- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government when it will deliver on its Programme for Government 2021-22 commitment to consult on proposals to phase out cages and farrowing crates.
Answer
The Scottish Government Programme for Government made the commitment to consult on phasing out the use cages for gamebirds and laying hens. This work is now progressing and the consultation on phasing out cages for laying hens and the call for evidence on gamebirds and quail are expected to go live in the early spring.
The proposed consultation on phasing out farrowing crates for pigs was originally intended to have been delivered jointly across all UK administrations. However, progress on a number of important pieces of animal welfare legislation have been significantly delayed or has ceased due to delays in UK Government timetabling, such as the Kept Animals Bill. DEFRA have confirmed that it now has no immediate plans to take forward the work on farrowing crates.
Regardless, the Scottish Government is pressing ahead on improving the welfare of all animals in Scotland, including pigs, and on 20 November 2023 published the Scottish Government Guidance for the Welfare of Pigs . We are also in the process of updating the Welfare of Farmed Animals (Scotland) Regulations 2010 to include this updated pigs’ welfare guidance.
We continue to listen and work with the industry and stakeholders on how best to achieve improvements in animal welfare as well as monitoring industry information to allow us to determine how to ensure best practice is delivered.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make any financial assistance available to pig farmers to help them move away from the use of farrowing crates towards cage-free methods.
Answer
The Scottish Government will continue to work with the industry and stakeholders to find ways for producers to transition towards implementing improved animal welfare methods and practices.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what engagement it has had with (a) NHS Lanarkshire, (b) NHS Forth Valley, (c) South Lanarkshire Council, (d) North Lanarkshire Council and (e) Falkirk Council in relation to increasing measles vaccination rates in children and young people.
Answer
This is a matter for Public Health Scotland (PHS) as our national health protection body. Given the serious nature of measles and the current risk of importation and onward transmission, the Scottish Government is working with Public Health Scotland and NHS Boards through the Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme (SVIP) on a range of measures to promote vaccination uptake.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 26 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on its work in implementing the recommendations of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee report, The role of local government and its cross-sectoral partners in financing and delivering a net-zero Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government welcomed the Committee’s thorough and wide-ranging report and we are committed to working with local government to deliver our shared climate change goals.
Following the Committee’s Inquiry, COSLA and the Scottish Government is working collaboratively to develop a Climate Delivery Framework to agree shared approaches to delivering action on climate change. As recommended by the Committee, we have also established a Scottish Climate Intelligence Service (SCIS) jointly funded with local government, which will help build the capacity of local authorities to reduce area wide emissions. A single data platform, currently being procured, will enable consistency of approach and adoption of best practice methodologies across local authorities and their delivery partners. This will provide all 32 local authorities with data-informed evidence, insights and intelligence they need for continuous improvement of their climate action plans.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6F-02778 by Humza Yousaf on 1 February 2024, when it will update the Parliament on the outcomes of the MMR check that local education boards have been asked to carry out by Public Health Scotland.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. This is a matter for Public Health Scotland (PHS), which, through the Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme (SVIP), is responsible for oversight and leadership of vaccine delivery in Scotland. The Scottish Government is part of SVIP and is working closely with PHS and NHS Boards to support increased uptake of both doses of the free MMR vaccine to keep people safe from measles by preventing the spread of this very serious disease.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 22 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how it marked Clean Air Day on 15 June 2023.
Answer
Clean Air Day (CAD) is an important opportunity to raise awareness of the impacts of poor air quality on human health and the environment and the actions to address it. CAD 2023 saw a variety of events taking place across the country such as poster competitions for schools, presentations about air quality, health walks, fuel efficient driving, green travel surveys to vehicle idling campaigns, alongside activity on social media platforms.
The Scottish Government supported the delivery of CAD 2023 in Scotland through funding to Environmental Protection Scotland and Global Action Plan. SEPA and the Scottish Government also run a range of air quality activities throughout the year.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 22 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider implementing any of the recommendations in the Climate Emergency Response Group report, Committing to delivery: Certainty and leadership for a just transition to a net zero, climate resilient future for Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government welcomed the Climate Emergency Response Group’s (CERG) annual report, which set out their four key areas of proposed action.
We are already taking action to address many of the issues highlighted by CERG, including: undertaking a pilot this year to introduce a net zero assessment of Scottish Government policies; publishing the final route map to reduce car kilometres; and through our commitment of £1.8 billion of funding over this Parliament towards heat and energy efficiency measures.
The Scottish Government looks forward to continuing our engagement with the CERG on tackling the climate crisis.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 February 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 28 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what action the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service takes to ensure that any information that it receives from pathology service providers is accurate and reliable.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 28 February 2024
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 20 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government on what dates since 1 January 2021 to date it has met with the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers (ALACHO) to discuss homelessness.
Answer
I meet with a representative of ALACHO on a quarterly basis at Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group (HPSG) and at Housing to 2040 Strategic Board meetings. The dates of these meetings can be found here: Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and Housing to 2040: Strategic Board - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . I also met with an ALACHO representative on 20 December to discuss the draft Scottish Budget 2024-25 and with representatives of ALACHO and the Chartered Institute for Housing on 14 December to discuss their letter to me on pressures on the housing and homelessness system.
Following the deep dives agreed by HPSG, four task and finish groups were established from June 2022 onwards, which met regularly (between every four to eight weeks). Scottish Government officials were represented on these groups, one of which (the Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group) was co-chaired by a representative of ALACHO.
A representative of ALACHO chairs the rapid rehousing transition plan (RRTP) sub-group, attended by Scottish Government officials and, since 2021, has met with the Scottish Government on other strategic homelessness related issues, such as the Domestic Abuse Implementation and Monitoring Group, the Sustainable Housing on Release for Everyone Group and the Short Term Housing Supply Group. Finally, Scottish Government officials have met with ALACHO regularly in 2023 (every two to three months) to hold discussions on topics including local connection, RRTP funding, the proposed new homelessness prevention duties and the homelessness statistical data review.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of local authorities and other public bodies currently being in the process of finalising their budgets, what action it is taking to ensure that these bodies (a) protect key local community and voluntary organisations providing frontline services in relation to the cost of living crisis and (b) work with local third sector organisations in order to (i) not make any reductions to budgets or services without assessing the potential impact of any such reductions on communities and (ii) consider alternative local solutions to any such reductions.
Answer
The vast majority of funding allocated to councils is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities. Ultimately, it is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their communities. Similarly, we would expect public bodies to exhaust all options to make any required efficiencies before cutting any services.
The 2024-25 Scottish Budget is a budget built on our values. It seeks to protect people and sustain services through these tough times. All budget decisions are subject to robust assessment in line with the Fairer Scotland Duty Act of 2018, which requires Scottish Ministers, when making strategic decisions, to reduce the inequalities of outcome caused by socio-economic disadvantage. Our funding for the third Sector will continue to prioritise investment in key infrastructure organisations and programmes which in turn provide critical support to the wider sector.
The third sector needs clarity and stability to increase its resilience and capacity to deliver services. That is why we have committed to develop a Fairer Funding approach for the sector to create conditions for it to thrive as part of a mixed economy.
