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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: S6W-38251

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many applicants who applied for a Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme payment for 2025-26 have yet to receive their payment, and what the reasons were for any delay of payments.

Question reference: S6W-38253

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm the exact amount of funding that has been allocated to the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme in each financial year since 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-38245

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it holds any national benchmarking or audit data regarding the accessibility and quality of youth centres.

Question reference: S6W-37652

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is undertaking any ongoing survey of local residents to capture their views regarding any changes in the community in relation to (a) drug-related litter, (b) instances of drug dealing and (c) street smoking or injecting, within the vicinity of the Thistle safer drug consumption facility.

The Thistle will undergo a comprehensive, independent evaluation, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research and led by a collaboration of academic institutions, including the University of Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian University, and other expert research partners.

The evaluation includes a specific focus on the impact of the Thistle on the wider community, this will be assessed using repeated community surveys to examine trends in community cohesion, wellbeing, and perceptions of safety/crime compared to control areas. Repeated focus groups with the local community will also explore how perceptions evolve as the intervention becomes embedded.

Ongoing engagement with local residents, businesses, and stakeholder forms an integral part of the pilot’s delivery. Capturing lived experience and local perceptions is essential to assessing the effectiveness of the facility and ensuring future policy and service development are informed by those most affected by this.

Question reference: S6W-38249

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme payments were made to new entrant farmers in each year since 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-38294

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any extraditions to Scottish prisons being blocked or held up by international courts in the last five years, and, if so, what the reasons were for any such cases.

Foreign authorities sometimes request assurances from Scotland in response to an extradition request because they must be satisfied that requested persons will not be subject to treatment that breaches their human rights. Assurances, by their nature, require more work to be done in order to secure the extradition of a requested person, therefore, all cases where assurances are sought necessarily involve some element of additional delay. The most commonly sought assurances relate to prison standards and the nature of healthcare available in prisons.

Pre-Brexit, assurance requests from the EU were rare due to the principle of mutual trust and respect accorded between EU member states. However, post-Brexit, the number of assurances and the complexity of the specific asks increased as courts, both Scottish and Foreign, must consider the system the requested person will be surrendered to in greater detail and with greater scrutiny due to the loss of mutual recognition between the UK and EU.

The Scottish Government is aware of one extradition which was temporarily blocked by an Irish court in 2023 following a negative judicial finding regarding the first set of assurances provided. The requested person was subsequently extradited to Scotland in 2024 following the provision of updated assurances by the Scottish authorities.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any other international or foreign court blocking any extradition.

Question reference: S6W-38246

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on the number of qualified youth workers that are currently employed in Scotland.

Youth work falls within the scope of The Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013. This regulation, in effect, requires local authorities to identify need and plan provision of Community Learning and Development in their areas.

As the regulatory requirements for Community Learning and Development are placed with education authorities, the Scottish Government does not collate information on youth workers.

Question reference: S6W-38206

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much Baroness Helena Kennedy KC was paid in her role as chair of the Independent Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-37842

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many police officers have had claims not accepted by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-38266

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reviewed the impact of the national guidance on reimbursement for home dialysis costs to include utility costs, including water and electricity, following its introduction in March 2024.

In January 2024, we implemented a Scotland-wide policy reimbursing home dialysis patients for their extra electricity costs incurred in their treatment. At the time of implementation, there was a commitment to undertake a review 6-12 months later to ensure that the Policy had been fully applied across all NHS Boards. This Review has been completed and concluded that all Boards had reimbursement policies for eligible patients. This removes the financial disincentive to making a choice for home dialysis over in-centre treatments, allowing personal choice in where and how to receive treatment.

Year	Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme
2021	£7,100,050.54
2022	£7,100,050.54
2023	£7,100,050.54
2024	£7,100,050.54

Scheme Year	Eligible SUSSS applicants	New Entrants	% New Entrants
2021	1137	7	0.62
2022	1133	8	0.71
2023	1135	13	1.15
2024	1114	8	0.72