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-04959

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that the Energy Saving Trust and Home Energy Scotland have the resources required to provide loans for electric vehicles to the public.

The Scottish Government provides annual funding to the Energy Saving Trust to administer the Low Carbon Transport Loan on behalf of Scottish Ministers. Transport Scotland officials also work closely with Energy Saving Trust to consider the most appropriate structure and approach required to administer the loan.

To manage the demands of the scheme, officials have regular meetings with Energy Saving Trust and service level agreements are also in place to ensure the effective delivery of the loan scheme.

Question reference: S6W-05065

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 5 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it has offered local authorities to assist in the roll-out of eBikes, in each year since 2018.

The Scottish Government funds Energy Saving Trust (EST) to deliver the EST E-bike Grant Fund. Grants provided to local authorities since 2018 are presented in the following table:

E-Bike Grant Fund - 2018-2021 - Local Authority grants
Local Authority	Year	Grant
Glasgow City Council	2018-19	£176,623.75
North Ayrshire Council	2018-19	£8,259.55
Dundee City Council	2018-19	£50,000.00
Orkney Council	2018-19	£23,748.00
City of Edinburgh Council	2019-20	£3,088.50
Stirling Council	2019-20	£17,600.00
Glasgow City Council	2019-20	£194,500.00
Clackmannanshire Council	2020-21	£22,338.35
Glasgow City Council	2021-22	£100,000.00
East Lothian Council	2021-22	£54,000.00

Question reference: S6T-00388

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it will take in response to the 2020-21 audit of its consolidated accounts by the Auditor General for Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-04676

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 10 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the carbon levy payment was for business flights taken by (a) Ministers and (b) officials, in each year since 2018.

The carbon levy raised since 2018 is

2018-19 £33,837

2019-20 £40,534

2020 –21 £558

2021-22 Payment due by end March 2022.

The levy is collected by our travel provider and paid back annually. It is not broken down by Ministers and Officials.

The carbon emissions levy is applied to all journeys undertaken by air as follows:

? Domestic – £5 per journey

? European – £6 per journey

? International – £15 per journey

Ministerial travel details are routinely and proactively published here:-

Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-04615

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 10 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) legal aid providers, (b) Civil Legal Assistance Offices and (c) Public Defence Solicitors’ Offices were practising in cases related to (i) claims against public authorities, (ii) community care, (iii) discrimination, (iv) education, (v) housing and debt, (vi) immigration and asylum and (vii) family, since January 2020.

Grants of legal assistance are recorded against a primary case category code and not by individual subject matters of a grant. SLAB have provided the information requested using category codes, which is the most accurate reflection of numbers of case types available.

Between January 2020 and November 2021, the number of entities submitting these types of intimation or application except where otherwise noted.

i) Claims against public authorities

{includes relevant cases of reparation, judicial review, interdict, breach of contract}

87 firms, 135 practitioners

2 CLAO offices, 1 CLAO practitioner

0 PDSO Offices

ii) Community Care

{includes cases at the Additional Support Needs Tribunal and assessment of need, eligibility / charging for services and direct payments}

13 firms, 23 practitioners

1 CLAO office, 1 CLAO practitioner

0 PDSO offices

iii) Discrimination,

24 firms, 37 practitioners.

0 CLAO offices

0 PDSO offices

iv) Education,

26 firms, 28 practitioners.

0 CLAO Offices

0 PDSO Offices

v) Housing and debt,

247 firms, 447 practitioners

3 CLAO offices, 15 CLAO practitioners

0 PDSO offices

vi) Immigration and asylum and

71 firms, 174 practitioners

1 CLAO office, 1 CLAO practitioner

0 PDSO offices

vii) Family

429 firms, 871 practitioners

3 CLAO offices, 10 CLAO practitioners

0 PDSO offices

Question reference: S6W-04562

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 10 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office regarding its announcement that it plans to increase the Climate Justice Fund from £6 million to £9 million, and subsequently to £12 million.

