The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S6O-04841

Asked by: Humza Yousaf, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what support it is providing for humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

Question reference: S6O-04849

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings of the latest Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, which included for the first time new questions around crimes of fraud and computer misuse.

Question reference: S6O-04844

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding the decision to euthanise police dog Zara in December last year and the subsequent review by the force.

Question reference: S6O-04838

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it supports rural museums.

Question reference: S6O-04840

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, as part of its work to further the case for Scottish independence, what discussions it has had with the UK Government in relation to the Prime Minister’s reported comments that he does not believe that there will be another independence referendum during his administration and that nobody is raising this with him as their first priority, in light of reports that recent polling shows support for independence at over 50%.

Question reference: S6O-04858

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported significant demand for apprenticeships from both employers and applicants, what it is doing to increase the number of apprenticeship places available.

Question reference: S6W-38364

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason £361,250 was provided to West of Scotland Regional Equality Council (WSREC) between 2017-18 and 2020-21 as part of the Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund; what this funding was used for, and what the outcomes were of the (a) Good Community Relations and (b) Living Equality project.

Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund initially ran from 2017 to 2020, and was then extended to October 2021 due to the impacts of covid-19. It was superseded by a revised funding programme: the current Equality and Human Rights Fund.

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund was used to fund projects that would contribute to one or more of four outcomes:

Discrimination against people who share protected characteristics is reduced and multiple discrimination is addressed so that barriers to participation are reduced.
People covered by hate crime legislation experience lower levels of hate crime.
People and communities are supported to participate in and engage with services and civic society; their contribution is recognised, and community cohesion is increased.
Current imbalances in representation in all aspects and levels of public life, including education and employment are addressed to better reflect our communities

(a) Good Community Relations

The Good Community Relations Project (GCRP) was funded to enable to WSREC to continue to undertake work to; reduce barriers to discrimination by offering advice and information to European and other migrant communities; increase awareness of hate crime legislation and support victims of hate crime in the West of Scotland; and balance representation of minority ethnic groups in Renfrewshire in all aspects of life including education, employment, social and civic integration.

Using a combination of awareness raising at a wider level, tailored group support and indepth one to one empowering WSREC would continue to ensure its activities worked towards the advance of equal opportunities and building resilient communities by offering person/group centred activities to diverse minority ethnic communities.

The specific outcomes to be achieved were:

European and other migrant communities in the West of Scotland have increased their opportunities by challenging negative service and social issues reducing discrimination and isolation.
Minority ethnic communities in the West of Scotland are of aware of and challenging hate crime and discriminatory practice.
Minority Ethnic Communities in Renfrewshire are visible, integrated and represented in the fabric of society

(b) Living Equality project.

The Living Equality project was funded to support WSREC to address inequalities and support people and communities to engage and participate with both services and civic society. Work would be undertaken across the West of Scotland, focusing in Glasgow and other local areas, to support; increasing equal opportunities for diverse minority ethnic women, introducing them to mainstream services, civic life and engage in inter-cultural dialogue; creating a platform for dialogue, skills development and raise awareness of the democratic process; establishing a collective voice from disadvantaged communities with additional barriers of falling under multiple characteristics; and supporting public, voluntary and community organisations gain insight and access to women ready to participate in civic life.

The specific outcomes to be achieved were:

Diverse minority ethnic women across all 'protected characteristics' in the West of Scotland have increased opportunities to access democratic processes and civic life.
Diverse minority ethnic women across all ‘protected characteristics’ in the West of Scotland have increased confidence in being part of civic and democratic processes.
Through mainstreaming equalities; Public, Voluntary and Community Organisations across urban and rural areas improve opportunities for minority ethnic women to contribute to civic life.

The Fund was managed on a day to day basis on the Scottish Government’s behalf by Impact Funding Partners initially and then Inspiring Scotland. You can find a Final Progress Update report for the Fund summarising its impacts here: Promoting-Equality-and-Cohesion-Fund-Final-Report-Jan-Sep-2021-for-SG-publication.pdf

Question reference: S6W-38351

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason £237,500 was provided to Queen Margaret University between 2017-18 and 2020-21 as part of the Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund; what this funding was used for, and what the outcomes were of the Professional Online Training in Specialist Interpreting and Working with Deaf People project.

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund initially ran from 2017 to 2020, and was then extended to October 2021 due to the impacts of covid-19. It was superseded by a revised funding programme: the current Equality and Human Rights Fund.

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund was used to fund projects that would contribute to one or more of four outcomes:

Discrimination against people who share protected characteristics is reduced and multiple discrimination is addressed so that barriers to participation are reduced.
People covered by hate crime legislation experience lower levels of hate crime.
People and communities are supported to participate in and engage with services and civic society; their contribution is recognised, and community cohesion is increased.
Current imbalances in representation in all aspects and levels of public life, including education and employment are addressed to better reflect our communities

The Professional Online Training in Specialist Interpreting and Working with Deaf People project was funded to support Queen Margaret University to improve access to public services and remove barriers to participation experienced by Deaf people. The intention was to develop online modules at postgraduate level for two key audiences: (a) BSL/English interpreters wishing to advance their practice in specialist areas of interpreting; (b) professionals working with Deaf people in diverse settings, who require a deeper understanding than is currently available through generic BSL awareness sessions.

