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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-24915

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Emma Roddick on 12 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what objectives it set for any funding that it has provided to the Berea Trust Limited since 2019.

Question reference: S6W-25437

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-25463

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 9 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to continue direct payments in the new rural support framework.

The Scottish Government has committed to no cliff edges in support between existing schemes and the introduction of the new four tier framework. We remain committed to supporting active farming and sustainable food production with direct payments, while also delivering on our nature and climate commitments.

We have previously set out that there will be a four-tiered approach to funding and there is ongoing engagement with key stakeholder organisations to determine what goes where in each of those tiers. I want to thank everyone who is contributing their expertise and ideas to that process.

Clearly, part of that depends on how much funding is available in each tier. I can advise Parliament that the funding for Tiers 1 and 2 will constitute at least 70% of the overall funding envelope to support farming, crofting and land management from 2027.

These are the tiers that will reflect most closely the direct payment regime, albeit with conditions built in from the start.

I can also advise that once we have determined what and how to replace the current Less Favoured Area Support Scheme – LFASS – with additional support for where the greatest need is and where people are farming and crofting in the most marginal and challenging of circumstances, that funding will also be made available through Tier 2.

This approach is the right one for 2027 – it delivers on our promise not to create cliff edges but to support farmers and crofters to transition to the new support framework.

Question reference: S6W-24905

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 9 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what objectives it set for any funding that it has provided to SAY Women since 2019.

The Scottish Government has provided funding to SAY Women through the Equally Safe (2019-21) and Delivering Equally Safe Fund (2021-25). The objectives of funding are to improve mental and physical health amongst young women survivors of sexual abuse; to support them to cope with trauma-anxiety in order to reduce self-harming, substance abuse, and poverty; and to reduce challenging behaviours that can lead to homelessness amongst young women.

In 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 the Scottish Government provided funding to SAY Women through the Housing Voluntary Grant Scheme with the objective of delivering safe, supported accommodation and related services for young women who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse, rape or sexual assault and who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.

In 2020-21 the Scottish Government provided funding through the COVID Immediate Priorities Fund for SAY Women to deliver enhanced independent living support to vulnerable individuals and those in need as a result of COVID-19. The objective was to help communities respond to the needs and challenges they were experiencing, and to protect the wellbeing of the people of Scotland.

The Scottish Government has also provided funding through the Third Sector Homelessness Fund (2021-22, 2022-23) and the Homelessness Sector Prevention Fund (2023-24) with the objective of preventing and responding to homelessness among survivors of childhood sexual abuse. This supported the delivery of training to frontline staff, and work to support young women survivors of childhood sexual abuse under threat of eviction due to challenging behaviours.

Question reference: S6W-24893

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it undertook any action to mark Clean Air Night on 24 January 2024.

Clean Air Night 2024 was the first such event, and has been introduced to complement Clean Air Day, which has taken place since 2017 with funding support from the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government will consider how to engage with future Clean Air Night activities in the context of the public engagement framework around air quality which we are developing with partner organisations. It will include a focus on raising awareness of the impact of domestic fuel combustion emissions, which was the overarching theme of Clean Air Night.

Question reference: S6W-24926

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the reported plans to increase household water bills by almost 30% over the next three years.

Question reference: S6O-03085

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 8 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the project board that is being formed to oversee the consideration of future funding for violence against women services will next meet.

The Violence Against Women and Girls Sustainable Funding Project Board is currently being developed and I expect it to meet for the first time in March. It has been formed to take forward our commitment to develop a flexible and stable funding model that will ensure a focus on prevention and high quality, accessible, specialist violence against women and girls services.

‎ The Project Board, will be co-chaired by Scottish Government and CoSLA, and will include representatives of public sector and specialist stakeholders. The remit of the group will be agreed with the members and will include producing an accurate assessment of the current costs and spend of violence against women and girls, to help inform the development of a sustainable funding model.

Question reference: S6W-24869

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 8 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason dentists treating patients privately are reportedly unable to issue NHS prescriptions, in light of reported concerns that this means that patients who are unable to get NHS dental appointments have to pay for both appointments and any medication.

Question reference: S6W-24872

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 8 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what funding it has made available to increase the supply of accessible and adapted housing.

Through the 2023-24 Affordable Housing Supply Programme we are investing £752 million to support local authority strategic housing priorities, including accessible housing. All new build properties which are delivered directly by councils and social landlords should, as a minimum, meet the ‘basic’ requirement within the Housing for Varying Needs Design guide. This guide incorporates the ‘barrier free’ concept of accessibility and is a key reference document for the affordable housing sector in Scotland.

We support registered social landlords to undertake adaptations to their properties, and in 2023-24 we are making available £11 million for this purpose. Adaptations in Glasgow and Edinburgh are funded separately within those local authorities’ Affordable Housing Supply Programme allocations as part of the Transfer of the Management of Development Funding arrangements.

Question reference: S6W-24859

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 8 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that thousands of people in the Galloway and West Dumfries constituency have been deregistered as NHS dental patients, and the reported lack of NHS dental services, what measures it is considering to ensure the continuation of free dental prescriptions.