in each of the last five years has a request by it to a UK Government department for data been (a) denied and (b) delayed, broken down by department; what steps were taken to resolve the issue, and what the outcome was, also broken down by data specifically in relation to (i) meeting its net zero targets and (ii) social security and poverty reduction policies.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested centrally. Where data sharing agreements are put in place under certain data sharing powers in Part 5 of the Digital Economy Act 2017, these are recorded on a register of information which can be found at: Register of Information sharing agreements under chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 of part 5 of the Digital Economy Act 2017 - GOV.UK. These can only be established where there is a clear legal gateway to undertake the sharing. Requests for UK government data which have been delayed or are in the process of being resolved are part of continued policy development. To support this, the Office of the Chief Statistician established its UK Data Sharing Team in 2022 following the COVID-19 pandemic and in response to the need for greater data sharing across the UK. The team provides advice and guidance on request to support Scottish Government in accessing data from UK Government departments for statistics and research. Delays often occur in identifying the appropriate legal gateway or in demonstrating technical and security requirements.

The Scottish Government is working with UK departments to resolve barriers to data sharing, such as those evidenced in the Independent Review of the UK Statistics Authority by Professor Denise Lievesley (Independent Review of the UK Statistics Authority 2023 - 2024 - GOV.UK) which noted “systemic and cultural barriers to responsible data sharing between government departments”. In addition, it is working with the UK Government to continue to implement the Digital Economy Act which is expected to improve data sharing processes across programme for government policy areas in the future.

Question reference: S6W-33519

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what agreement it has with the UK Government regarding accessing essential data from UK departments that is required for devolved policy areas; when this was last reviewed, and what plans there are to update this.

Whenever personal data is shared, the processing must comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The UK GDPR requires the careful assessment of compliance with the key principles of the legislation on a case by case basis. This means demonstrating that each instance of data sharing is necessary and proportionate to meet a specific purpose, it has a lawful basis and it is within the expectations of the individuals’ whose data it is. Therefore, the Scottish Government has no over-arching agreement with the UK Government as data sharing agreements are put in place for individual projects that adhere to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Data Sharing Code of Practice.

Question reference: S6W-33758

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what models of government-issued mobile phones are currently in use across its departments, and what criteria are used for their selection.

Question reference: S6W-33772

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it complies with the General Data Protection Regulation requirements in relation to the use of government-issued mobile phones.

Question reference: S6W-33721

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what recent analysis it has undertaken of any time savings for clinical staff as a result of any improvements to medical record systems.

Question reference: S6O-04301

Asked by: Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to invest in the hospice care sector, in light of the £4 million referred to in the draft Budget 2025-26.