No, the Scottish Government did not have any discussion with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in relation to increasing Scottish Government’s Climate Justice Fund.

To clarify the figures for Scottish Government's Climate Justice Fund, we announced a doubling of it in our Programme for Government; increasing from £12 million to £24 million over the course of this Parliament. During COP, we announced a further 50% rise – from £24 million to £36 million, over the course of the Parliament.

Question reference: S6W-04617

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 10 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what levels of funding have been available for legal aid in each year since 2011.

Question reference: S6W-04616

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 10 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) providers of criminal legal aid and (b) Public Defence Solicitors' Offices there were in each year from September 2012 to September 2021.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) has provided data for the number of ‘active’ practitioners and firms. This includes criminal practitioners and firms in each year that submitted at least one application for criminal legal assistance (Advice and Assistance, Legal Aid or Advice by way of Representation (ABWOR)). SLAB has been able to provide relevant data from October 2014. Data older than this is destroyed as per its records disposal procedures which are in line with good records management.

Criminal Practitioners Practising

Period	Number
Oct14-Sep15	1107
Oct15-Sep16	1083
Oct16-Sep17	1043
Oct17-Sep18	1007
Oct18-Sep19	944
Oct19-Sep20	883
Oct20-Sep21	834

Criminal Firms Practising

Period	Number
Oct14-Sep15	512
Oct15-Sep16	494
Oct16-Sep17	474
Oct17-Sep18	458
Oct18-Sep19	440
Oct19-Sep20	404
Oct20-Sep21	378

The reductions in criminal practitioners and criminal firms should be viewed in the context of demand for criminal legal assistance. Since 2013 the number of criminal case reports to COPFS has reduced from 293,671 in that year to 129,477 (plus 7956 death reports) in 2019/20, a reduction of nearly 56%. These are pre-pandemic numbers. Between October 2014 and September 2021 there has been a 19% reduction in applications for criminal legal assistance.

There are 7 Public Defence Solicitors Offices in Scotland in the same time period.

Question reference: S6W-04614

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 10 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the future of legal aid funding for housing cases.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that legal assistance continues to be available to all those facing issues such as housing concerns. In our Programme for Government we committed to engage with the legal professionals and other stakeholders to review the Legal Aid system, and to introduce a Legal Aid Reform Bill in this Parliament, ensuring that the system is flexible, easy to access and meets the needs of those who use it.

The Scottish Government has reiterated its commitment to retaining a demand led Fund to support a wide scope of actions. Particular consideration will be given, during the development of the Bill, to how more targeted and planned interventions can support user need.

Question reference: S6W-04610

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 8 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of requests made for legal aid funding, before an inquest, was successful, in each of the last 20 years.

There is no system of coroners' inquests in Scotland unlike England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The responsibility for the investigation of any death that requires further explanation rests with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. Any sudden, suspicious, unexpected or unexplained death and any death which has occurred in circumstances which give rise to public concern, can result in a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) a public examination of the circumstances of that death conducted before a sheriff.

Legal aid is available for relatives participating in an FAI on the same basis as for civil proceedings and the same statutory tests must be met.

Civil legal aid has generous financial eligibility thresholds and those who are entitled to participate in an FAI, such as family, are assumed to have probable cause. In terms of assessing ‘reasonableness’ the Scottish Legal Aid Board expects that the Procurator Fiscal will usually be able to represent the interests of the relatives. However, where a relative of a person who died in prison or police custody applies, SLAB will look favourably on the application.

SLAB holds data in respect of applications from 2012 only. In respect of FAIs I can confirm that since 2012 there has been a total of 134 applications received, of which 111 were granted. That is a grant rate of approximately 83%.

In the financial year 2012-13 90% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2013-14 78% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2014-15 71% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2015-16 93% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2016-17 88% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2017-18 87% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2018-19 79% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2019-20 81% of applications received were granted.

In the financial year 2020-21 86% of applications received were granted.