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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-27139

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26976 by Gillian Martin on 30 April 2024, how it will ensure that Green Volt honours its commitment.

Question reference: S6W-27141

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26663 by Tom Arthur on 30 April 2024, whether any public bodies under the direct jurisdiction of the Scottish Ministers currently use physical record keeping as their only means of information storage.

Question reference: S6W-27142

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26808 by Gillian Martin on 30 April 2024, what its position is on whether its Offshore Wind International Engagement Strategy is aligned with its policy relating to international development, as stated in its previous review of international development programmes.

Question reference: S6W-26970

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 1 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to next update the Prevalence-Service Utilisation Ratio for people who are dependent on alcohol in Scotland, in light of the reported 40% reduction in the number of people accessing specialist alcohol treatment.

Question reference: S6W-26973

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 1 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government which stakeholders it plans to consult in relation to the development of a National Service Specification for alcohol services, and when the National Service Specification will be published.

Question reference: S6W-26972

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 1 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it considers the National Service Specification for alcohol services will address the public health emergency of alcohol harm in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-26804

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 April 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 1 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on its work to make Scotland "a leading Fair Work Nation by 2025".

Scotland is making great strides towards becoming a leading Fair Work nation.

The number of accredited Real Living Wage employers is up from 14 in 2014 to over 3,500 in 2023. That’s proportionately 5 times as many than the rest of the UK, and some 65,000 workers in Scotland have had a pay rise as a result of accreditation, making a real impact for people in the lowest paid jobs.

Our support contributes to 89.9% of employees aged 18 and over in Scotland being paid at least the real Living Wage (2023 data), higher than Wales 87.1%, England 87.0%, NI 84.4%, and the UK overall 87.1%.

Building on the work of the Fair Work Convention we’re pressing forward with sectoral agreements in Adult Social Care and Construction, as well as Retail with to help put those sectors and their workforces on a sustainable footing for the long term.

The median gender pay gap has continued on a long-term downward trend and has now reached a record low of 1.7% in 2023 for full time employees in Scotland, lower than the overall UK gap of 7.7%.

The Disability Employment Gap fell further to 30.2 percentage points in 2023 – a decrease from 31.9 p.p. in 2022 and the lowest it has been since our baseline year in 2016 when it was 37.4 p.p. There is still work to do but this suggests that we are on track to achieve our ambition to reach 18.7 p.p by 2038.

Fair Work First principles were applied to some £4bn public funds since 2019, and in 1 July 2023 we took this further by adding the requirement that all grant recipients awarded a public sector grant pay at least the real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for effective workers’ voice.

Through the Workplace Equality Fund we focused on providing financial support for employers to address longstanding barriers in the labour market that particular priority groups experience, including disabled people, women, racialised minorities and older workers. In 2023-24 the WEF investment was almost £600,000 across 10 projects, bringing the total spent to over £3.2m on 71 projects since 2018 [1] . This year we are evaluating the effectiveness of the WEF to inform future interventions.

In financial years 2020-21 and 2023-24, we invested £1.2 m in the Apt Public Social Partnership (PSP)which worked to improve the recruitment and retention of disabled people by developing and testing different types of support for employers. The PSP engaged with employers in the private and third sectors, with a particular focus on SMEs throughout Scotland. An independent evaluation of the PSP’s impact will be commissioned in 2024-25. Employers involved in the partnership to date have reported benefits such as improved recruitment and retention processes, increased confidence in having conversations about employment with disabled people, and increased awareness about the benefits of a diverse workforce.

We have repeatedly voiced our opposition to legislation at Westminster that undermines workers’ rights, including the Trade Union Act 2016, the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2022, hire and rehire, and the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023.

We have been proud to support pay deals for public sector workers that reflect the vital jobs that they do. Last year pay deals were around £800 million greater than planned and our total expenditure on public sector pay is now around £25 billion – over half of our fiscal resource. On average public sector pay in Scotland is around 6% more than the rest of the UK.

[1] Total investment in WEF projects since 2018 is £3,194,500

Question reference: S6W-26818

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 1 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that alcohol treatment initiatives, such as the Primary Care Alcohol Nurse Outreach Service (PCANOS), are maintained as key services in addressing Scotland’s reportedly rising alcohol harms.

We’re determined to do all we can to reduce alcohol-related harm and are working closely with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships and the third sector to do so. Drug and alcohol services have seen a significant increase in funding as a result of the National Mission to ensure treatment services are in place to support people impacted by alcohol and drugs.

For example, we are exploring the evidence around Managed Alcohol Programmes and are delighted to be able to contribute to the running of the innovative model being piloted in Glasgow by Simon Community Scotland and its evaluation.

In addition, we are working with stakeholders to create a national service specification alongside guidance for alcohol treatment in Scotland, supported by a meaningful treatment target. This work will build on the forthcoming UK-wide Clinical Alcohol Treatment Guidelines, developed by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.

Question reference: S6W-26971

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 1 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when Public Health Scotland will report on its investigation into the reasons behind the reported 40% reduction in the number of people accessing specialist alcohol treatment.

Question reference: S6W-27126

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6O-03153 by Màiri McAllan on 6 March 2024, whether it will provide an update on its review, due to be published in spring 2024, of how to increase the number of co-operatives, social enterprises and employee-owned businesses as part of the move to a wellbeing economy.