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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-32531

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether its five-year review of the Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018 will include an assessment of qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS), in light of those rules coming into effect in June 2021.

Question reference: S6W-32532

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its five-year review of the Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018, what consideration is being given to when qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) may be disapplied due to fraud, abuse of process or unreasonable behaviour by the pursuer.

Section 8 of the Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018 makes provision for a qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) regime in Scotland and sets out when QOCS may be disapplied.

As set out in section 23(2) of the Act, the report on the 5 year review of Parts 1 to 3 must, in particular, contain information about the effect of the operation of section 8 on access to justice and the administration of Scottish courts.

Question reference: S6W-32529

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018, what its position is on the suggestion of a "portal" for case management.

Question reference: S6W-32831

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 44 action points set out in the July 2020 publication, National Action Plan to Prevent and Tackle Child Sexual Exploitation 2016-2020, have been (a) delivered and (b) fulfilled.

The National Child Sexual Exploitation Working Group published its final report on delivery of actions contained in the National Action Plan to Tackle Child Sexual Exploitation in July 2020. This sets out the range of achievements and activity to prevent and tackle child sexual exploitation delivered since the publication of the updated National Action Plan on Child Sexual Exploitation in 2016 as well as ongoing improvement and development work related to the actions in the updated plan. For further information on how the Scottish Government has continued to deliver action on child sexual abuse and exploitation since this period, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-32827 on 16 January 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Following publication of the final report, and with the agreement of Ministers, the Working Group concluded its work which was time-limited and linked to the delivery of the Action Plan. However, a number of operational and strategic groups have continued to have a focus on delivery of actions to prevent and tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation, including the National Child Protection Leadership Group, Police Scotland’s Multi-agency Group on Preventing Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation and Social Work Scotland’s Child Protection Subgroup.

We have subsequently established a new National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Group with operational partners and other expert stakeholders. The Group met for the first time in November 2024 and again in December 2024 and is reviewing current activity and identifying where further work is needed to better protect children from abuse and exploitation.

Question reference: S6W-32530

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the five-year review of the Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018, in light of it being overdue.

Question reference: S6W-32829

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what specific action it has taken to implement recommendation (a) 2, (b) 3 and (c) 4 of the Policy Report: Sexual exploitation of children involved in the Children’s Hearings System by Barnardo's and the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA), and what results it has achieved.

Question reference: S6O-04244

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete being found in current and formerly council-owned residential properties in Dundee.

Question reference: S6W-32820

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 15 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there has reportedly been a 24% decrease in solicitors registered for children's legal aid since 2020, what analysis it is undertaking to understand any issues caused by this, and what action it will take to address those issues, including reversing the reported decrease in numbers.

The Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010 gave the Scottish Legal Aid Board the function of monitoring the availability and accessibility of legal services in Scotland, and it has arrangements in place to monitor legal services. However, any assessment of registered solicitor numbers does not offer an accurate measure of the provision or supply of legal aid. This is because there is a large number of registered solicitors who are inactive, so the reduction in the number of registered solicitors, doesn’t necessarily equate to the same size of reduction in active solicitors. Therefore, registered solicitor numbers should not be viewed in the same context as active solicitors. The relevant measure of supply is active solicitors.

However, fluctuations in the numbers of Children’s solicitors occur for various reasons, these are:

Children’s legal assistance volumes are directly related to the numbers of children’s hearings taking place. The volume of hearings is in turn related to the number of Compulsory Supervision Orders (CSOs) being made or reviewed.

There are fewer Compulsory Supervision Orders and therefore less business for solicitors in this field.

At 31 March 2024, 6,490 children were subject to Compulsory Supervision Orders. In 2019-20, the number was 8,875 – a reduction of 27%.

The number of children subject to Compulsory Supervision Orders has decreased for a fourteenth consecutive year.

The Scottish Government recognises that reform is needed to the legal aid system, which is why we are currently developing a legal aid action plan for reform which will be published in early 2025.

Question reference: S6W-32054

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 30 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31040 by Siobhian Brown on 13 November 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding for what reason there has been a reported reduction in the number of criminal legal aid solicitors, since 2007, from 1,459 to 966.

Patterns of business in the criminal justice system have changed fundamentally since 2007 due to reductions in crime, the increasing availability and use of alternatives to prosecution and trends towards earlier resolution of cases. This means that the demand for criminal legal aid - and so for the services of criminal defence solicitors - has also changed fundamentally.

Comparing the 12 months ending March 2007 with the 12 months ending March 2024, the number of grants of legal aid in relation to summary matters fell by 37%, for solemn legal aid by 13%, for appeals by 86% and the number of accused requiring representation by a duty solicitor fell by 81%. Over the same period, the number of registered solicitors fell by 34%, broadly reflecting the reduction in demand.

The criminal courts are not reporting people unable to get representation, anyone who needs a solicitor at a police station or to appear in court from custody gets access to a solicitor.

Question reference: S6W-32053

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 30 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31038 by Siobhian Brown on 13 November 2024, when it will (a) commence and (b) conclude its evaluation of the legal aid trainee fund; who will be involved in the evaluation; on what basis the achievement of the fund will be evaluated; should the evaluation conclude that the fund was a success, whether similar funding will be made available, and, if so, when.

The Fund was co-designed and funded between the Scottish Government and the Law Society of Scotland (“the Society”) and was part of an overall support package for the legal aid sector as it recovered from COVID 19 and is due to close at the end of March 2025. As part of the grant funding conditions, on completion, the Society must submit a report to the Scottish Ministers summarising the outcomes and performance of the Fund.

The evaluation will form part of the discussions of the Future of the Legal Profession Working Group. Once we receive the Society’s report and have considered the contents, we will arrange to meet the working group again. The Group consists of senior representatives from the legal professional bodies, the legal profession, wider justice sector and other organisations.