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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-27299

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering reviewing the funding model for Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) in order to provide greater certainty.

Question reference: S6W-27558

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22282 by Lorna Slater on 14 November 2023, whether it will provide an update on which local authorities have contracts in place to comply with the delayed ban on biodegradable municipal waste to landfill.

Local authorities are responsible for the provision of local waste services and are, therefore, best placed to comment on readiness to comply with the ban on sending biodegradable municipal waste to landfill in 2025.

The Scottish Government continues to provide procurement support to local authorities to secure contracts in preparation for the forthcoming ban. As part of this support, Zero Waste Scotland is working with local authorities to provide technical, legal and procurement advice.

Through this support, we understand that 28 local authorities have contracts in place for 2025 that comply with the landfill ban, covering over 90% of household residual waste, these are: Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, City of Edinburgh, City of Glasgow, Clackmannanshire, Dundee City, East Dunbartonshire, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk, Fife, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, Shetland, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, and West Lothian.

Question reference: S6W-27471

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has recently considered an independent review of the Children's Hearings Scotland system, in light of the concerns raised by the group, Children's Hearings Scotland Scandal.

None of the concerns or grievances raised by this group in respect of their own experiences within the children's hearings system justify a wider review of the well-established and highly-regarded multidisciplinary children's hearings system. More broadly, and working with system partners and with people bringing lived experience of children’s care and justice, the Scottish Government is currently engaged in redesigning the children’s hearings system. This work follows publication of the independent ‘Hearings for Children’ report in May 2023. The Scottish Government published its own response to those recommendations in December. A redesign board was established in January to progress non-legislative improvements to the system. For those improvements that require new legislation, a full public consultation on proposed reforms will take place in summer 2024.

Question reference: S6W-27472

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise last met the chair of Children's Hearings Scotland, and what was discussed.

Question reference: S6W-27373

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26962 by Natalie Don on 2 May 2024, whether it has considered reviewing its funded early learning and childcare eligibility guidance to include multiples.

We do not have plans to review the legislation or statutory guidance for the current offer of funded ELC.

Statutory eligibility for access to funded early learning and childcare (ELC) is set out in the relevant legislation (Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and the Provision of Early Learning and Childcare (Specified Children) Order 2014, as amended).

As set out in my previous answer, we provide statutory guidance for local authorities on their duties and powers in relation to funded ELC: Introduction - Early learning and childcare: statutory guidance - July 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . Local authorities have a discretionary power to provide access to funded ELC to any child residing in their area, as they see fit.

Over the next year we will begin work to develop an expanded national offer for more families with 2-year-olds, in doing so we will engage with various family types to identify need, focusing on those who will benefit most, aligning with the finding from the recent Joseph Rowntree Foundation report that noted “low-income families must be prioritised in a wide expansion of early years childcare”.

Question reference: S6W-27371

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will engage with the Invictus Games Foundation regarding a potential bid to host the 2029 or 2031 iteration of the Invictus Games in Glasgow.

Glasgow is an excellent host city for Major Events, as proven most recently by the successes of the UCI Cycling World Championships in 2023 and the World Athletics Indoor Championships in March 2024.

A decision on whether to bid to host the Invictus Games in 2029 or 2031 would be primarily for Glasgow City Council. VisitScotland's Events Directorate EventScotland, work with partners to actively assess hosting opportunities to secure a strong and diverse pipeline of Major Events for Scotland, involving the Scottish Government as required.

Bidding to host any event, including the Invictus Games, could only happen through an appropriate formal bidding process and would first be informed by a feasibility study to determine the viability, benefits and legacy of hosting. It would also require the assembly of a partnership which could offer suitable assurances of a viable funding package to plan, host and deliver the event in question. At present the Scottish Government is unaware of a viable proposal and funding package.

Question reference: S6W-27364

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints to public bodies related to non-crime hate incidents have been received since the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 was passed, broken down by parliamentary region.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of complaints received by Police Scotland or any other public body that relate to Non-Crime Hate Incidents (NCHIs).

On 9 May 2024, Police Scotland published their interim guidance on ‘ Responding to Hate Crime ’ which includes information on the recording and handling of NCHIs. They also have a dedicated complaints system for instances where an individual may feel they have not been provided the level of service expected.

You may wish to contact Police Scotland directly regarding any other questions you have in relation to these procedures.

Question reference: S6W-27239

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23523 by Angela Constance on 11 December 2023, whether it will be publishing an evaluation report on Police Scotland’s pilot of the Digital Evidence Sharing Capability (DESC) Programme in Dundee.

Question reference: S6T-02000

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported figures showing that average rents increased at a higher rate in Scotland than any other region or nation in the UK between September 2022 and March 2024.

Question reference: S6T-01995

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has reportedly withdrawn all funding for the National Parent Forum of Scotland.