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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-31496

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many farms in Scotland are bigger than 200 acres (81 hectares).

Question reference: S6W-31497

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Scotland who are above state pension age pay the (a) starter, (b) basic, (c) intermediate, (d) higher, (e) advanced and (f) top rate of Scottish income tax.

Information on the number of Scottish Income Tax payers by age and band are only available from the Survey of Personal Incomes and the latest data is for 2021-22. Table 1 provides the number of taxpayers of State Pension age by band in Scotland.

Given this data is for 2021-22 it does not include estimates of those who are of State Pension age paying the Advanced Rate. Forecasts of the number of taxpayers over State Pension age by band are not available.

Table 1: Taxpayers above State Pension Age by Band

Band (2021-22)	Number of Taxpayers of State Pension Age
Starter Rate	94,000
Basic Rate	274,000
Intermediate Rate	148,000
Higher rate	42,000
Top Rate	1,000

Question reference: S6W-31501

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many times section 45 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 has been used.

Question reference: S6W-31212

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 25 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (b) its Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) regarding home ear syringing, and how it is supporting HSCPs to make this service available to patients who need it.

Question reference: S6W-31097

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 25 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will emulate the UK Parliament's annual Constituency Garden of Remembrance in the Scottish Parliament's garden from 2025.

Question reference: S6W-31213

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 25 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government which members of the health and social care workforce are qualified to carry out home ear syringing services, and what assessment it has made of vacancy levels in this area, including any recruitment and retention challenges.

Question reference: S6W-31211

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 25 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether all parts of the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area have access to a home ear syringing service, and, if not, which parts of the NHS board area do not currently have access to this service.

Question reference: S6W-31103

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is on track to meet its commitment to (a) increase frontline health spending by at least £2.5 billion, (b) increase primary care spending by 25%, (c) increase mental health investment by 25% and (d) invest £250 million on dealing with the drug deaths emergency over the course of the current parliamentary session.

Against a challenging economic and financial context, the Scottish Government continues to increase funding for health and social care services.

Providing over £1.9 billion additional investment in frontline health spend since 2021-22 - ahead of trajectory to meet the £2.5 billion target by 2026-27.

Supporting a 20% increase in Primary Care investment over the same time frame – ensuring we remain on track to deliver our commitment to reach 25% by 2026-27.

Mental health remains a priority, with overall increases in spend and total investment now standing at over £1.3 billion across the Scottish Government and NHS Boards - enabling record numbers of staff in providing more varied support and services to a larger number of people than ever before.

We remain committed to making an additional £250 million available for the National Mission on Drugs over the course of the parliament, and we will continue to publish a financial breakdown in the National Mission Annual Reports.

Question reference: S6W-31102

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of frontline health spending is spent on child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), and whether if it is on track to meet its commitment of allocating 1% to this.

Latest available data published in February 2024 by Public Health Scotland in the Scottish Health Service Costs book confirmed that NHS expenditure on child and adolescent mental health rose from £97.9 million in 2021-22 to £114.8 million in 2022-23, an increase of £16.9 million or 17% - representing 0.75% of total NHS expenditure.

We continue to work with NHS Boards and Integration Joint Boards towards delivery of the commitment that at least 1% of their frontline health spending will be dedicated to child and adolescent mental health by the end of this parliamentary session.

Question reference: S6W-31101

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of frontline health spending is allocated to mental health, and whether it is on track to meet its commitment of allocating 10% to this.

Latest available data published in February 2024 by Public Health Scotland in the Scottish Health Service Costs book confirmed that NHS expenditure on mental health rose from £1.282 billion in 2021-22 to £1.307 billion in 2022-23, an increase of £25.1 million or 2% - representing 8.53% of total NHS expenditure.

We continue to work with NHS Boards and Integration Joint Boards towards delivery of the commitment that at least 10% of their frontline health spending will be dedicated to mental health by the end of this parliamentary session.