Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-28121

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to organisations and charities that support people with epilepsy, in each financial year since 2019-20.

Question reference: S6W-28054

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 19 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many students currently enrolled in higher education institutions identify as homeless.

Question reference: S6W-28053

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 19 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to bring forward an updated homelessness action plan.

There are no plans to develop an updated homelessness action plan. There is widespread support for Scotland’s long term plan for housing set out in Housing to 2040, and collective agreement that the Ending Homelessness Together action plan is the right long term strategy to tackle homelessness in Scotland. An annual report on progress towards ending homelessness is shared with the Scottish Parliament each autumn.

The Scottish Government recognises these are exceptionally challenging times, which is why we declared a national housing emergency on 15 May 2024. I will make a statement to parliament on the Scottish Government’s response to the housing emergency on Thursday 20 June. This is the starting point of the work that we see is needed to agree priorities and identify actions we can take that will have the greatest impact and help those most in need.

Partnership working at all levels – UK Government, Scottish Government and local government – as well as with our housing sector partners is needed to deliver a housing system that meets the needs of the people of Scotland. We will build on the solid foundations of the work already underway and continue taking forward action in response to the recommendations made by the Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group's task and finish groups on key homelessness issues. We will continue to do everything we can within devolved powers to address levels of homelessness and improve the supply of social and affordable housing.

Question reference: S6W-28055

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of computer science teachers in secondary schools.

While local authorities are responsible for the recruitment and deployment of teachers, the Scottish Government is committed to maximising the number of jobs available in a range of subjects, including computing science.

The Teaching Bursary Scheme offers a £20,000 payment to career changers who are looking to undertake graduate teacher training in hard-to-fill STEM subjects, including computing science.

In addition, the Strategic Board for Teacher Education is considering issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail, together with work to improving the promotion of teaching as a valued career.

We are also offering local authorities £145.5 million in this year’s budget to protect teacher numbers more widely.

Question reference: S6O-03611

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle poverty in black and minority ethnic households.

Question reference: S6W-27773

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ruth Charteris on 7 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-27346 by Dorothy Bain on 21 May 2024, when the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service will complete its work to provide clear guidance to staff on when a domestic abuse victim should be informed of a decision to discontinue a case and of their right to request a review of that decision.

COPFS has commenced work in relation to the areas identified in the His Majesty's Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland (HMIPS) report and is identifying the necessary work that will require to be undertaken and the resource requirements needed to implement the recommendations.

COPFS has agreed to provide HMIPS with regular updates on the work undertaken in implementing the recommendations contained within the report and anticipate that an update on progress could be provided in 6 months.

Question reference: S6W-27805

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many instances of stalking were recorded in 2023-24, and how many of those cases have been prosecuted to date.

Instances of stalking in 2023-24 will be published within the Recorded Crime in Scotland 2023-24 accredited official statistics on 25 June 2024. The most recently published data shows there were 872 crimes of stalking recorded by police over the year ending December 2023.

We do not hold information on the specific proportion of stalking cases recorded by the police that led to a prosecution. This is because the recorded crime and criminal proceedings statistics are not operationally linked. Recorded crime statistics count crimes and offences at the time that they came to the attention of Police Scotland, while criminal proceedings statistics report on cases once they have concluded in court. This means that a crime may be recorded by the police in one year and court proceedings concluded in a subsequent year. In addition, a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime, or a set of crimes with more than one victim, in a proceeding, but only a single conviction for the ‘main charge’ (the one receiving the most severe sentence) would be counted in the court proceedings statistics. There is also the possibility a crime recorded by the police may be altered in the course of judicial proceedings.

Noting the above, the latest published Criminal Proceedings in Scotland accredited official statistics show 401 people were proceeded against in court for a crime of stalking in 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-27800

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ruth Charteris on 7 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-27445 by Dorothy Bain on 21 May 2024, when it anticipates that it will complete its work on ensuring that (a) new information is brought to the attention of deputes and acted on promptly, (b) deputes are available to deal with urgent and unexpected queries as they arise, (c) the tasking of reporting officers is followed up timeously, (d) action is taken to address any risks to the efficient progression of the case and (e) deputes have sufficient time to address issues during their case preparation.

COPFS has commenced work in relation to the areas identified in the His Majesty's Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland (HMIPS) report and is identifying the necessary work that will require to be undertaken and the resource requirements needed to implement the recommendations.

COPFS has agreed to provide HMIPS with regular updates on the work undertaken in implementing the recommendations contained within the report and anticipate that an update on progress could be provided in 6 months.

Question reference: S6W-27799

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ruth Charteris on 7 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-27378 by Dorothy Bain on 21 May 2024, when it anticipates that it will complete its work on ensuring that the approach to counter allegations set out in the joint protocol on challenging domestic abuse is followed in practice by both reporting officers and marking deputes, and that counter allegations are part of the training.

COPFS has commenced work in relation to the areas identified in the His Majesty's Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland (HMIPS) report and is identifying the necessary work that will require to be undertaken and the resource requirements needed to implement the recommendations.

COPFS has agreed to provide HMIPS with regular updates on the work undertaken in implementing the recommendations contained within the report and anticipate that an update on progress could be provided in 6 months.

Question reference: S6W-27792

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ruth Charteris on 7 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-27450 by Dorothy Bain on 21 May 2024, when it anticipates that it will complete the work on recommendation 12 in the report on HM Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland's (HMIPS) inspection of the prosecution of summary domestic abuse cases, in order to ensure that victims are informed of bail review applications, their views are sought and put before the court, and they are informed of the outcome timeously.

COPFS has commenced work in relation to the areas identified in the His Majesty's Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland (HMIPS) report and is identifying the necessary work that will require to be undertaken and the resource requirements needed to implement the recommendations.

COPFS has agreed to provide HMIPS with regular updates on the work undertaken in implementing the recommendations contained within the report and anticipate that an update on progress could be provided in 6 months.

Financial Year	Total
2019-2020	£100,000
2020-2021	£225,574
2021-2022	£64,172.83
2022-2023	£127,191.57
2023-2024	£162,688

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