Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-26262

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to explore the options for local authorities to introduce a carbon emissions land tax.

Question reference: S6W-25945

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 15 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it will introduce its proposed Land Reform Bill to the Parliament.

Question reference: S6W-25951

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 15 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reallocate the funding earmarked for freezing Council Tax in (a) Inverclyde and (b) Argyll and Bute to other local authorities or public services, in light of reports of these councils not agreeing to the proposed freeze.

Question reference: S6W-25961

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase digital access for adults aged 60 and over, in light of the 2022 Scottish Household Survey finding that 44% of disabled adults and 19% of non-disabled adults aged 60 and over do not use the internet.

The Scottish Government is keenly aware of the importance of increasing digital access for all people in Scotland. Through programmes such as Connecting Scotland, the Scottish Government is taking action to improve digital access for multiple priority groups, including older people and people who are living with a long-term illness or disability.

In August 2023, the Connecting Scotland programme launched two projects to provide kit and connectivity through Device Libraries and Social Housing organisations. Over £204,000 was awarded across both projects to a range of organisations across Scotland. This funding is helping Device Libraries to expand their range of devices, to extend the number of devices available for loan and to replace devices that are coming to the end of their lives. The funding is also supporting Social Housing providers to support connectivity infrastructure projects that benefit their residents, as our research has shown that Social Housing tenants are a group particularly impacted by digital exclusion.

Social tariffs can additionally provide the means for people in need of digital access to get online by providing reduced broadband tariff rates. Connecting Scotland is working with Ofcom to improve information about social tariffs for people in Scotland. In April 2023, based on dialogue with officials, Ofcom updated their webpage to show which tariffs are available to which regions of the UK. Officials will continue dialogue with Ofcom to ensure that social tariffs are widely understood as a potential option for older people and people living with long-term illness or disability to get online.

Question reference: S6W-25960

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase digital access in areas of high deprivation, in light of the 2022 Scottish Household Survey finding that 16% of households in the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland lack internet access at home and 31% of households with a net annual income of between £6,001 and £10,000 lack home internet access.

The Scottish Government is keenly aware of the importance of increasing digital access for all people in Scotland. Through programmes such as Connecting Scotland, the Scottish Government is taking action to improve digital access for multiple priority groups, including people who are living in low-income households.

In August 2023, the Connecting Scotland programme launched two projects to provide kit and connectivity through Device Libraries and Social Housing organisations. Over £204,000 was awarded across both projects to a range of organisations across Scotland. This funding is helping Device Libraries to expand their range of devices, to extend the number of devices available for loan and to replace devices that are coming to the end of their lives. The funding is also supporting Social Housing providers to support connectivity infrastructure projects that benefit their residents, as our research has shown that Social Housing tenants are a group particularly impacted by digital exclusion.

Social tariffs can additionally provide the means for people in need of digital access to get online by providing reduced broadband tariff rates. Connecting Scotland is working with Ofcom to improve information about social tariffs for people in Scotland. In April 2023, based on dialogue with officials, Ofcom updated their webpage to show which tariffs are available to which regions of the UK. Officials will continue dialogue with Ofcom to ensure that social tariffs are widely understood as a potential option for people living in low-income households to get online.

Question reference: S6W-25836

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 14 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its environmental policies in Scotland, and in light of reports that the Belgian parliament has voted to criminalise ecocide in both domestic and international law, whether it has made any representations to the UK Government in relation to the potential criminalisation of ecocide in international law.

International law is a reserved matter and the Scottish Government has not had formal contact with the UK Government in relation to the potential criminalisation of ecocide in international law. However, the Scottish Government is supportive of a revision to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to include ecocide, and would support the UK Government in officially supporting and/or ratifying a new law on the criminalisation of ecocide in international law.

In terms of the domestic consideration of ecocide, the Scottish Government will carry out an assessment, in line with its policy on EU alignment, of the revised EU environmental crime directive, which has now been approved by the EU Parliament.

Question reference: S6O-03238

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what support it can provide to any local authorities that are struggling to meet the rising costs associated with providing school transport, so that children and young people can travel to school in a safe, efficient and affordable manner.

Question reference: S6W-25847

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 13 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the processing time for major planning applications in Q1 and Q2 of 2023-24 was 62.1 weeks, in light of the statutory timeframe being 16 weeks.

There can be many reasons for delays in determining applications including requests for and submission of additional information, delays with responses from statutory consultees and the requirement for a legal agreement. The specific reasons for the time taken to determine individual major planning applications would be held by the individual planning authority making the determination.

The average timescale for all major applications determined without a processing agreement was 35.2 weeks in Q1 and Q2 of 2023-24. Due to the low number of applications involved, average determination timescales are volatile and can be affected by one or two lengthy cases. In the same period, 23 of the 57 major applications not subject to processing agreements were determined within the statutory timescale, and 46 of those 57 major applications determined within the same period were determined in a time faster than the national average.

Question reference: S6W-25848

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the (a) First Minister and (b) Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills plans to read the recent Educational Institute for Scotland (EIS) report on violence in schools, in light of it highlighting an EIS survey of nearly 800 members in Aberdeen, which found that 42% of respondents reported violent pupil behaviour in school every day, 37% said they had been physically assaulted by a pupil, over 50% felt their school did not have clear strategies to prevent violence and 60% of teachers in Aberdeen were considering leaving the profession.

Question reference: S6W-25554

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with local authorities regarding their obligations under section 42 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 in the last 12 months.

The statutory minimum walking distances set out in legislation are a long-standing feature of our education system and there are no plans to change them. The Scottish Government published guidance for local authorities regarding home to school transport in 2021.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with representative bodies for local government on education related matters. However, no requests have been made to discuss local authorities’ obligations under section 42 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 in the last 12 months. The provision of home to school transport is responsibility of local authorities and decisions about changes to eligibility for free school transport are for local authorities to make, subject to the applicable statutory requirements.

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