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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-33926

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions the current (a) Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands and (b) Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity has met with the Fife Fishermen’s Association since they were appointed to their role.

Question reference: S6W-33832

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-33215 by Angus Robertson on 20 January 2025, whether it will provide further details of what opportunities it is exploring with the Swedish Government regarding peatland restoration.

Officials from the Scottish Government, Forestry and Land Scotland, Scottish Forestry and NatureScot are working together with counterparts in the Swedish Government and its agencies to explore opportunities for collaboration on the development of technical skills and techniques and best practices in respect to peatland restoration.

With an emphasis on workforce planning and training, our dialogue with our Swedish partners seeks to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our restoration efforts, while providing a platform to promote Scottish expertise with a key partner.

Question reference: S6W-33918

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions the current (a) Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands and (b) Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity has met with the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association since they were appointed to their role.

Question reference: S6W-33828

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many tests have been performed to date in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde by the capsule sponge diagnostic service.

As part of the Scottish Government’s Endoscopy Recovery and Remobilisation Plan (2021) nurse led Oesophageal Cell Collection Device services were rolled out across NHS Boards. To date, 11 Mainland Boards have active services with over 6,000 procedures delivered to August 2023. The OesophagealCell Collection Device is an alternative to endoscopy for diagnosis of pre and early oesophageal cancer as part of Upper GI Endoscopy Recovery Planning. The Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) continue to support the roll out, and evaluation of OesophagealCell Collection Device across Scotland.

Since starting in September 2020, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde have performed 1,680 oesophageal sponge cytology tests.

Question reference: S6W-33833

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 22 January 2024, Early learning and childcare (ELC): provision for 1 and 2 year olds in Scotland, whether it will provide an update on progress with the implementation of this commitment, and by what date this will be fully implemented.

Keeping children in Scotland out of poverty is the First Minister’s and this government’s top priority and we recognise how important both early learning and school age childcare are in supporting families. That is why we continue prioritise our investment of around £1 billion per year in delivering funded ELC to all eligible children. And as a result, families across Scotland have been benefitting from the provision of 1140 hours of high quality ELC since 2021. We also committed in the 2024 Programme for Government to work with local authorities to maximise the uptake of funded early learning and childcare for eligible two-year-olds.

We are now working with local authorities and the Improvement Service on a National Improvement Project which will take focussed action in five local authorities as well as seek out and promote good practice to increase uptake for eligible two year olds across all local authority areas.

We are also progressing our early adopter community (EAC) work in six local authorities, backed by £16 million between 2024-25 and 2025-26. The EACs are expanding access to affordable childcare for low-income families with children from the early years through to the end of primary school and evaluating the difference this can make.

This expansion includes continued investment in four EACs established in 2022 in Dundee, Clackmannanshire, Glasgow and Inverclyde, as well as further expansion into new communities in Fife and Shetland.

Ultimately, it will help us to understand what it takes to design and deliver local childcare systems that support those families most at risk of living in poverty.

We have undertaken two key pieces of research, which were published last year. The first was work to map current ELC provision for younger children in Scotland and the second a literature review undertaken by Public Health Scotland. The purpose of this work was to help us understand and identify what models of ELC are best for younger children.

The evidence suggests that attending high quality formal childcare can have benefits for children’s cognitive development. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds were found to benefit most from early access to formal childcare. However, the evidence of benefits for social, emotional and behavioural outcomes is more limited and mixed. The findings from this research supports taking a considered approach to policy development so that we understand what is right for families with children under three.

We will continue to build on this early insights work by piloting new approaches via funding from the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund to test models of holistic family support, learning from our EACs and reviewing current evidence.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving our existing funded ELC offer and to taking the time needed to deliver a childcare expansion that is both fair and affordable, giving children the best possible start in life and supporting parents and carers to work, train and take up education opportunities.

Question reference: S6W-33922

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions the current (a) Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands and (b) Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity has met with the Clyde Fishermen’s Association since they were appointed to their role.

Question reference: S6W-33827

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape.

The Post-School Education and Skills Reform Programme, developed in light of the recommendations of James Withers’ Independent Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape and the Scottish Government’s own report on the Purpose and Principles for Post-School Education, Research and Skills, is progressing well.

I provided the latest update on the progress made by the projects within this programme in the annex to my letter of 20 December 2024 to the Public Audit Committee.
Response to Public Audit Committee from Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans.

Additionally, on 22 January 2025 I announced, as the next step in delivering our plans for post-school education reform, that we will consolidate all post-school provision funding within the Scottish Funding Council and all student support funding. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-33842.

I will update the Parliament in due course on plans for the Bill announced in the Programme for Government 2024-25.

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-33774

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of lost or stolen government-issued mobile phones have been reported in the last five years, and what actions were taken in response.

Question reference: S6T-02326

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that mental health absences among ambulance crews have risen in Aberdeen and other parts of Scotland.

Question reference: S6T-02335

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the banking sector regarding how to ensure that communities do not lose access to banking services, in light of reports that Lloyds Banking Group plans to close 14 Bank of Scotland branches over the next two years.