Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-02122

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent report by Independent Age, which states that one in seven people in Scotland over the State Pension age live in poverty.

Question reference: S6O-02114

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is supporting NHS boards, including NHS Ayrshire and Arran, which have outsourced Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in order to reduce waiting times, to bring such services back in-house.

Question reference: S6O-02111

Asked by: Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to improve effective communication and collaboration between health and social care providers.

Question reference: S6O-02116

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many affordable homes it has delivered in the past year.

Question reference: S6O-02113

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many social care posts remain unfilled across Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-02117

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports low-income families in Glasgow.

Question reference: S6W-17198

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 April 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what its response is to the UK Secretary of State for Scotland’s use of section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 to prevent the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from proceeding to Royal Assent, after it was passed by the Scottish Parliament.

The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed by an overwhelming majority of the Scottish Parliament, with support from members of all parties. The use of section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 to stop the legislation proceeding to Royal Assent is an unprecedented challenge to the Scottish Parliament’s ability to legislate on clearly devolved matters.

The Order was made without any specific prior engagement or notification by the Secretary of State during the Bill process. It was made without any specific request for amendments to the Bill from any UK Minister. Since the Order was laid, and despite requests, the Secretary of State and the UK Government have refused to provide any further clarification or engagement with the Scottish Government or Scottish Parliament. We have offered to discuss specific changes to the Bill with the Secretary of State, but given that this offer has not been taken up, it is impossible to know what changes would satisfy the reasons the UK Government has given, particularly as he has highlighted that the existence of two different schemes within the UK is in itself problematic.

To uphold the democratic decision of the Parliament, and ensure proper protection of devolution, Scottish Ministers will now lodge a petition for judicial review of the Secretary of State’s decision. The Scottish Government does not consider the reasons set out by him provide sufficient justification for his decision to make an order under section 35 of the Scotland Act. The Scottish Government also believes that the UK Government has not used the power in line with the Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Devolved Governments (agreed in 1999 and updated in 2013), or as envisaged when the Scotland Act was passed.

While the Scotland Act conferred the power in Section 35 on the Secretary of State, its use is unprecedented, so it is important to have clarity on the interpretation and scope of the power, and its impact on devolution. Those matters and the use of the power on this occasion should be legally tested in the courts.

The deadline for lodging a petition necessitates doing so during recess but I will make a statement to Parliament after the Easter recess, subject to agreement of the parliamentary bureau.

As is usual in these circumstances, the Scottish Government will not be able to comment on live legal proceedings.

Question reference: S6W-16502

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 12 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with Rape Crisis Scotland since May 2021, and what the agreed outcomes were of any such meetings.

Information about Ministerial engagements is proactively released on the Scottish Government website . The spreadsheets include a wide range of information including details of the organisation/individuals Ministers met along with the subject discussed.

Officials across the Scottish Government regularly engage with violence against women and girls stakeholders as part of the policy development process. Officials work closely with Rape Crisis Scotland as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to our Equally Safe Strategy, Scotland’s strategy to eradicate and prevent violence against women and girls. A representative from Rape Crisis Scotland sits on Equally Safe Joint Strategic Board (ES JSB) and further detail on this can be found on the Scottish Government’s website: Equally Safe Joint Strategic Board - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) )

Question reference: S6W-16498

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Emma Roddick on 12 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with Close the Gap since May 2021, and what the agreed outcomes were of any such meetings.

Information about Ministerial engagements is proactively released on the Scottish Government website . The spreadsheets include a wide range of information including details of the organisation/individuals Ministers met along with the subject discussed.

Officials across the Scottish Government regularly engage with gender equality stakeholders as part of the policy development process. Officials work closely with Close the Gap as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to advancing gender equality and our work to support employers address gender pay gaps across Scotland. A representative also sits on the Gender Equality Taskforce in Education and Learning group which seeks to tackle the barriers faced by girls and young women in an education setting.

Question reference: S6W-16309

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 12 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has provided to Creative Scotland for the financial year 2023-24.

The Scottish Government’s grant-in-aid to Creative Scotland for 2023/2024 is to fulfil its statutory functions, deliver Scottish Ministers' strategic objectives and contribute to the National Outcomes and National Performance Framework , as set out in the approved Creative Scotland Corporate Plan.

The public sector reform agenda announced as part of the 2023-24 budget is to ensure public services remain sustainable and are best placed to deliver improved outcomes. Guidance has been issued to Creative Scotland and other public bodies around key themes including where savings, improved performance and improved service delivery can be achieved by working together.

Updated Fair Work First guidance was published on 24 March, that supports public sector grant managers and recipients to pay at minimum the real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for effective workers’ voice, within the limits on devolved competence, from 1 July 2023.

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