Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-02651

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to boost hydrogen production in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-21541

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to amend the questions in the Scottish Health Survey to capture more data about the impact of gambling on people's lives.

There are currently no plans to amend the gambling questions in the Scottish Health Survey.

However, the Gambling Commission have commissioned NatCen Social Research to run a new UK wide survey, which will include approx. 20,000 adults annually, with a sample of approximately 1,000 adults in Scotland.

To date the Gambling Commission results have been experimental statistics but the Gambling Commission will be publishing their first set of Official Statistics in a quarterly publication in Spring 2024. Once this new data is available we will consider it and any implications for the Scottish Health Survey.

Question reference: S6W-21543

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding restricting advertising by gambling companies.

Betting, gaming and lotteries are largely reserved matters and their regulation is primarily the responsibility of the UK Government. The Gambling Act 2005 (“the 2005 Act”) sets out how gambling in Great Britain should be regulated.

The Gambling Commission has responsibility for regulating commercial gambling in Great Britain and requires gambling operators to hold a licence to operate. The Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice require operators to comply with the Advertising Codes, administered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

In advance of the publication of the UK Government White Paper on Gambling (published on 27 April 2023), Scottish Government officials met with the UK Government officials to discuss potential areas of gambling reform (including advertising and marketing).

The Scottish Government will continue to meet with the UK Government to discuss progress in taking forward the proposals within the White Paper. The Minister for Victims and Community Safety and I recently met with the Gambling Commission on 21st September to discuss the White Paper.

Question reference: S6W-21540

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken to gauge any impact that gambling has on (a) poverty, (b) mental health, (c) suicide, (d) homelessness, (e) domestic violence and (f) addiction.

The most recent Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) found that the proportion of adults undertaking any gambling activities in Scotland (including the National Lottery) has decreased significantly between 2012 and 2021 – from 70% to 58%.

However, notwithstanding this positive trajectory, the Scottish Government recognises the adverse impacts that gambling can have on health and wellbeing, such as debt and deterioration of physical and mental health, and that this can lead to an increased risk of suicide for people affected by problem gambling. A recent evidence review by Public Health England (updated in January 2023) sets out the many health and social harms associated with gambling – including homelessness, crime, relationship harms, mental health problems and suicide.

At present, comparable Scotland specific data is not available. However work is underway in Public Health Scotland to identify and understand what data is currently available, analyse that data to inform future developments (linking to Scottish Health Survey data), and consider what further data collection may be necessary. PHS are also piloting a whole systems approach, working with partners in Glasgow, to mitigate the impact of gambling harm in a specific local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-21542

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out any work to look at restricting advertising by gambling companies.

Betting, gaming and lotteries are largely reserved matters and their regulation is primarily the responsibility of the UK Government. The Gambling Act 2005 (“the 2005 Act”) sets out how gambling in Great Britain should be regulated.

The Gambling Commission has responsibility for regulating commercial gambling in Great Britain and requires gambling operators to hold a licence to operate. The Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice require operators to comply with the Advertising Codes, administered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Question reference: S6W-20915

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many new schools have been built (a) in Aberdeen and (b) throughout Scotland since the start of the Scottish National Party administration in 2007.

Question reference: S6W-20910

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 29 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, according to the latest data, how many children (a) in Aberdeen and (b) throughout Scotland are in receipt of 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare.

Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland provides census data on numbers of registrations for funded early learning and childcare (ELC) at the local authority level as of September 2022. These figures are shown in the following table. The census does not currently record the number of hours being accessed by each child.

Local Authority	Number of funded registrations
Aberdeen City	3,740
Aberdeenshire	4,765
Angus	1,806
Argyll and Bute	1,290
City of Edinburgh	7,765
Clackmannanshire	897
Dumfries and Galloway	2,244
Dundee City	2,546
East Ayrshire	2,346
East Dunbartonshire	2,024
East Lothian	2,073
East Renfrewshire	1,897
Falkirk	2,699
Fife	6,452
Glasgow City	10,403
Highland	3,946
Inverclyde	1,255
Midlothian	2,196
Moray	1,521
Na h-Eileanan Siar	406
North Ayrshire	1,952
North Lanarkshire	5,855
Orkney Islands	382
Perth and Kinross	2,398
Renfrewshire	3,427
Scottish Borders	1,704
Shetland Islands	441
South Ayrshire	1,794
South Lanarkshire	5,939
Stirling	1,506
West Dunbartonshire	1,583
West Lothian	3,363
Scotland	92,615

Separately, the latest management information collected from local authorities, and published by the Improvement Service in June 2023, reported that there were 119,108 children accessing funded ELC at the end of April 2023. Of that number, 100,506 children (84.4%) were accessing 1,140 hours and 116,625 (97.9%) children were accessing more than 600 hours. The Improvement Service does not publish this management information at local authority level.

Question reference: S6W-20911

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 28 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many students (a) in Aberdeen and (b) throughout Scotland will receive free university tuition in the 2023-24 academic year.

Data on tuition fee support for academic year 2023-24 is not yet available as students have up until 31 March 2024 to apply to the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) for their financial support package.

In the 2022-23 academic year 5,855 full-time Higher Education (HE) students with addresses in Aberdeen City local authority received tuition fee support. In the same academic year 130,900 full-time students received tuition fee support whilst studying a course of Higher Education at college or university in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-20909

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 28 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many care experienced students (a) in Aberdeen and (b) throughout Scotland have received bursary support.

Data on the Care Experienced Bursary for Higher Education (HE) students for 2023-24 academic year (AY) is not yet available. In the 2022-23 academic year 75 HE students with addresses in Aberdeen City local authority received the Care Experienced Bursary. In the same academic year 1,840 HE students throughout Scotland received the Care Experienced Bursary.

Data on the Care Experienced Bursary for Further Education (FE) students for 2022-23 academic year is not yet available. In the 2021-22 academic year 150 FE students at North East Scotland College received the Care Experienced Bursary. In the same academic year 3,890 FE students throughout Scotland received the Care Experienced Bursary.

Question reference: S6W-20924

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to allow people who are currently funeral celebrants to officiate at weddings.

The current arrangements for religious and belief celebrants, and civil registrars, to solemnise marriage and register civil partnership allow couples to choose from a wide range of options for their ceremony to satisfy both the requirements of the law, and of any religion or belief.

These arrangements were broadened under the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 (the Act). Couples can now have their marriage solemnised by a celebrant from a belief body as an alternative to having a civil or a religious ceremony. Intended civil partners also have the same options as those who wish to marry.

The Policy Memorandum that accompanied the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill in the Parliament set out the Government’s reasons for rejecting the option of opening the solemnisation of marriage to celebrants with no link to a religious or belief body at paragraph 28.

This remains our position and we have no plans to change the law.

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