Seòmar agus comataidhean

The information requested is not routinely gathered or held centrally by the Scottish Government. Any outstanding liabilities to settle equal pay claims will be reflected in a public body's annual accounts. Information of this nature can be obtained by approaching individual public bodies.

The development and delivery of flood protection schemes is a local authority responsibility. As such, the business case for Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme (GFPS) was prepared by Falkirk Council. This included an economic assessment of the costs and benefits of their proposed scheme.

SEPA carried out a prioritisation process for all the flood protection schemes put forward in the 2015 Flood Risk Management Plans. This prioritisation was largely based on the cost benefit ratios supplied by the relevant local authorities.

I have asked Stephen Pathirana, Chief Executive of the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, to respond. His response is as follows:

No retired police officers have died before receiving pension payments.

From 1 October 2023, officers who had retired before that date became entitled to make a choice of pension scheme provision in respect of their pensionable service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022, or their date of retirement if earlier.

This choice could be made after the provision of a remediable service statement, which were to be issued by 31 March 2025 or by such later day as the scheme manager considers reasonable in all the circumstances in the case of a particular member or a particular class of member.

In the last five years, three retired officers entitled to receive a remediable service statement died before making their choice. All three officers retired under the terms of their legacy final salary scheme.

To date almost £23 million has been provided by Scottish Government to Falkirk Council to support the development of the Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme.

As set out in answer to question S6W-37425, which was answered on 2 May 2025, due to the short amount of time left in this parliamentary session, there is insufficient time for a Misogyny Bill to be finalised and introduced. Therefore, the Scottish Government has decided not to proceed with this Bill in this parliamentary session.

However, in order to allow for the protected characteristic of ‘sex’ to be added to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 so that women and girls have the same protections as other groups protected by that Act, we will lay before the Scottish Parliament in September a proposed draft of an SSI under the powers within the Act. This will allow for views to be offered on the approach taken before a finalised SSI is then subsequently laid which will, if agreed, result in new protections for women and girls being introduced.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

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

The SPS seeks to be as open and transparent as possible, while also upholding our statutory obligation to protect the personal information of those in our care.

This information requested is not information held by the Scottish Prison Service.

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

No consultation has been taken forward in response to the suggestion made in His Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons’ Full Inspection report on HMP Barlinnie published on 24 March 2025 for a central repository for items to support people on their transgender journey. SPS has no current plans to create such a repository.

The total expected cost put forward by Falkirk Council in 2015 for the Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme in 2015 was £108 million. The scheme as put forward includes a range of components providing protection to both residential and industrial areas.

Falkirk Council currently estimate the cost to complete the entire Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme as originally proposed is between £450 million and £672 million. This has increased significantly from the estimate of £108million provided in 2015.

The Scottish Government has provided almost £23 million to date to Falkirk Council to support them in development of the Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme.

Employment tribunal matters are independent and administered by HM Courts and Tribunal Service. It is for the Employment Tribunal to determine whether it is appropriate to restrict public scrutiny of a tribunal involving matters of significant public interest. Accordingly, it would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment.

I meet regularly with local authorities and key stakeholders to discuss a range of social care issues. Conversations I have include ongoing work to remove non-residential social care charges for vulnerable residents. These discussions form part of broader efforts to improve fairness, equity, and access within the social care system in Scotland.

While the Scottish Government does not maintain a central tally of all individual meetings by topic, many of my meetings particularly those with local authorities routinely include agenda items relating to social care reform. This includes meetings held through formal channels such as the Ministerial Strategic Group for Health and Community Care, and engagements with COSLA and other local government representatives.

Details of my meetings, are published on the Scottish Government’s website through the Proactive release schedule. This ensures transparency and allows the public to see when and with whom I have met. These records include information relevant to meetings where the removal of non-residential care charges may have been discussed.

I remain committed to making progress in this area. Discussions with local authorities, including on the topic of non-residential charges, are ongoing as part of social care reform work.