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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-18964

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 19 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the budget for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service would be in 2023-24 had its budget increased in line with inflation since it was created.

SFRS was formed in April 2013 and the Resource budget for its first year of operations in 2013-14 was £277.23 million. Adjusting that figure using the ONS annual inflation figures for CPIH (Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs) means the equivalent annual budget for 2023-24 would be £340.185m.

The SFRS Capital budget for 2013-14 was £15.292m. Using the same adjustments means the equivalent annual budget for 2023-24 would be £18.765m.

The non-fiscal element of the SFRS budget has not been included for the comparison of the impact of inflation. Whilst this element is included in the total budget allocated to SFRS each year, the amount is allocated on the basis of actual cost to SFRS to cover accounting elements such as depreciation. As such, this element of the SFRS budget is not subject to inflationary pressures.

Question reference: S6W-18966

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 19 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on what impact any increased incident response times by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service have on the safety of the general public and people endangered or affected by incidents.

Question reference: S6W-18965

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 19 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether average incident response times have increased or decreased since the creation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and by how much.

Question reference: S6W-18961

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 19 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported concerns regarding a budget crisis within the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, what action it plans to take to address this.

There is no budget crisis within the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. The Scottish Government has provided a £14.4m increase in the budget cover for SFRS in 2023-24.

In common with all public bodies in Scotland it is right that SFRS continues to review its operations to ensure it is effective and delivering value for money. Decisions on how they spend their budget is a matter for the SFRS Board.

The Scottish Government is in close contact with SFRS on the management of its budget.

Question reference: S6W-18717

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people were held in police custody suites in Scotland, under UK immigration legislation, in each year from 2016-17 to 2022-23 inclusive, also broken down by (a) nationality of those detained and (b) police station.

Question reference: S6W-18466

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Emma Roddick on 14 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the estimated number of people without immigration permission who have arrived irregularly in Scotland from outside the UK since 7 March 2023, and whether it will publish any such estimated figures.

Question reference: S6W-18434

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the Scottish Police Federation’s reported request for future pay for police to be linked to an average pay index, as opposed to annual negotiations, as police officers do not have the right to strike.

The Police Negotiating Board (PNB) ‘Staff Side' have submitted a pay claim for 2023/24 which contains a request for future pay to be linked to an average pay index. As the PNB process is currently ongoing in relation to the police officer pay claim and in line with PNB protocols, it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this time.

The Scottish Government are part of the PNB ‘Official Side’ alongside the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-18468

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance or advice it has issued to Scottish public authorities and charities that it funds, that have contact with asylum seekers or presumed human trafficking survivors, regarding the UK Government’s Illegal Migration Bill and, in particular, any retrospective effect since its introduction into the UK Parliament on 7 March 2023.

The UK Government’s Illegal Migration Bill does not currently have legal effect. The Scottish Government has made clear our position that this cruel and inhumane Illegal Migration Bill should be scrapped immediately and will cause significant harm to victims of human trafficking. It will facilitate even greater control by perpetrators as a consequence of its provisions which restrict access to vital support and assistance and will likely deter victims from reporting their situation for fear of removal.

The Scottish Parliament rejected the UK Bill during a debate on 25 April. We set out our intent to lodge a legislative consent memorandum on two clauses within the Bill which alter the executive competence of the Scottish Ministers. We will recommend that Parliament withhold legislative consent to these provisions. We continue to monitor the Bill closely as it is considered by the House of Lords.

Question reference: S6W-18467

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 13 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any health and housing multi-agency meetings to manage support for trafficking survivors under sections 9 and 10 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, what assessment template or guidance document is used in such meetings; which organisations are members of the group holding these meetings, and, for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, how many (a) cases were assessed, (b) cases involved the transfer of accommodation support from Scottish Government-funded trafficking accommodation to Home Office asylum accommodation and (c) such transfers were to asylum accommodation in Scotland.

Since 1 April 2018, support for victims of offences under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 has been placed on a statutory footing.

Statutory support is delivered through grant awards from the Victim Centred Approach Fund to the Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA) and Migrant Help. Support may be provided for up to 90 days, or longer in some circumstances, and can include accommodation, assistance with day to day living, medical advice and treatment including psychological help, language translation and interpretation, counselling, legal advice, help accessing other services and, if the victim wishes, repatriation.

Case assessment is part of the ongoing support function carried out by TARA and Migrant Help and as such the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

In the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, 221 individuals moved from Scottish Government-funded accommodation to Home Office asylum accommodation.

The Scottish Government does not hold sufficient data to provide the remaining information requested. This information may be held by operational partners.

Question reference: S6W-18055

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 7 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether any of its partner agencies use handcuffs when transporting children between care placements or other settings.

Duties relating to secure transport lie principally with the local authority responsible for the child’s placement. Information is not held centrally on these arrangements or the use of handcuffs.

A sub-group of the National Secure Care Group is developing a service specification that can be used consistently by local authorities and sets out the principles and standards wherever secure transport requires to be commissioned. It covers areas such as data gathering and staff training and prohibits the use of mechanical restraints or handcuffs.

The Scottish Government has a contract with GEOAmey to provide secure transport for children convicted on indictment and given a custodial sentence. GEOAmey must ensure that the child being transported, staff and the general public are protected by robust arrangements throughout each journey, including the prevention of escape. Multi-purpose vehicles are used to escort children, rather than the prison vans used to transport adult prisoners. Because of this, handcuffs are used for each journey.