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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: S6F-02687

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-24113

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties will be subject to the higher property rate poundage in 2024-25, broken down by (a) industry sector and (b) local authority area.

The number of properties expected to be liable for the Higher Property Rate (HPR) in 2024-2025 before any reliefs are applied is presented in the below tables, broken down in Table 1 by property class, and in Table 2 by council area. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property. The Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors.

These tables are based on the non-domestic valuation roll as at 1 October 2023.

Figures in these tables are rounded to the nearest 10.

Table 1: Number of properties liable for HPR in 2024-2025 by property class

Property class	Properties with a gross HPR liability
Shops	2,410
Public Houses	190
Offices	1,770
Hotels	590
Industrial Subjects	2,500
Leisure, Entertainment, Caravans etc.	560
Garages and Petrol Stations	160
Cultural	90
Sporting Subjects	30
Education and Training	1,390
Public Service Subjects	510
Communications	90
Quarries, Mines, etc.	40
Petrochemical	70
Religious	40
Health and Medical	280
Other	240
Care Facilities	350
Advertising	20
Statutory Undertaking	380
All	11,670

Table 2: Number of properties liable for HPR in 2024-2025 by council area

Local authority	Properties with a gross HPR liability
Aberdeen City	1,010
Aberdeenshire	520
Angus	140
Argyll & Bute	160
Clackmannanshire	50
Dumfries & Galloway	200
Dundee City	360
East Ayrshire	150
East Dunbartonshire	120
East Lothian	140
East Renfrewshire	70
City of Edinburgh	1,750
Na h-Eileanan Siar	50
Falkirk	290
Fife	510
Glasgow City	1,850
Highland	620
Inverclyde	100
Midlothian	180
Moray	200
North Ayrshire	170
North Lanarkshire	580
Orkney Islands	30
Perth & Kinross	280
Renfrewshire	370
Scottish Borders	170
Shetland Islands	60
South Ayrshire	210
South Lanarkshire	550
Stirling	210
West Dunbartonshire	140
West Lothian	430
Scotland	11,670

Question reference: S6W-24122

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many prison cells housing the general prison population and those in solitary confinement are not furnished with (a) a table, (b) seating for the daytime, such as a chair or bench and (c) a bed and bedding at night, and where in the prison estate any such cells are located.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

When an individual is allocated a prison cell in any establishment, the cell is equipped with furnishings such as a table/tabletop, seating, a bed and bedding.

The occasion where this may not occur is when an individual is located in a safer cell if it is considered that they are a risk to themselves. These cells are equipped with a bed and bedding, but they may not have a chair or a separate table. Items in use within a safer cell are allocated on an individualised basis.

The following table shows the number of safer cells across the prison estate:

Establishment	Number of Safer Cells
Barlinnie	11
Dumfries	2
Edinburgh	5
Glenochil	4
Grampian	16
Greenock	3
Kilmarnock	2
Low Moss	8
Perth	7
Polmont	15
Shotts	2
Stirling	13

Question reference: S6W-24126

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether all female prisoners have access to sanitary pads on demand; whether any such sanitary pads are provided free of charge, and whether the Scottish Prison Service records any incidents of pads not being provided when needed.

Question reference: S6W-23932

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland has provided any training, advice, guidance or support to the (a) Israel Police, (b) Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and (c) Israeli security services; if so, what type of support has been provided, and what the financial value was of any contract.

The Chief Constable of Police Scotland, with oversight from the Scottish Police Authority, considers any requests to provide training to other police forces or organisations via their International Development and Innovation Unit.

Police Scotland have confirmed that no training, advice, guidance or support has been provided to the Israel Police, the Israel Defence Forces, or the Israeli Security Services.

Question reference: S6W-23872

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it is providing local authorities with the necessary resources to support the presumption of mainstreaming in schools.

Children and young people should learn in the environment which best suits their needs. Most children and young people’s need are met through a universal level of support in mainstream provision, however, there are clear exceptions to enable children and young people to learn in a special school or in a specialist unit. It is for local authorities to determine the most appropriate educational provision, taking account of their legal responsibilities and the individual circumstances and wishes of children, young people and their families. We are working with our stakeholders to refine the guidance available to local authorities on taking these decisions, including updating the additional support for learning code of practice.

Our support to local authorities for additional support for learning reached a record high of £830m in the year 2021-22. We have invested an additional £15m per year since 2019-20 and provide over £11m of funding to directly support pupils with complex additional support needs and services to children and families.

We currently have the highest recorded level of pupil support assistants. In 2022, 307 additional pupil support assistants were recruited, in addition to 1,036 recruited in the previous year, bringing the total number of pupil support assistants in Scotland to 16,606. This level of recruitment is a direct result of our continued investment of £15m each year to help schools and local authorities respond to the individual needs of children and young people and maintains our record levels of investment in these staff.

We have also recently outlined in our Programme for Government 2023-24 our commitment to work with teachers to provide additional professional learning opportunities while seeking to build on the Additional Support for Learning Action Plan.

Question reference: S6W-23878

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government which university it plans to lead the Centre of Teaching Excellence.

On 6 November 2023 I updated Parliament that it is anticipated the Centre for Teaching Excellence will be hosted by a university, learning from the successful model of the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection better known as CELCIS.

The Scottish Government is committed to co-designing the Centre with teachers and practitioners, professional associations, local government, universities and Scotland’s national education bodies, to ensure it meets the needs of its users and stakeholders. The role and remit of the Centre, how it operates, its interaction with teachers, practitioners and stakeholders, performance measures, and associated costs and timescales will be considered as part of that design process.

The Scottish Government has had useful engagement with the Scottish Council of Deans of Education to discuss the overall approach to co-producing the Centre and, in due course, an appropriate process will be taken forward to establish it.

Question reference: S6W-23884

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many current vacant teaching posts have been filled by a probationer teacher for more than one year.

Question reference: S6W-23873

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the ministerial statement on literacy and numeracy on 12 December 2023, what assessment it has made of the impact of the £830 million that it set aside for additional learning support assistants in 2021-22.

As I set out in my statement, we have a record number of additional support assistants in our schools, and this has been supported by the £830m spent on additional support for learning in 2021-22. This level of spend on additional support for learning is a record high.

We have maintained our record level of investment in pupil support assistants by providing authorities with a further £15m per year since 2019-20 to specifically support schools and authorities to respond to the individual needs of children and young people. As a direct result of our continued investment, we now have the highest recorded level of pupil support assistants. In 2022, 307 additional pupil support assistants were recruited. This builds on the increase of 1,036 from the previous year (2021) and brings the total number of pupil support staff in Scotland to 16,606.

Question reference: S6W-23880

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what structures and support it plans to put in place to allow stakeholders to engage with the Centre of Teaching Excellence.