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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.

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Question reference: S6O-01707

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the next steps are in implementing buffer zones outside abortion clinics in Scotland, in light of the UK Supreme Court judgement on this issue handed down on 7 December 2022.

Question reference: S6O-01604

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress of the work of the National Audiology Review Group on examining hearing services in NHS boards across Scotland and providing recommendations for a national plan for improvement.

The National Audiology Review Group continues its independent review of services having most recently convened on 25 October. The Cabinet Secretary will shortly be meeting with the Review’s Chair for an update on their progress and their developing recommendations.

The review is pursuing four workstreams encompassing the lived experience, governance, quality assurance and education and will fully report in the new year.

Question reference: S6O-01545

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any communication it has had with the UK Government regarding the potential impact on Scotland of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.

Question reference: S6O-01474

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the implications will be for its budget of recent changes in the UK Government's fiscal policy.

Question reference: S6O-01432

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how the needs of mobile home residents will be incorporated in the final version of the strategy, A New Deal for Tenants.

Question reference: S6W-10796

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 27 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds regarding the value of each local authority's reserves in real terms in 2022-23, and how this compares with the equivalent value in 2006-07.

The information regarding the value of each local authority's reserves in real terms in 2022-23, and how this compares with the equivalent value in 2006-07 is set out in the following table.

LOCAL AUTHORITY RESERVES

	2006-07 Real Terms	2022-23 Real Terms	2006-23 Change Real Terms	2006-23 Change Real Terms
Local Authority	£m	£m	£m	%
Aberdeen City	19.9	66.8	46.8	235.1
Aberdeenshire	23.7	76.7	52.9	223.0
Angus	22.2	41.2	19.0	85.9
Argyll & Bute	33.9	73.0	39.1	115.3
Clackmannanshire	4.3	12.9	8.5	196.9
Dumfries & Galloway	39.5	79.8	40.3	101.9
Dundee City	11.4	39.3	28.0	246.6
East Ayrshire	27.7	49.9	22.1	79.8
East Dunbartonshire	9.2	22.7	13.4	145.1
East Lothian	7.7	18.4	10.7	138.4
East Renfrewshire	9.5	45.3	35.9	379.1
Edinburgh, City of	25.9	173.1	147.1	567.0
Eilean Siar	13.8	19.4	5.6	40.4
Falkirk	24.5	37.8	13.3	54.2
Fife	12.9	141.6	128.7	999.8
Glasgow City	16.0	114.7	98.7	616.2
Highland	40.6	57.5	17.0	41.8
Inverclyde	23.5	29.4	5.9	25.1
Midlothian	13.2	11.5	-1.7	-12.7
Moray	16.2	32.1	15.9	98.6
North Ayrshire	14.3	65.4	51.1	356.8
North Lanarkshire	21.9	123.5	101.6	463.7
Orkney	22.4	28.2	5.8	26.1
Perth & Kinross	38.8	46.1	7.3	18.9
Renfrewshire	28.1	78.4	50.3	179.4
Scottish Borders	19.5	41.0	21.5	110.5
Shetland	0.0	189.5	189.5	N/A
South Ayrshire	-0.7	18.3	19.0	N/A
South Lanarkshire	5.2	71.1	65.9	1271.4
Stirling	9.0	45.6	36.6	407.9
West Dunbartonshire	4.2	12.6	8.4	202.3
West Lothian	5.8	20.5	14.7	255.0
Scotland	564.1	1883.2	1319.1	233.9

NOTES:
1. Local Authority General Fund Reserves for 2006-07 and 2022-23
2. Source: LFR 00 for final, audited 2006-07 figures;
POBE 2022 2022-23 budget estimate figures
3. The Real Terms figures were calculated using the HM Treasury GDP Deflators
dated 23 March 2022.

Question reference: S6O-01359

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is regarding the impact in Scotland to reports that the UK Government is considering a post-Brexit removal of workers’ rights.

Question reference: S6W-09615

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 26 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, following the implementation of the Young Person’s Guarantee and Kickstart Scheme in 2020, how many funded apprenticeship places have been (a) offered to and (b) taken up by deaf school leavers, including school leavers with mild or moderate hearing impairments.

Official statistics from our national skills agency, Skills Development Scotland show that there were 26 Modern Apprentice (MA) Starts, in the 16-19 age grouping, who were recorded as having a hearing impairment and were recorded as being school pupils prior to commencing their apprenticeship. This data covers MA starts from 1 September 2020 to 31 March 2022 and further apprenticeship data will be available when the Quarter 1 2022-23 report is published, which is expected in August 2022. These figures are on the basis of self-declaration and therefore may be higher than this.

Question reference: S6W-09616

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, following the implementation of the Young Person’s Guarantee and Kickstart Scheme in 2020, how many funded college sector places have been taken up by deaf school leavers, including school leavers with mild or moderate hearing impairments.

In 2020-21 academic year, the estimated number of school leavers who self-identified as deaf/having a hearing impairment was 170, which represented 0.6% of all school leavers who were enrolled in college. Of the estimated 680 school leavers recorded for Young Person’s Guarantee funded courses (which began in January 2021), 10 were school leavers who self-identify as deaf/having a hearing impairment, which represented over 1% of enrolments. The number of enrolments in 2020-21 for Kickstart placements cannot be provided due to small numbers.

Advancing equality and inclusion, and working to eliminate discrimination, is central to the Young Person’s Guarantee, ensuring that no one is left behind. Provision is supporting tailored education, training and employment opportunities for young people with protected characteristics across Scotland, including young people who identify as deaf or have a hearing impairment.

Through the Guarantee we have provided colleges with additional funding of £10m per year in 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23, to enable them to deliver shorter industry focused opportunities for young people, including skills boost and fast track courses, to meet the needs of employers and support economic recovery. We are continuing to engage with the college sectors and key partners to ensure opportunities are targeted at supporting individuals who experience barriers to participating in the labour market, including disabled young people.

It’s important to note that as disabilities and health conditions are self-declared at the point of application, these figures may not provide the total number of deaf school leavers accessing these opportunities. The figures are also estimates based on data returned from colleges.

Question reference: S6W-09617

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, following the implementation of the Young Person’s Guarantee and Kickstart Scheme in 2020, how many opportunities have been provided for deaf young people, including those with mild or moderate hearing impairments, through (a) the Kickstart Scheme and (b) funded local partnerships through the Young Person’s Guarantee.

Since the launch of the Young Person’s Guarantee in November 2020, we have provided additional funding, with the aim of supporting new and enhanced opportunities for young people, through Local Employability Partnerships (LEPs). In 2022-23, Local Employability Partnerships will receive almost £113 million in funding for local employability services through the No One Left Behind approach, which includes the Young Person’s Guarantee, to provide support that meets both individual and labour market needs in each area. This is crucial to achieving shared aims around tackling poverty and inequalities.

As part of funding arrangements, Local Authorities are required to complete Equality Impact Assessments for the funding provided through the Guarantee, outlining how their plans and policies will support young people with protected characteristics, including disabled young people, and where they will target supported education, employment and training projects.

Recently published experimental statistics show that between January 2021-December 2021, 1189 disabled young people received employability support via LEPs, which included Young Person’s Guarantee funding. This data cannot be further disaggregated by type of disability.

The Scottish Government has no functions in relation to Kickstart, which is reserved to the UK Government. Data relating to the Kickstart Scheme is collated by the UK Government and is not currently shared with the Scottish Government.