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-30930

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to improve palliative care provision.

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on Scotland’s draft palliative care strategy Palliative Care Matters for All. The consultation is open until 10 January 2025 and builds on extensive stakeholder engagement to develop a framework to support delivery and build on existing work to support those in need of palliative care and their families. Through our draft palliative care strategy, we are committed to working with Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) and adult independent hospice organisations to develop a national guidance framework to support and improve consistency of local planning and commissioning of independent hospice services through Integrated Joint Boards (IJBs).

Question reference: S6W-30849

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its targets are for the Digital Inclusion Charter.

The targets set out in SCVO’s grant agreement are 200 signatories by the end of March 2025. To date we have attracted 42 organisations, across the public, private and voluntary sectors, who have made a range of pledges to support the Charter.

Current signatory organisations include large businesses (Standard Life plc), public sector organisations (e.g. Edinburgh City Libraries) and local community projects (e.g. Milan Senior Welfare).

SCVO will be running a campaign focusing on each of the 5 pledges from November 2024 to March 2025, with examples of best practice and video case studies from existing signatories.

Question reference: S6W-30147

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-25972 by Tom Arthur on 18 March 2024, whether it will provide an updated table that includes figures for 2024-25, broken down by property class.

Table 1 presents the estimated gross cost of setting the Higher Property Rate equal to the Standard Multiplier in England, updated to include 2024-2025.

In England, in 2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, the Standard Multiplier was 51.2p, or 1.3p above the Small Business Multiplier of 49.9p.

In 2024-2025, the Standard Multiplier is 54.6p, or 4.7p above the Small Business Multiplier of 49.9p.

In Scotland, the Higher Property Rate in 2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 was 2.6p above the poundage, which was 49p in 2021-2022 (having been temporarily reduced from 49.8p in 2020-2021 in response to the ongoing impact of COVID-19), and 49.8p in 2022-2023, 2023-2024.

The costs therefore represent the impact of setting the Higher Property Rate at 51.2p instead of 51.6p in 2021-2022, and 51.2p instead of 52.4p in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.

The Higher Property Rate in 2024-2025 is 6.1p above the poundage, which remains at 49.8p from 2023-2024. The costs therefore represent the impact of setting the Higher Property Rate at 54.6p instead of 55.9p.

The figures for 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 are presented after General Revaluation Transitional Relief is applied.

The figures are gross estimates and are not adjusted for any other relief. Figures are broken down by property class, a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, which may not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a given property.

This table is based on the valuation roll as at 1 October 2021, 1 October 2022, 1 October 2023 and 1 October 2024.

Figures from 30 March 2023 and 1 April 2023 were used to calculate General Revaluation Transitional Relief.

Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest £1,000, and may not sum due to rounding.

Table 1: Estimated gross cost of reducing the Higher Property Rate to the level of the English Standard Multiplier (£), broken down by property class.

Property class	2021-2022 (£)	2022-2023 (£)	2023-2024 (£)	2024-2025 (£)
Shops	3,589,000	10,798,000	8,824,000	9,627,000
Public houses and restaurants	127,000	377,000	317,000	409,000
Offices	2,167,000	6,597,000	6,092,000	7,066,000
Hotels	778,000	2,390,000	2,270,000	2,649,000
Industrial subjects	2,863,000	8,658,000	8,709,000	9,969,000
Leisure and entertainment	600,000	1,814,000	1,873,000	2,206,000
Garages and petrol stations	117,000	341,000	312,000	406,000
Cultural	145,000	408,000	412,000	448,000
Sporting subjects	36,000	113,000	98,000	185,000
Education and training	1,918,000	5,707,000	6,229,000	6,988,000
Public service subjects	895,000	2,614,000	2,505,000	3,038,000
Communications	81,000	197,000	303,000	298,000
Quarries, mines, etc.	34,000	94,000	95,000	121,000
Petrochemical	447,000	1,291,000	1,400,000	1,529,000
Religious	14,000	50,000	50,000	76,000
Health and medical	714,000	2,097,000	2,120,000	2,364,000
Other	352,000	1,045,000	1,102,000	1,537,000
Care facilities	207,000	631,000	704,000	773,000
Advertising	11,000	34,000	39,000	55,000
Statutory undertaking	3,647,000	10,897,000	10,039,000	13,139,000
All	18,743,000	56,152,000	53,493,000	62,883,000

Question reference: S6W-30856

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list any meetings held with Ofcom, mobile phone, or internet providers to discuss access to social tariffs since 2022.

