Seòmar agus comataidhean

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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 46064 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6F-02057

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 May 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-17425

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities do not currently have Empty Homes Officers; how long these positions have been vacant for, and whether it will provide an update on whether it still plans for Empty Homes Officer support to be available across all of Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-17235

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Additional Support for Learning Review Action Plan – Update November 2022, whether it has made progress towards refreshing the Supporting Learners’ Code of Practice, and what its assessment is of how this will support schools and local authorities to fulfil their duties under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004.

The Scottish Government is working with local government partners on the Additional Support for Learning Project Board to deliver the recommendations of the 2020 additional support for learning review by March 2026.

As outlined in our updated action plan , published in November 2022, we have committed to refresh the Supporting Children’s Learning Code of Practice, to ensure that it fully supports schools and local authorities to fulfil their duties under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004. This will help improve the support available for children and young people, who face barriers to their learning, to reach their fullest potential. The progress on this work was set out in our second progress report , published in November 2022 and has continued during this year.

A further progress update is due to be published in May 2024.

Question reference: S6W-17223

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the reported decline in the (a) total number of registered businesses and (b) number of growth sector registered businesses in Scotland.

The latest statistics show that despite the challenging economic conditions, the total number of businesses in Scotland rose to 360,910 in 2022, a 5.2 per cent increase on the previous year.

However we know businesses in Scotland are struggling because of Brexit and the UK government’s mismanagement of the economy. That is why the Scottish Government is doing all it can, through our limited levers, to provide immediate support to businesses including the lowest Non-Domestic Rates poundage in the UK.

At the same time, we are delivering our National Strategy for Economic Transformation to achieve our long-term ambitions for a stronger, fairer, and greener economy. The activities we are delivering are supporting businesses, encouraging and cultivating new businesses, and attracting more businesses to Scotland.

We are working closely with delivery partners, businesses, the third sector and trade unions to successfully implement the strategy and transform our economy.

Question reference: S6W-17284

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of how many social care staff are required to meet demand.

There are more than 1,200 social care providers across Scotland, with local authorities responsible for providing or commissioning services. Local authorities and Health and Social Care Partnerships will wish to ensure that, in providing a range of services, their workforce planning arrangements take full account of the need to have safe and sustainable numbers of staff.

The latest figures published by Public Health Scotland show that, on 17 April, the total number of hours of social care support yet to be provided was 38,324.

Question reference: S6W-17121

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the median gender pay gap was for its employees in each of the last five years.

The mean and median gender pay gaps in Core Scottish Government is detailed in the following table:

Date	Median Pay Gap	Mean Pay Gap
1 April 2022	0.0%	1.5%
1 April 2021	2.8%	1.4%
1 April 2020	8.8%	2.6%
1 April 2019	0.0%	2.2%
1 April 2018	0.0%	3.7%

As set out in the regularly published Scottish Government Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Report, our preferred method of reporting on the gender pay gap is to use the mean pay gap data. That is because the calculation of the mean pay gap is comprised of all salaries and ensures that all staff are represented in the statistical analysis. Whereas, the median is the value below which 50% of observations fall and is less affected by a relatively small number of higher earners and / or any skewed distribution of earnings.

Question reference: S6W-17187

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reduce carbon emissions from clinical waste in the NHS.

I refer the member to the NHS Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy 2022-2026 which sets out the Scottish Government’s plans to help reduce carbon emissions from clinical waste in NHS Scotland. This publication is available at: NHS Scotland climate emergency and sustainability strategy: 2022-2026 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Specifically, the strategy sets out that each Health Board should set appropriate targets for reducing the volume of clinical waste it produces through measures including; greater use of reusable items, improvements to waste segregation and increased recycling of recyclable materials. The Scottish Government will review the need for a national target for clinical waste reduction.

Question reference: S6W-17158

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with (a) COSLA and (b) individual local authorities to discuss reusable nappy schemes.

Question reference: S6W-17498

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the appointment of a new national planning improvement coordinator.

Question reference: S6W-17288

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what data is available to help potential users of social care services to understand waiting times for service provision.

Information on Social Care Eligibility and Waiting times is collected and published by the Scottish Government. This is publicly available via the following link: Social Care Eligibility Criteria And Waiting Times, Scotland, 2020-21 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Many Local Authorities have reported difficulty in providing the information asked for in this data collection, which has had a significant impact on the robustness of the information available for analysis. We have been working with Public Health Scotland (PHS) to consider the future of this data and are developing plans to capture waiting times data within existing Social Care collections returned to PHS, aiming to make it more straightforward for partnerships to provide data, and in turn resulting in more complete and consistent data in the future.