- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many young people have been recorded as moving into further education as a positive destination in each year for which data is available, also broken down by local authority.
Answer
The latest data showing the number of school leavers in each initial destination (three months after the end of the school year) by local authority and nationally for each year since 2009-10 can be found in Table L2.1a in the supplementary tables published alongside the Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations, No. 7: 2025 edition. The supplementary tables with data on initial destinations are available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-for-attainment-and-initial-leaver-destinations-no-7-2025-edition/documents/.
The latest data showing the number of school leavers in each follow-up destination (nine months after the end of the school year) by local authority and nationally for each year since 2009-10 can be found in Table L2.2 in the supplementary tables published alongside the Summary statistics for Follow-Up Leaver Destinations, No. 6: 2024 Edition. The supplementary tables with data on follow-up destinations are available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-follow-up-leaver-destinations-no-6-2024-edition/documents/.
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government for each period since April 2022 how many ScotRail train services were (a) planned, (b) operated with at least one non-functioning toilet, (c) operated with no functioning toilet and (d) operated with no functioning accessible toilet.
Answer
This is an operational matter for ScotRail. The Member may wish to contact ScotRail directly.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards have the availability of faecal calprotectin tests, which help to improve the diagnosis for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this information which is a matter for NHS heath boards locally.
We are committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) including Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.
Whilst our role is to set the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, it is NHS Boards locally who are responsible for service delivery. We expect all Boards to follow best practice and adhere to current guidelines and standards for people with suspected IBD and a national IBD pathway for NHS Scotland was published in January 2025: inflammatory-bowel-disease-ibd-pathway.pdf. This pathway is intended to be used for primary and secondary care health care professionals who are concerned that a patient may have undiagnosed IBD.
The pathway includes the use of faecal calprotectin tests which is supported by current clinical evidence for distinguishing between IBD and non-inflammatory bowel diseases (such as irritable bowel syndrome).
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recently reported concerns raised by an MSP about Scottish Parliamentary Pension Scheme investments in Tesla shares, whether it (a) has undertaken a review of its ownership of Tesla vehicles and (b) will sell its fleet of 10 Tesla cars.
Answer
We have not undertaken a review of ownership, but in line with all fleet vehicles, replacement will be considered when the Tesla’s reach the end of their operational life cycle.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Allan on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what steps have been taken to ensure that consultations with communities on Skye regarding the expansion of renewable energy projects are conducted in a transparent, inclusive and comprehensive manner.
Answer
The Scottish Government has set out instructions for developers to follow regarding pre-application consultation in our Good Practice Guidance document, which is available online, alongside other guidance documents: https://www.gov.scot/policies/energy-infrastructure/energy-consents/.
In addition, the Scottish Government have been working with the UK Government on strengthening community consultation for electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland as part of the UK Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill. The proposed reforms will make pre-application consultation for electricity infrastructure projects a statutory requirement. It will also introduce an Acceptance Stage where Scottish Ministers can decline to accept applications which have not fulfilled the necessary requirements, thereby increasing local input into project proposals.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether NHS Scotland waiting times for all surgeries are in line with international best practices.
Answer
We want patients to be treated as soon as possible. However, we know many are facing unacceptable waits and we are determined to do more. That is why we are targeting an additional £200 million to reduce waits and enhance capacity. We are also looking to optimise the full force of the £21.7 billion committed through the Scottish Budget to health and social care to improve performance.
The most recement statistics show that over the 12 months to December 2024, inpatient and day-case activity was over 256,000 (256,209); 7.4% (17,644) more than previous 12 months, demonstrating our plan to improvement in inpatient / day-case waiting times performance is delivering.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Allan on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its engagement with the UK Government on proposed reforms to electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland, what evidence it considered in developing the “Acceptance Stage” for section 36 and 37 applications, and whether it will publish data showing how this stage could affect overall timescales and local input into project proposals.
Answer
The proposed reforms will make pre-application consultation for electricity infrastructure projects a statutory requirement and also introduce an Acceptance Stage when Scottish Ministers can decline to accept applications which have not fulfilled the necessary requirements. These reforms will reduce timescales for processing applications and increase local input into project proposals.
The Scottish Government will publish detailed guidance on the Acceptance Stage and what happens if the relevant planning authority objects or if an application is not accepted.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Allan on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its engagement with the UK Government on proposed reforms to electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland, how many applications for electricity infrastructure developments it projects will be submitted annually from 2025, and whether it has made any assessment of whether introducing new fees for pre-application functions could reduce application numbers.
Answer
The proposed reforms will apply to applications for consent under section 36 and section 37 of the Electricity Act 1989 made to Scottish Ministers. Section 36 applications made to Scottish Ministers have a capacity of over 50MW. Therefore, it is not anticipated that the reforms to introduce new fees for pre-application functions will reduce application numbers.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been on waiting lists for college courses in each year since 1999.
Answer
Information is not held centrally. Students apply directly to colleges, as such only colleges would hold this information.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to encourage the reporting of crimes against retailers and their staff, including to make it easier for such incidents to be reported.
Answer
The Scottish Government continue to urge all retailers and their staff to keep reporting crimes. While it might feel like some minor incidents aren’t worth it, or individual retailers may feel like the police won’t be able to do anything, each crime report aids our collective understanding of who is doing this and why. Local officers may also well have intelligence they can use to catch the perpetrators.
Our Budget will make an additional £3 million available in 2025-26 to tackle retail crime.
This funding will support the formation of a Retail Crime Taskforce which will provide a visible and measurable impact on retail crime and will deliver on the following objectives:
- Prevent: Stop people from becoming perpetrators of Retail crime by developing and implementing intervention and diversion mechanisms with partners.
- Pursue: Target retail crime by bringing perpetrators to justice, with a focus on repeat offenders and organised criminals.
- Protect: Strengthen the collective protections against Retail Crime by engaging directly with retailers on crime prevention and training.
- Prepare: Mitigate against the impact of Retail Crime by exploring innovate opportunities for direct reporting systems.
New technologies will also be utilised to explore ways to make it easier for retail staff to directly report crimes to police, as well as capitalising on Police Scotland’s existing Digital Evidence Sharing Capability (DESC), to secure early criminal justice outcomes.
This builds on a successful proof of concept within Fife Division and will aim to provide an efficient and effective direct reporting system to retailers.