Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-37758

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 30 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any oversight over the total level of bonuses paid out by the Scottish National Investment Bank.

Question reference: S6W-37757

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 30 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that £865,000 of bonuses were paid out to Scottish National Investment Bank staff, what its position is on whether this represents value for money.

The approach to pay for staff at the Scottish National Investment Bank aligns with other UK development banks and reflects the need to attract and retain staff with the necessary skills, experience and expertise from the financial services sector.

The Bank now has £786 million of investment commitments and has crowded in over £1.4 billion of third-party co-investment, bringing the total committed by, or alongside the Bank, to over £2.1 billion.

The Bank posted their first operating profit in 2023-24 of £3.2 million and have recently published their annual Impact Report up to the end of December 2024. The Report included these highlights:

207,042 people positively impacted by investments since launch
742 new homes supported since launch
3,091 jobs directly or indirectly supported during 2024
£227 million supply chain spend in Scotland since launch
135,531 tCO2e avoided or removed since launch, equivalent to removing over 72,000 cars from our roads

Considering these positive results, the Bank and the management are delivering value for money.

The criteria for the Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) are developed by the Bank’s Remuneration and Nominations Committee for the start of each financial year. This committee is a subset of the Bank’s Board and do not themselves benefit from the LTIP scheme. Ministers review and approve the criteria suggested by the committee but have no role after that and are not involved in agreeing or approving any staff payments.

Once the LTIP criteria are agreed, the Bank’s Remuneration and Nominations Committee is responsible for assessing how the Bank’s staff have performed against them and approve any payments.

The Bank’s Annual Report and Accounts include a Report from the Chair of the Bank’s Remunerations and Nominations Committee which might be of interest (see page 96 onwards).

Question reference: S6W-37759

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 30 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-34497 by Alasdair Allan on 19 February 2025, by what date it will publish the Nature Conservation Order to protect the Parallel Roads of Lochaber Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at Achnabobane.

Further to the answer to question S6W-34497 on 19 February 2025, drafting of the proposed Nature Conservation Order and associated Land Register of Scotland and General Register of Sasines searches have continued to progress. I expect to receive advice and a recommendation on the proposed NCO imminently.

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

Question reference: S6W-37735

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been on a waiting list for a social care assessment in each year since 2018, also broken down by NHS board.

The information requested is not held centrally for all years requested.

However, weekly data on the number of people waiting for a social care assessment is published monthly by Public Health Scotland at Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) level. The dashboard can be accessed via the following link:

People requiring a Social Care assessment and Care at Home services

Data is available from 24 October 2022 onwards. Comparisons over time should be made with caution due to a change in definitions implemented in January 2024.

Comparison of figures between HSCPs should also be made with caution and should be done in conjunction with the data quality notes available in the dashboard.

Not all Partnerships were able to provide all data. The data quality section of the dashboard provides more information on each of the partnerships' ability to provide data.

Question reference: S6W-37734

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce waiting times for the commencement of social care services following assessment, and what the current expected waiting time is compared with the targets, broken down by NHS board.

The Scottish Government does not hold full data with regards to waiting times and there are no national targets. However, a maximum wait time of 6 weeks is recommended in critical cases.

Data up to 2022-23 on Social Care eligibility and waiting times is publicly available at Local Authority level via the following weblink:

Social care: eligibility criteria and waiting times Scotland 2022-2023 - gov.scot

Data showing the time waited between referral first contact and completion of a community care assessment service in the final quarter of each financial year can be found in the ‘waiting times new clients’ tab of the Excel workbook which accompanies the publication.

Under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 local authorities and Health and Social Care Partnerships have a duty to assess the social care support needs of people and decide, in light of that assessment, to arrange suitable services, if required.

While the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care support policy in Scotland, it is for local Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to ensure that social care support services are in place to provide their population with the appropriate support in the right place and at the right time.

We understand the pressures faced and have invested a record £21.7 billion in health and social care in 2025-26, which includes almost £2.2 billion for social care and integration.

Question reference: S6W-37732

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the total estimated number of care hours required was, and how many were delivered, in each year since 2018, also broken down by NHS board.

Data on the total number of care hours planned for delivery is not held centrally.

Data on the number of hours of care at home funded by Health and Social Care Partnerships in Scotland is published annually by Public Health Scotland and can be found via the dashboard on following weblink:

Care at Home Statistics for Scotland: Support and services funded by Health and Social Care Partnerships in Scotland 2023/2024 - Care at Home Statistics for Scotland - Publications - Public Health Scotland

Data are available for 2018-19 to 2023-24.

Data showing the number of hours for people assessed but yet to be delivered, and for number of additional hours of care to be delivered to those already receiving a care package is published by Public Health Scotland at local authority level. This can be found via the dashboard on following weblink:

Overview - People requiring a Social Care assessment and Care at Home services - Care at home - Social and community care - Healthcare system - Public Health Scotland

Question reference: S6W-37740

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many individuals assessed as eligible for social care support have not received their full entitlement in each year since 2018, and what proportion of individuals assessed as needing social care support received only a partial care package in each of the last five years, both broken down by NHS board.

Under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 local authorities and Health and Social Care Partnerships have a duty to assess the social care support needs of people and decide, in light of that assessment, to arrange suitable services, if required.

While the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care support policy in Scotland, it is for local Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to ensure that social care support services are in place to provide their population with the appropriate support in the right place and at the right time.

The Scottish Government do not hold information centrally in relation to the level of support packages provided.

Question reference: S6W-36933

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 30 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of any increase in the total cost of its civil service since 2016 is accounted for by increases in (a) headcount and (b) salary levels.

The cost of the Scottish Governments Directly employed workforce rose from £239M in 2015-16 to £623M in 2023-24 - An increase of 161%.

Scottish Government Directly employed Workforce Costs (£K)
	2015-16	2023-24
Grand Total	238,680	622,581

Source – Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts

The Scottish government publish official workforce statistics on a quarterly basis. Scottish Government workforce information - gov.scot.

These figures show that the headcount of the Scottish Government increased by 71% from March 2016 to March 2024.

Since 2016 the average increase in Salary for SG employees has differed by grade, as detailed in the following table.

Average (mean) Salary by Grade - 2016 to 2024
	Mar-16	Mar-24	Percentage Increase
A3	18,687	26,158	40%
A4	21,344	29,046	36%
B1	24,824	32,797	32%
B2	30,015	38,684	29%
B3	39,236	49,425	26%
Fast Stream	30,533	38,524	26%
C1	51,575	64,550	25%
C2	62,275	79,606	28%
C3	67,428	84,679	26%
SCS	82,174	96,445	17%
Legal Trainee	25,304	34,722	37%
Marine Grades	32,782	48,520	48%

Source - Scottish Government HR Management Information

Question reference: S6W-37765

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 30 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to increase the role of registered (a)(i) district, (ii) school and (iii) general practice nurses and (b) health visitors to help reduce health inequalities.

Tackling health inequalities is a key part of the preventative care role for school nurses, general practice nurses and health visitors and is aligned to public health priorities to improve health and wellbeing outcomes, particularly for women and children. District nurses have a role in disease management in populations affected by health inequalities, delivered in community settings, and support people to stay healthy at home.

Question reference: S6W-37513

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 30 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has paid the social research agency, The Lines Between, in each year since 2021-22, broken down by project.

Fiscal Year	Spend
2021-22	£121,086.90
2022-23	£399,965.36
2023-24	£477,423.47
2024-25	£549,284.31

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