Seòmar agus comataidhean

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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 43698 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-36175

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the current (a) average and (b) longest wait is for (i) an adult and (ii) a child disability payment from application to payment.

Social Security Scotland routinely publishes statistics on Adult Disability Payment and Child Disability Payment processing times, which include information on the median average processing times.

Latest statistics show that the median average processing time was 42 days in January 2025 for Adult Disability Payment and 73 days in December 2024 for Child Disability Payment.

Social Security Scotland does not currently publish information on the longest processing times for Adult Disability Payment or Child Disability Payment.

The latest Adult Disability Payment and Child Disability Payment official statistics publications can be found at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications/statistics.

Question reference: S6W-36072

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many fatal accident inquiries have been delayed as a result of outstanding investigations or reports from external agencies in each of the last five years, broken down by agency.

COPFS does not hold this information.

There are a number of agencies who may be involved in carrying out inquiries into the circumstances surrounding a death. It is important that the results of those inquiries – which may be specifically instructed by COPFS or part of a separate investigation process - are carefully considered by COPFS before any decisions can be taken on the holding of an FAI.

COPFS has limited influence over the timescales for the completion and provision of reports by other organisations. However, we are currently constructively engaging with many of the public bodies responsible for the completion of internal investigations to ensure that they are completed to an acceptable standard, with outcomes provided to COPFS at the earliest possible stage.

Question reference: S6W-36099

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that the Tealing to Kintore upgrade project fully complies with the Construction (Design Management) Regulations 2015, specifically with regard to assessing and mitigating any safety risks to farmers and agricultural workers arising from overhead power lines.

Question reference: S6W-36116

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any requests from landowners or farming stakeholders for design changes to the Tealing to Kintore upgrade project on safety grounds, and how any such requests have been addressed.

Question reference: S6W-36067

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has introduced to reduce any delays to the commencement of fatal accident inquiries following the conclusion of investigations.

Question reference: S6W-36232

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the impact on the budget of (a) NHS Scotland, (b) other aspects of the healthcare sector, (c) Police Scotland, (d) the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, (e) the Scottish Prison Service, (f) other law enforcement agencies and (g) other emergency services, including any estimated annual savings, of each pound of additional investment in treatment for addiction to (i) drugs and (ii) alcohol, and what information it has regarding the impact on the budgets of (A) relevant charitable or voluntary organisations and (B) local authority social work departments.

We do not currently hold information on the impact that each pound of additional investment in drugs and alcohol has had on the budgets of (a) NHS Scotland, (b) other aspects of the healthcare sector, (c) Police Scotland, (d) the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, (e)?the Scottish Prison Service, (f) other law enforcement agencies and (g) other emergency services. We do not hold information on the impact of budgets of relevant charitable or voluntary organisations and local authority social work departments.

As part of the 2025-26 Equality and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement, we conducted an overview analysis of the impact of drugs and alcohol policies on different groups of people in Scotland. However, we are endeavouring to better understand the impact of the financial uplift provided by the National Mission. Public Health Scotland (PHS) have been commissioned to conduct a comprehensive and independent evaluation of the National Mission. As part of the evaluation, PHS have also commissioned an external study of how National Mission funds have been allocated and spent, and the benefits which that expenditure has (or is likely to have) delivered.

The study will have a number of different research objectives including a summary of existing review-level evidence on treatment effectiveness and cost-effectiveness for treatments in scope, as well as an overview of evidence gaps. The economic evaluation report is anticipated to be published in the first half of 2026. The final evaluation report will be published in 2026.

Question reference: S6W-36234

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much of its alcohol and drugs services budget for (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25 was spent on local authority social work services; what proportion of the budget this represented, and what the estimate is for 2025-26.

The Scottish Government allocates specific National Mission funds via regional Health Boards, for onward disbursement by Integration Authorities, per local Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships’ (ADP) strategic planning. Local Authority Social Work Services provide broad holistic service coverage and support to individuals with a wide range of needs, and it is a matter for local authorities to allocate, and account for the allocation of, Local Authority funds to those services. Any decision to supplement social work services’ funding with National Mission monies is for the judgement of ADPs and is not currently reported to the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-36110

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks regarding the potential hazards associated with agricultural irrigators near high-voltage overhead power lines, and how these have influenced project design.

Question reference: S6W-36109

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that electricity infrastructure projects receiving public funding, such as the Tealing to Kintore upgrade project, comply with safety standards that adequately protect those working in the agriculture sector.

Question reference: S6W-36098

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks regarding the safety standards, including minimum clearance heights, proposed for the Tealing to Kintore upgrade project, and what the outcomes of those discussions were.