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 4034 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-35034

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average primary (a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3 class size has been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S6W-34453

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates that it will deliver on its commitment to allocate 10% of NHS spend to mental health and 1% to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).

Latest data published by Public Health Scotland on 25 February 2025 shows total spend on mental health in Scotland has increased by £179.6 million to £1.486 billion in 2023-24. That is 9.03% of total net NHS expenditure, up from 8.53% in 2022-23. Spend on child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) has increased by nearly £19.4 million to over £134 million. This is 0.82% of total spend, up from 0.75% in 2022-23.

We remain committed to delivery of the commitment and the latest data shows good progress is being made, however, as we all know, there are continued and unprecedented challenge to the public finances.

That means that achieving the targets in practice will depend on the outcome of future budgets. It is also dependent on the financial decisions taken by NHS Boards, and their partners, on the continued local investment needed to achieve the targets.

We will continue to closely monitor our progress towards both the 10% and 1% over the remainder of the Parliamentary term.

Question reference: S6T-02391

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report, In Their Own Words: Children's Experiences in Temporary Accommodation, which was commissioned by Shelter Scotland and shows the impact that a stay in temporary accommodation can have on children's safety, health and education.

Question reference: S6W-34889

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 3 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much was spent on the upskilling fund when it was operational.

Question reference: S6W-35040

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the implementation of the pavement parking prohibitions introduced by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, and how it ensures that local authorities enforce these effectively.

The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 places a duty upon all local authorities to enforce the new parking prohibitions. It is for each local authority to determine how best to enforce these prohibitions in their area. Transport Scotland annually collates figures on income and expenditure and Penalty Charge Notices issued, which now includes pavement parking. The most recent report was published in December 2024 and can be found at the following link: Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE) Report 2023-2024 | Transport Scotland

Question reference: S6W-35041

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has received from local authorities regarding any barriers that they have identified in enforcing the pavement parking prohibitions introduced by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, and what support it has provided to them to assist with dealing with these.

Transport Scotland facilitated a Parking Standards Group with representatives from all 32 local authorities, in advance of the 2019 Act becoming law. During these meetings, in depth discussions were held around the enforcement of the new parking prohibitions. Transport Scotland also issued detailed guidance to all local authorities providing them with a procedure to follow to enforce the prohibitions This guidance also addressed any subsequent queries raised by local authorities.

Officials are in ongoing discussions with SCOTS and COSLA in respect of the funding mechanism for the relevant costs associated with the new prohibitions. Once those discussions have been concluded we will be in a position to reimburse any further eligible costs incurred by local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-34449

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many speech and language therapists have been employed in schools in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-35042

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment is has made of local authorities’ use of the £2.4 million funding that it allocated in 2022 to prepare for implementing the pavement parking prohibitions introduced by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019.

Transport Scotland provided £2.4 million to local authorities for the completion of their road assessments to identify if there are areas of footway they may wish to exempt from the national pavement parking ban. It is not for Transport Scotland to assess how local authorities undertook their road assessments. Local authorities are best placed to make informed decisions on the management of their local road network and to assess which of the footways within their area are suitable for exemption, in line with ministerial directions.

Question reference: S6W-35037

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce an updated version of the campaign, No Knives, Better Lives.

We review YouthLink Scotland’s No Knives, Better Lives programme regularly to consider how it can continue to help prevent violence and reduce its harm. Part of this work has included the creation of the Quit Fighting for Likes Campaign, developed by the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, YouthLink Scotland No Knives, Better Lives and Medics Against Violence. Launched on 11 September 2024, the campaign provides a suite of resources aimed at frontline practitioners to help engage young people in conversations to help them understand the impact and harms caused around the filming and sharing of violent incidents.

The campaign, including the accompanying practitioner resources, remain available to access on the websites of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit and YouthLink Scotland No Knives, Better Lives. It is intended that the campaign will be re-run again after the school summer holidays.

Question reference: S6O-04395

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on state schools of the UK Government's decision to make independent schools liable for VAT, how it plans to use any Barnett consequential funding resulting from this decision to support state schools.