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-35557

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding what proportion of prisoners released under each early release programme in each of the last five years (a) were employed, (b) requested voluntary throughcare and (c) were homeless within six months of release.

Emergency early release regulations have been utilised twice within the last five years (May 2020 and June/July 2024).

On both occasions, the conditions of release were as they would have been at the individual’s original scheduled liberation date. Therefore, as those eligible for release were serving short-term sentences, they were not routinely supervised or monitored following their release.

Therefore, information with regards to their housing circumstances, use of voluntary throughcare, and employment status is not held by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-35544

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many hours of "other activity" were carried out by people with community payback orders who were subject to unpaid work requirements in 2023-24.

The total number of hours of other activity carried out in 2023-24 is not held, but relevant information in relation to orders successfully completed is available.

In the financial year 2023-24, 6,742 unpaid work or other activity requirements imposed as part of a Community Payback Order (CPO) were successfully completed. Of these successful requirements, 884,844 hours were completed.

This above information is available from Table 14 from Justice Social Work Statistics in Scotland: 2023-24 – Part 2 - gov.scot.

Of the hours carried out as part of successfully completed unpaid work or other activity requirements in 2023-24, 66,646 hours (8%) were recorded as other activity.

Question reference: S6W-35374

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) sheriff courts and (b) Police Scotland to ensure that the best pathways are available for providing help to people experiencing alcohol problems in the justice system.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with both the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) and Police Scotland to discuss a range of matters arising in the delivery of justice services.

Specialist or problem solving courts, the establishment of which is ultimately a decision for the judiciary and SCTS, can be an effective way of supporting those with particular needs and positive work is underway in this area.

For example, the Glasgow Alcohol Court opened in 2018 and aims to reduce rates of offending by supporting people who offend with their underlying alcohol issues. Once accepted into the Alcohol Court, participants receive intensive support from their justice social worker and a substance use worker. In 2022, 240 people were accepted into the Alcohol Court.

There are other good practice examples of problem solving courts, including the Pan-Lanarkshire Alcohol and Drugs Problem Solving Court, which secured funding via the CORRA foundation and launched in December 2023.

In terms of court disposals, community payback orders offer a range of potential requirements including a specific alcohol treatment requirement.

Police Scotland, working in partnership with stakeholders, is establishing a working group that will promote best practice and work to drive an increase in referrals from police custody into support for mental health and wellbeing, alcohol and drugs and other relevant services. The new pathway for arrest referrals has now been established, which involved a full review of practices, mapping of services and establishing any gaps in service provision across Scotland. Further work is planned to drive further improvements in the arrest referral service.

Question reference: S6W-35373

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with community justice teams regarding offering support to those who provide help to people experiencing alcohol problems in the justice system.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with stakeholders including Social Work Scotland, COSLA, the Community Justice Voluntary Sector Forum and Community Justice Scotland, to discuss a range of matters arising in the delivery of justice services. With regard to specific interventions, however, community justice is primarily based on a local model, with local areas providing or commissioning services according to local need, and working in collaboration with relevant health services to ensure that any necessary support and treatment is provided.

Justice organisations are also represented on Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) which are funded to work with a range of partners at a strategic, operational and service level. ADPs commission a range of activity which can provide support for those in the justice system, such as referrals to treatment services, harm reduction interventions, alcohol interventions and alcohol use treatment needs screening.

The Scottish Government is currently working on a National Treatment Specification for Alcohol and Drug Treatment in Scotland. This document will be informed by numerous sources including the forthcoming UK Clinical Guidelines for Alcohol Treatment, the recently published Public Health Scotland review into Alcohol Brief Interventions as well as key independent reports such as Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems’ (SHAAP) paper on alcohol use disorder in the justice system.

We are also investing an additional £11 million in 2025-26 to support a range of community justice services, including diversion from prosecution, alternatives to remand and community sentencing. This brings our total budget for community justice to £159m, recognising the key role that such services play in our justice system, including in supporting people with alcohol problems or other underlying needs.

Question reference: S6W-35438

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the target in Zero Waste Scotland’s Corporate Plan to reduce Scotland’s extraction of raw materials by one third, what the (a) start and (b) end date is for this target; what data this is based on, and for what reason one third was chosen as the target.

Zero Waste Scotland's (ZWS) Corporate Plan for 2025-2030 includes present and future targets beyond the life of this Corporate Plan.

The reference to seeking reduction of Scotland's extraction of raw materials by one third is based on a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report, which stresses the importance of high-income countries reducing their material footprint by bending the resource use curve to achieve economic growth, reduced inequality, improved quality of life and dramatically reduced environmental impacts.

During the lifetime of the current Corporate Plan, Scottish Government will continue to work with ZWS in developing data and policies required to establish a baseline and trajectory for future target setting to measure progress towards a circular economy.

Question reference: S6O-04465

Asked by: Karen Adam, MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Aberdeenshire Council’s decision to remove the nightwatch service at Macduff Harbour, in light of reported concerns about the economic impact of the decision.

We recognise the importance of this issue to harbour users; however, ports in Scotland are mostly independent statutory bodies – each governed by their own local legislation – and are deemed commercial entities. Therefore, the Scottish Government has no say in the day-to-day running of their business, nor can it dictate business decisions made by a company on how to best utilise its resources. These are matters for the port authority.

Question reference: S6O-04490

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support local authorities with managing planning applications.

Question reference: S6O-04489

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact will be on discretionary funding in the current financial year of the International Financial Reporting Standard 16 changes outlined in its Spring Budget Revision.

Question reference: S6O-04505

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the marine energy industry.

Question reference: S6O-04510

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work to grow the offshore wind industry.