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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-29693

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its reported cessation of all “non-essential” advertising for the remainder of the financial year, what advertising it considers to be “essential”.

Question reference: S6W-29612

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) it has allocated to and (b) has been spent by the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund, and whether its commitment to invest £500 million in the fund by the end of the current parliamentary session remains its position.

The Scottish Government remains committed to investing £500m in Whole Family Wellbeing to improve holistic family support so that families get the right support, in the right way and at the right time.

Since 2022 over £110m of Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF) was invested by the Scottish Government to deliver a transformational change in holistic family support so that families get the right support, in the right way and at the right time. The funding was distributed as follows:

•£96m provided for Children’s Services Planning Partnerships (CSPPs) (Element 1) to build local service capacity for change and to transform family support services.

•£1.6m National Support for Local Delivery(Element 2), includes a package of activity aimed at supporting local transformation. This part of the funding also supports the wider evaluation and research work for WFWF.

•£13.1m for taking a cross Scottish Government approach to system change(Element 3) which is supporting 12 projects across Scottish Government policy areas to help progress the aims of the Programme.

Question reference: S6W-29546

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will set out its working definition of austerity.

Austerity measures are those which take forward a definite policy of reducing public spending on programmes and activity irrespective of the impact on the outcomes of those programmes and activity.

For example, the Labour UK Government’s severe restriction on the Winter Fuel Payment, and its consequent impact of reducing the budget for these programmes in Scotland by up to £160m, is a clear implementation of Westminster austerity.

This has followed Scotland long being subject to the austerity policies of the Conservative UK Government. In the face of this, the Scottish Government has stepped in to support people and services where it has been needed most – on social security, health, public sector pay, and public services – and has used all levers at its disposal to do so and mitigate the impact of Westminster austerity in Scotland. This includes an around £1.5 billion in 2024-25 from Scotland’s progressive Income Tax policy.

The new Labour UK Government’s commitment to the same debt rule as the previous government was always going to entail a similar fiscal constraint, and the UK Government is now pursuing policies that appear to be a continuation of Conservative austerity. Further spending cuts and austerity by the new UK Government will impact on the funding available for the budget here in Scotland.

Question reference: S6T-02092

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the Commonwealth Games potentially being hosted in Glasgow in 2026.

Question reference: S6W-29171

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 3 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work on inclusive communication, following the closure of its consultation on a Scottish Specific Duty on inclusive communication.

I issued a letter to stakeholders providing an update on the Scottish Government’s work on inclusive communication on 14 August 2024. Due to restrictions in relation to legislative competence, the decision has been made to enhance public authorities' inclusive communication through guidance, tools, and training.

A scoping exercise will identify existing resources and gaps, with new materials to be developed in collaboration with partners and informed by lived experience of using diverse communication tools and approaches. Ministerial powers will be used to require public authorities to consider inclusive communication when fulfilling their equality duties, ensuring more consistent practices.

Question reference: S6W-28800

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 19 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the feasibility study conducted by (a) Aberdeen and (b) Glasgow airport on establishing a multi-modal hydrogen innovation hub to be published, and what it expects the next steps in this process will be.

In May 2023, Glasgow Airport Ltd. were awarded a grant of £150,000 from the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme (HIS) to test the feasibility of a hydrogen production, storage and distribution hub at Glasgow Airport. Work on the project, which involves a consortium of partners based in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK, began in summer 2023.

It is anticipated that final reports from this and other HIS projects will be published by the end of 2024.

The project did not involve Aberdeen Airport. However, the Scottish Government has helped to fund the Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub, a strategic programme that aims to accelerate the hydrogen economy in the city, with an initial focus on the use of hydrogen for road transport. The outputs from the study will help to build the evidence base to help support other hydrogen hubs to develop in Scotland.

Separately, hydrogen production and potential demand across Scotland’s geography is explored in reports, such as ‘Hydrogen demand in Scotland: a mapping of industrial and transport applications’ which can be found at: Research, evaluation and insight | Scottish Enterprise (scottish-enterprise.com) and a detailed report focussing specifically on the distillery sector which can be found at Research, evaluation and insight | Scottish Enterprise (scottish-enterprise.com)

Question reference: S6W-28799

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 19 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what factors led it to choose Aberdeen and Glasgow airports as possible locations for a multi-modal hydrogen innovation hub.

Launched in 2022, the Scottish Government’s Hydrogen Innovation Scheme (HIS) is supporting projects under the themes of renewable hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and distribution, and integration of hydrogen into our energy system. All applications for HIS funding were subject to a thorough assessment against a range of criteria, including alignment with our Hydrogen Action Plan.

Glasgow Airport Ltd. applied for funding to support a study to test the feasibility of a hydrogen production, storage and distribution hub at the airport. The application demonstrated several positive aspects, such as use of local wastewater treatment effluent as feedstock to produce hydrogen via electrolysis, deployment of novel storage and distribution technologies, and the intent to explore scalability and replicability. A HIS grant of £150,000 was awarded in May 2023: work began in summer 2023, with the project involving a consortium of partners.

The project did not involve Aberdeen Airport. However, the Scottish Government has separately, via the Energy Transition Fund, helped to fund the Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub, a strategic programme that aims to accelerate the hydrogen economy in the city with an initial focus on the use of hydrogen for road transport.

Question reference: S6T-02058

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported public safety and environmental concerns arising from the fire at Linwood industrial estate on 23 June.

Question reference: S6F-03260

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 June 2024

To ask the First Minister what assurances the Scottish Government can provide to the arts and culture sector to ensure confidence, in light of the reported issues with the sponsorship of cultural events.

Question reference: S6W-27460

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14445 by Neil Gray on 7 February 2023, whether it will provide updated information on how many public libraries have closed in each year since 2009, based on the latest information available.

Further to the answer provided to question S6W-14445, according to information gathered by the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) in financial year 2022-23, 8 out of 474 public libraries closed in Scotland.

The data for the total number of libraries in Scotland provided by SLIC for financial year 2022-23, relates solely to static library venues and does not include mobile library services.

Information for financial year 2023-2024 is not yet available.