Seòmar agus comataidhean

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

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 42072 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6O-03740

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports wraparound care for school-age children in the Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn constituency.

Question reference: S6O-03739

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the levels of funding for tertiary education are adequate to support a thriving sector.

Question reference: S6O-03737

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that green skills are embedded in the provision of further education.

Question reference: S6W-29619

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 September 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many projects in the Highlands and Islands will be impacted by its announced reduction of £800,000 from the Community Led Local Development collaboration fund.

The allocation of funding to Collaboration projects had not yet been determined, and was intended to be open to applications from all Local Action Groups. Scottish Government officials had therefore not yet been in a position to provide any breakdown of geographical distribution of projects funded by the £800,000. To date this financial year (2024-25), we have allocated funding of £6.65m for Community Led Local Development (CLLD), from which Highlands & Islands-based Local Action groups received £2,086,003.73 (Highlands and Islands is defined here as Highland, Shetland, Orkney, Outer Hebrides and Argyll and Bute)

Despite the reduction of £800k, we will continue to support projects that assist and empower rural communities through the CLLD budget.

Question reference: S6W-29128

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 11 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28067 by Tom Arthur on 19 June 2024, whether it will provide details of how exactly it enabled "all parties to achieve what they required from the sale and purchase of the business", and whether or not the transaction would have proceeded without Scottish Government ownership.

The Scottish Government’s involvement in the transaction helped secure the earliest realisation of the commercial and wider economic benefits of the deal, and the selected structure was agreed by all parties.

The statement given by the then Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise to the Scottish Parliament on 15 December 2021 highlighted that one clause in the 2016 transaction, an indemnity from Scottish Ministers to Longs Steel (Tata Steel took over the business), is no longer valid.

Question reference: S6W-29127

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 11 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28058 by Tom Arthur on 19 June 2024, what (a) discussions and (b) correspondence Scottish Enterprise has had regarding the repayment of the loan since 2022.

Question reference: S6W-29129

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 11 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28065 by Tom Arthur on 19 June 2024, whether it will clarify the reasons for the selected structure being the best available structure.

Question reference: S6W-29301

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on the (a) progress of the safer drug consumption facility pilot, (b) establishment of drug-checking facilities and (c) expansion of access to life-saving naloxone and residential rehabilitation services, and what additional measures are being implemented to reduce the harm and fatalities associated with drug use.

The creation of a Safer Drug Consumption Facility in Glasgow is progressing well - construction work is nearing completion to convert the existing facilities and make them fit for purpose and necessary staff recruitment and training is well underway. A provisional opening date of 21 has been announced by Glasgow Council.

We are committed to help deliver drug checking facilities across Scotland. The three pilot areas (Dundee, Aberdeen and Glasgow) have now submitted their licence applications to the Home Office and we are providing support as they are being progressed. We expect the application for the National Testing Laboratory, which will provide additional analysis of drug samples, to be submitted shortly. Edinburgh have also recently joined the national project group and they are at the early stages of considering the establishment of a similar facility.

Over £38 million has been made available through two rounds of the Residential Rehabilitation Rapid Capacity Programme (RRRCP) to increase residential rehab capacity across Scotland. This fund supports eight capacity projects – of which four are new projects and four are expansions to existing services. This will provide 140 more bed by 2025-26.

36 of these beds are already operational and additional projects will be completed over the coming year to add a further 34 beds across Ayrshire, Aberdeenshire and Highlands and Islands. Collectively, these not only substantially increase the number of bed spaces available but also importantly widen access to specific groups and addresses geographic barriers to accessing rehab.

Work is continuing through a range of projects and initiatives to expand access to naloxone and the latest estimated reach of the National Naloxone Programme was 74.7% (percentage of people at risk of opioid overdose who have been supplied with THN) at the end of 2023-24 Quarter 3. We continue to support Police Scotland in their carriage of naloxone by all front-line police officers, where it has been administered to over 450 individuals. Our click-and-deliver service continues to distribute large numbers of kits (894 in quarter 3 of 23-24, last data available) while the work we have supported through the Scottish Ambulance Service also meant 211 kits were distributed by them in the same period.

Recent activity to further expand access to naloxone has included making it available in first aid kits (crash packs) within Scottish prisons while also expanding the work being done by the Scottish Drugs Forum to distribute naloxone to people on liberation from prison through peers. We also continue to engage with UK Government colleagues around the forthcoming legislative change to naloxone prescribing regulations which will make accessing kits easier across the UK.

Additional harm reduction measures being implemented can be found on the Scottish Government’s website: https://www.gov.scot/policies/alcohol-and-drugs/national-mission/

Question reference: S6W-29353

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29245 by Mairi Gougeon on 23 August 2024, whether it can provide details of the system that is in place to report collisions between its Marine Protection Vessels and (a) whales, (b) dolphins, (c) porpoises, (d) basking sharks, (e) seals and (f) other large marine species.

The Scottish Government does not have a procedure in place to report collisions between its Marine Protection Vessels and cetaceans, basking sharks and other marine mammals. There have been no known incidences of collisions and so no procedure has been developed. Should an incident occur, our crews would assist where possible and report to the British Divers Marine Life Rescue and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, both of which crews have worked with before to assist stranded cetaceans.

Question reference: S6W-29102

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 11 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered (a) temporarily and (b) permanently redesignating mid-market rent properties as properties for social rent, in light of the declared housing emergency and reports that more than 240,000 people were on social housing waiting lists in 2023.

While we have no such plans given the important role that homes for mid-market rent play in the wider housing system, we will continue to work across the Scottish Government and with local and UK Government to respond to the housing emergency and to deliver on our target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 – of which at least 70% will be for social rent.

As set out in Programme for Government 2024-25 we are making a new long-term commitment of £100 million, to grow with institutional investment to at least £500 million, supporting the construction of around 2,800 mid-market rent homes by making public funds go further.