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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-31176

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the latest data on the number of supported rural bus services in Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of rural bus services supported by local authorities. Bus services in Scotland were deregulated by the then Conservative UK Government under the Transport Act of 1985 and are mostly provided by private operators. Under the Transport Act 1985, local authorities have a duty to identify where there is a social need for particular bus services and can subsidise these at their discretion. Funding is provided to local authorities in their annual settlement to support services they consider socially necessary and for all community transport services, including rural transport networks. In 2022-23, local authorities in Scotland spent £53 million on supported services nationwide.

Question reference: S6W-31163

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the status of its work on the Scottish Good Practice Statement on ME-CFS, in light of the updated statement published in February 2023 stating that “This represents a first step in updating the Scottish Good Practice Statement", and that "Further work will be undertaken to more comprehensively review the guidance”.

We continue to explore how best to bring together cross-sector ME/CFS stakeholders, to ensure effective collaboration and engagement from all parties is considered in driving forward developments and recommendations regarding ME/CFS in Scotland.

The Health and Social Care Standards set out the expectation that care should be provided by health and social care professionals based on the most relevant evidence, guidance and best practice, as is appropriate to their profession and patient group. In July 2022 we wrote to health boards and GPs to raise awareness of the NICE guidelines and highlight key changes in practice, and these remain the most current national guidelines on the management of ME/CFS.

We are considering the potential to seek further clarity around the status and continued applicability of the Scottish Good Practice Statement on ME/CFS and its relationship to the existing NICE guideline.

In terms of our wider strategic work, a joined-up policy approach to long-term conditions is now being explored as the outcomes we seek are broadly the same regardless of condition including early identification and prevention, effective, safe and person-centred care and improved service delivery.

We are currently engaging with clinicians, patients, those who care for them and the third sector organisations who provide services to find out what matters to them. From this we will then have a full public consultation commencing in January 2025, following which a strategy will be developed and published later in 2025.

Question reference: S6W-31173

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how often cabins on sailings of the passenger Northern Isles Ferry Services between Aberdeen-Lerwick have reached full bookable capacity in each of the last five years.

The number of sailings where all cabins were fully booked on the Aberdeen – Lerwick passenger vessels for each Contract Year is displayed in the following table, which also includes the number of passenger vessel sailings each year.

	Total Sailings		Sailings With Fully Booked Cabin Capacity
	Northbound	Southbound	Northbound	Southbound
Jul 19 - Jun 20	306	306	41	41	Covid Operating Period
Jul 20 - Jun 21	334	334	0	0	Covid Operating Period
Jul 21 - Jun 22	346	346	0	1
Jul 22 - Jun 23	338	337	72	81
Jul 23 - Jun 24	332	333	63	75

Question reference: S6W-31389

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many Scottish Digital Academy courses have been completed by employees of Scottish public bodies, other than the Scottish Government, in each year since it was launched in January 2018, broken down by public body.

Since the Scottish Digital Academy was established in 2018, there have been 1,348 employee registrations from Scottish public bodies. This includes recognised Advisory and Executive Non Department Public Bodies.

Broken down by year:

2018 (51)

2019 (39)

2020 (33)

2021 (56)

2022 (238)

2023 (483)

2024 to October end (448)

Number of registrations by public body:

Accounts Commission for Scotland (1)

Bord na Gaidhlig (1)

Cairngorms National Park Authority (4)

Care Inspectorate (40)

Children’s Hearings Scotland (19)

Community Justice Scotland (20)

Creative Scotland (14)

Crofting Commission (22)

Highlands and Islands Airports (4)

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (10)

Historic Environment Scotland (37)

Independent Living Fund Scotland (2)

Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority (33)

National Library of Scotland (52)

National Museums of Scotland (4)

NatureScot (93)

Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (2)

Public Defence Solicitors Office (1)

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (12)

Scotrail (6)

Scottish Agricultural Wages Board (1)

Scottish Childrens Reporter Administration (44)

Scottish Enterprise (146)

Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (317)

Scottish Funding Council (48)

Scottish Land Commission (2)

Scottish Legal Aid Board (70)

Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (16)

Scottish Natural Heritage (33)

Scottish Qualifications Authority (146)

Scottish Social Services Council (53)

Skills Development Scotland (71)

Sports Scotland (8)

Visit Scotland (11)

Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland (3)

Scottish Commission for Social Security (2)

Question reference: S6W-31471

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make any changes to the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme in light of the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024, and, if so, whether it will provide details of such changes.

As set out in the Agricultural Route Map, the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) is expected to continue until at least 2026 to deliver elements of Tier 3 of the new framework until the Elective Support is implemented from 2027.

The Route Map is a living document that sets out the phased transition from legacy Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) support to our new four-tier framework.

We have committed to keep the Route Map updated and will continue to provide more clarity as and when it becomes available following continued co-development with rural partners.

Question reference: S6W-31260

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will apply the consequentials it receives from any increased funding from the UK Government to children with special educational needs and disabilities directly to ASN services in Scotland.

Scottish Ministers continue to assess the full implications of the Chancellor’s autumn Budget statement and political parties are encouraged to engage with the Scottish Government on the Scottish budget ahead of 4 December 2024.

Funding for schools is provided through the local authority block grant and local authorities have a statutory duty to identify, provide for, and review the ASN support provided for pupils in their local community.

The Scottish Government is making £145.5M available to local authorities to protect teacher numbers. In addition, we remain determined to improve the educational experiences of children and young people with additional support needs with spending on additional support for learning by authorities reaching a record high of £926m in 2022-23.

We published an updated action plan and progress report on 5th November 2024, highlighting progress made to address recommendations from Angela Morgan’s Additional Support for Learning (ASL) Review (2020) and we are committed to delivering the ASL Action Plan.

Question reference: S6T-02208

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any impact on fuel poverty in Scotland, what its response is to the reported announcement that the energy price cap will increase by 1.2% for the period covering January to March 2025.

Question reference: S6T-02209

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is preparing for winter, in light of widespread weather-related disruption over the weekend due to Storm Bert.

Question reference: S6F-03572

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2024

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to reduce the length of time that children are placed in temporary accommodation.

Question reference: S6F-03592

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2024

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the UK Government’s reported allocation of between £295 million and £330 million to cover the increase in employer national insurance contributions for the public sector in Scotland.