- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 14 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Scottish National Party 2021 manifesto commitment to abolish non-residential care charges, for what reason the number of local authorities introducing or raising such fees has reportedly increased since 2022.
Answer
Under Section 87(1A) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, a local authority may charge for the adult non-residential, non-personal care it provides such as day care, lunch clubs, meals-on-wheels, community alarm and help with shopping and housework.
Local authorities have the powers to develop their own charging policies for non-residential social care and support. These charging policies are designed with the primary objective of offsetting the costs of providing services at a local level.
COSLA produces annual guidance to help promote consistency in policies, however variation often exists due to local accountability and conditions. COSLA and the Scottish Government recognises that local authorities require autonomy and flexibility to adapt to their local circumstances.
COSLA guidance recommends that charges should be reasonable and must be no higher than the cost to the local authority of providing the service. In reality most charges are much lower than the cost of providing the service.
The Scottish Government recognises that the cost of care can be high for people particularly in the current financial climate. We are committed to working with COSLA to review non-residential charges.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 14 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to protect freedom of speech for public servants, teachers and other professionals who hold or express gender-critical views, in light of the Supreme Court ruling regarding For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers.
Answer
There are existing protections for freedom of speech and the Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination or harassment at work or in other areas of their life, because of their religious or philosophical beliefs.
The Equality Act 2010 is mainly reserved to the UK Parliament and UK Government. The regulator, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, has issued guidance on avoiding discrimination and harassment in the workplace and there is a Statutory Code of Practice on Employment.
Freedom of speech is a qualified right and the ways in which a person’s religion or belief is manifested might not be protected if this impacts on the legal rights of others, including those with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, not to be discriminated against or harassed.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 13 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many retired police officers have died before receiving pension payments, due to administrative delays, in the last five years.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 13 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many public body equal pay claims are outstanding, and what assessment it has made of the financial implications of these.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 13 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has held with local authorities since 2023 to progress the removal of non-residential care charges for vulnerable residents.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has undertaken any economic disruption modelling in the event of an extreme flood in the Grangemouth petrochemical complex; if so, what level of economic disruption is projected, and how this has informed prioritisation of funding decisions.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 13 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it is appropriate for an NHS board to seek to restrict public scrutiny of a tribunal involving matters of significant public interest.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a full breakdown of its financial contributions to the Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme to date, including any direct payment to Falkirk Council and partners.
Answer
To date almost £23 million has been provided by Scottish Government to Falkirk Council to support the development of the Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 13 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will issue formal guidance to schools, health services and prisons to ensure that the rights of women and girls to single-sex spaces are upheld, in full compliance with the Equality Act 2010.
Answer
The Scottish Government has set up a short life working group to consider existing policies, guidance and legislation which may be impacted by the judgment.
This work will position us towards a state of readiness to take all necessary steps when the EHRC’s revised Statutory Code of Practice on services, public functions and associations and updated guidance are published.
All public bodies must comply with the law.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has undertaken any analysis, or cost-benefit study, into the viability of taking Grangemouth refinery into public ownership.
Answer
The Scottish Government has considered the Grangemouth Refinery’s historical financial performance and, from the information available, has concluded that the asset is loss-making with significant capital investment required to retain operations.
Noting the fiscal constraints within which Scottish Ministers are required to operate, such an intervention would require the UK Government to intervene.
I continue to call on UK Government to leave no stone unturned to ensure a long term and sustainable future is secured for those who work and live at Grangemouth.