Across government, particularly in the Digital Directorate, a number of teams meet regularly with OfCom and mobile phone providers to discuss a wide range of issues. As social tariffs remain a reserved matter for the UK Government, the majority of these discussions do not focus on social tariffs however the exceptions to this are listed below:

The Digital Citizen Division meet with Vodafone every 2 months to discuss a wide range of topics. This includes, at times, social tariffs.
The Digital Citizen Division will meet with OfCom later in November to discuss digital inclusion and the interventions that are most effective in supporting households take up connectivity. This will likely include a discussion on social tariffs.
The Digital Strategy Team are having ongoing discussions with Ofcom regarding a proposed visit to their offices by the Minister for Business where social tariffs are a potential topic for discussion.

Question reference: S6W-30850

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it will evaluate the success of the Digital Inclusion Charter.

The purpose of Scotland’s Digital Inclusion Charter is to support, guide and recognise the work of organisations doing digital inclusion. SCVO will support organisations to take action to meet each pledge. The Charter is one tool that is being used to engage organisations and encourage them to act on digital inclusion.

It is the intention that the Charter will provide a useful source of data on the different activities being undertaken across all sectors to tackle digital exclusion. When organisations are asked to renew their pledges after a two-year period, they will be asked to demonstrate any progress they have made.

As with any charter or pledge, the levels of commitment by signatories is likely to vary. The priority is to secure Charter signatories who can deliver meaningful actions, rather secure large numbers of signatories with superficial commitments.

Question reference: S6W-30854

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will share examples of coordinated approaches to digital inclusion across government since 2022.

The Scottish Government is committed to taking a joined-up approach to digital inclusion. We engage across government and with the UK and the other devolved nations to understand and share good practice. We will continue to work in this way and aim to continue supporting coordinated approaches across government.

The Connecting Scotland Programme team have been involved in supporting the development and advancement of other Scottish Government projects such as digital health programmes and education projects. The team also work very closely with colleagues taking forward the R100 and S4GI programmes.

The Scottish Government is also building a Digital Inclusion Alliance (DIA), which is the national delivery mechanism to bring together the public, private and third sectors to jointly agree how to tackle digital exclusion through long-term, sustainable approaches.

In addition the Scottish Government is currently undertaking a mapping exercise of digital inclusion initiatives with local authorities, housing associations and third sector to undertake place-based mapping of the digital inclusion ecosystem. This will help us understand the digital inclusion models and barriers to progress in a local context. The findings from this will inform a collective plan for the DIA that draws in all sectors to work together. Through this work we will seek to identify good practice and promote collaboration to advance digital inclusion.

Question reference: S6W-30585

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what correspondence it has had with members of the UK Parliament regarding the Green Volt project.

Any correspondence from members of the UK Parliament will be processed by officials in line with the Scottish Ministerial Code.

As is a matter of public record, Stephen Flynn, MP, contacted the then Minister for Energy and the Environment, Gillian Martin, in October 2023 forwarding on information from Flotation Energy. Mr Flynn asked that Scottish Government officials could review the information below and, if appropriate, arrange contact with those involved to discuss these matters further and stated that no detailed response is required just confirmation the below is receiving attention. A written response was sent to Mr Stephen Flynn MP confirming that officials had reviewed the information provided in his enquiry and that officials were in regular contact with the Green Volt project team on this matter and that discussions are ongoing regarding the progress of the Green Volt application.

Question reference: S6W-30583

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many times it has provided a fast-track ministerial review in response to correspondence from members of the (a) Scottish and (b) UK Parliament since the start of the current parliamentary session.

Question reference: S6W-30580

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish all correspondence with Flotation Energy regarding the Green Volt floating wind farm.

Question reference: S6W-30743

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-30360 by Alasdair Allan on 9 October 2024, what funding is being made available to support work in the Central Lowlands, beyond the northern areas.

As I set out in response to S6W-30360 we are providing a range of support and funding to work that aims to promote red squirrel populations. Alongside the support detailed in my previous answer, we have also recently awarded the Eastern Lowlands Red Squirrel Group a development grant of £59,500 through the Scottish Government Nature Restoration Fund. The funding will be used to create a conservation strategy dedicated to protecting and restoring the red squirrel population across the eastern lowlands.

The grant will support a year-long initiative to get a better understanding of population sizes of both red and grey squirrels across Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan-shire, and identify key challenges and opportunities for safeguarding Scotland's beloved native red squirrels in the face of growing environmental pressures.