The specific outcomes to be achieved were:

Improved competence of BSL/English interpreters working with Deaf BSL users in specialist domains of work (eg healthcare, mental health, legal, education, the arts)
Improved competence in professionals working with Deaf BSL users ensuring that the needs of this population are better understood and addressed

The Fund was managed on a day to day basis on the Scottish Government’s behalf by Impact Funding Partners initially and then Inspiring Scotland. You can find a Final Progress Update report for the Fund summarising its impacts here: Promoting-Equality-and-Cohesion-Fund-Final-Report-Jan-Sep-2021-for-SG-publication.pdf

Question reference: S6W-38346

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason £148,750 was provided to Positive Action for Training in Housing (PATH) (Scotland) between 2017-18 and 2020-21 as part of the Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund; what this funding was used for, and what the outcomes were of the Developing Management and Leadership Skills (DMLS) Programme project.

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund initially ran from 2017 to 2020, and was then extended to October 2021 due to the impacts of covid-19. It was superseded by a revised funding programme: the current Equality and Human Rights Fund.

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund was used to fund projects that would contribute to one or more of four outcomes:

Discrimination against people who share protected characteristics is reduced and multiple discrimination is addressed so that barriers to participation are reduced.
People covered by hate crime legislation experience lower levels of hate crime.
People and communities are supported to participate in and engage with services and civic society; their contribution is recognised, and community cohesion is increased.
Current imbalances in representation in all aspects and levels of public life, including education and employment are addressed to better reflect our communities

The “Developing Management and Leadership Skills” (DMLS) in Public Life, Education and Employment Programme was funded as a positive action measure to reflect the fact that Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) men and women were absent in leadership roles at all levels of public life, education and employment.

The specific outcomes to be achieved were:

BME programme participants demonstrate improved leadership/management ability and improved career and public life aspiration, including education and employment, resulting in better representation of communities in all aspects and levels of public, work and community life
BME Programme participants feel more able to access all levels of employment, community and public life opportunities resulting in public life, including education and employment, being more representative of our communities and fewer barriers to full participation in society
BME Programme participants demonstrate satisfaction with the goals of the programme

The Fund was managed on a day to day basis on the Scottish Government’s behalf by Impact Funding Partners initially and then Inspiring Scotland. You can find a Final Progress Update report for the Fund summarising its impacts here: Promoting-Equality-and-Cohesion-Fund-Final-Report-Jan-Sep-2021-for-SG-publication.pdf

Question reference: S6W-38258

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided directly to each local authority, via grants or other funding, for the purpose of supporting the Regional Improvement Collaboratives (RICs) in each of the last five financial years.

Following a review of the impact of the Regional Improvement Collaboratives, I confirmed to Parliament in 2023 that funding would be tapered in 2024-25 and repurposed thereafter, including to support the establishment of the Centre for Teaching Excellence.

The following table shows funding that has been provided to support the work of each Regional Improvement Collaborative (RIC), in each of the last five financial years:

Regional Improvement Collaborative	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25
Forth Valley and West Lothian Collaborative	£568,488.00	£888,800.00	£888,800.00	£888,800.00	£441,900.00
The Northern Alliance	£890,633.34	£1,048,808.00	£1,039,383.89	£915,608.00	£521,904.00
The South East Improvement Collaborative	£708,712.00	£1,171,746.00	£1,171,746.00	£1,171,746.00	£583,372.97
The South West Educational Improvement Collaborative	£324,321.00	£548,221.00	£528,720.90	£548,221.06	£271,610.50
The Tayside Regional Improvement Collaborative	£446,302.00	£680,359.00	£758,346.00	£752,686.77	£392,713.00
The West Partnership	£930,637.00	£1,515,500.00	£1,515,500.00	£1,515,500.00	£755,250.00

The following table shows funding that has been provided directly to each local authority, via grants, for the purpose of supporting the Regional Improvement Collaboratives (RICs) in each of the last five financial years. Grant funding was provided to lead local authorities for each RIC and any onward distribution of funds to other local authorities was managed by each RIC.

Local Authority	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25
Clackmannanshire Council	£568,488.00	£888,800.00	£888,800.00	£888,800.00	£441,900.00
Shetland Islands Council	£890,633.34	£1,048,808.00	£1,039,383.89	£915,608.00	£521,904.00
Fife Council	£708,712.00	£92,929.00
Midlothian Council		£1,078,817.00	£1,171,746.00	£1,171,746.00	£583,372.97
South Ayrshire Council	£324,321.00
Dumfries & Galloway Council		£548,221.00	£528,720.90	£187,574.17
East Ayrshire Council				£360,646.89	£271,610.50
Perth & Kinross Council	£446,302.00
Dundee City Council		£680,359.00	£758,346.00	£752,686.77	£392,713.00
Glasgow City Council	£930,637.00	£1,515,500.00	£1,515,500.00	£1,515,500.00	£755,250.00

Parliament dissolved ahead of election

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Question reference: S6O-04841

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Question reference: S6O-04849

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Question reference: S6O-04844

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Question reference: S6O-04838

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Question reference: S6O-04858

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Question reference: S6W-38364

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Question reference: S6W-38351

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Question reference: S6W-38346

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Question reference: S6W-38258

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