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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-28595

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 July 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working to ensure that (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations provide housing adaptations for people with disabilities, when other accessible homes are not available.

Question reference: S6W-28370

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 15 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to directly (a) fund and (b) engage with (i) experts and (ii) organisations in black and multi-ethnic communities.

The Scottish Government approved £21 million of funding for the 2021-2024 period to support equality and human rights in Scotland through the Equality and Human Rights Fund Equality and Human Rights Fund: projects funded - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . Of that total, nearly £5.5 million is specifically allocated to fourteen organisations delivering a range of activities to engage with and support black and minority ethnic organisations and communities in Scotland. Overall, the funded organisations have provided support to 4,168 people, and 747 organisations.

The Scottish Government also established a short term Anti-Racism Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racism Infrastructure (AIGG), which was comprised of academic experts, young people and community leaders with specific expertise in anti-racism in Scotland. An important part of the group’s work was commissioning participatory community research Community-Report-_-Executive-Summary-September-2023.pdf (antiracismobservatoryforscotland.org) to engage with racialised communities across Scotland to ensure they are informed and engaged with the work being done to progress anti-racism in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has long-standing and continued engagement with a variety of organisations in the minority ethnic sector, including our strategic partners BEMIS, CRER and CEMVO, to collectively drive change for our diverse communities across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-28368

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 15 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many type 1 diabetic adults are expected to be started on insulin pumps in NHS Lothian in the 2024-2025 period as a direct result of the recently announced funding of up to £8.8 million for diabetes technology.

The Scottish Government’s recent investment into diabetes technologies will allow all children living with Type 1 diabetes to get access, should they want it. This funding will also support increased provision to adults. Exact numbers in each NHS board area will be determined by local delivery plans being developed by NHS boards, working with the National Diabetes Technologies team in the Centre for Sustainable Delivery, based on waiting lists, staff capacity and affordability.

The new investment from the Scottish Government to support new access to technologies is in addition to baseline funding provided to NHS boards. It is not being allocated to boards to pay for their current delivery plans.

Question reference: S6W-28514

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 July 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much public money has been spent on the administration of Sheriff Officer fees for the recovery of water and sewage charge debts from those in receipt of full Council Tax Reduction (CTR) in each year since CTR was introduced, broken down by year.

Question reference: S6W-28516

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 July 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the contribution of the cost of administering Sheriff Officer fees for recovering water and sewage charge debts to public sector debt.

Question reference: S6W-28515

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 July 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered any further increase in the rate of relief available via the Water Charges Reduction Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-28232

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of NHS boards that provide psychosocial support training for renal healthcare professionals.

Question reference: S6W-28233

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of psychosocial support for people with chronic kidney disease.

Question reference: S6W-28491

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 July 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 1 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the housing emergency, what action it is taking to ensure that child refugees arriving in Scotland through family reunification (a) have access to suitable housing and (b) are not required to present as homeless and stay in temporary accommodation for extended periods.

Question reference: S6W-28369

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 4 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working to (a) ensure equal access to community assets for and (b) address the current lack of access faced by organisations serving black and minority ethnic and migrant communities, in light of the important role that a stable venue can play in enabling such groups to effectively provide services.

The Scottish Government introduced asset transfer legislation as part of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. This landmark policy is the first of its kind in the UK and since its enactment on 23 January 2017 there has been more than 225 successful asset transfers agreed using these powers.

We are committed to ensuring that all our communities can access community assets, and are working with our partners to make sure our most vulnerable communities can access the assets they require to deliver important services and develop their own economies, wellbeing, and environments.

Our work with the Community Ownership Support Service (COSS) and the Barmulloch Community Development Company in Glasgow established a central hub which has supported 11 marginalised groups engage with the asset transfer process including the Bangla Centre, Spingburn, who were able to progress their asset transfer ambitions by accessing this targeted support.

As part of the current review of the Community Empowerment Act we have asked our partners and their networks to help us better understand the experiences of those involved in taking on community assets, including seeking the views of underrepresented groups.

We maintain a vision for a Scotland where all people – including black and minority ethnic communities, and migrants – have equal access to wealth, opportunities, and power.