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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: S6W-35177

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much capital budget funding has been provided to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service in each of the last five financial years.

Question reference: S6W-35179

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the attrition rate of staff employed by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service has been in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-34460

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, what its response is to the UK Government-commissioned review of the quality protocol report, Tyre-derived rubber materials. End of waste criteria for the production and use of tyre-derived rubber materials, which was developed by the Environment Agency and Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), and what consideration it has given to implementing similar measures in Scotland, including the recommendations for the storage of tyre-derived rubber materials and use in unbound applications.

A decision has been made by the Environment Agency to replace some of the Quality Protocols (QP) which only apply in England and Wales, including the QP for Tyre Derived Rubber Materials, with a ‘Resource Framework’. The outcomes of the review of the Tyre Derived Rubber Material QP (published in 2009) are yet to be published therefore we do not know to what extent the Resource Framework will mirror or amend the approach currently set out in the QP.

In Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency's (SEPA) approach to end-of-waste is similar to the QPs. SEPA has equivalent end-of-waste positions for many of the materials covered by QPs, including compost, anaerobic digestate and aggregates. They do not currently have a published end-of-waste position for Tyre Derived Rubber Materials but have discussed the possibility with tyre recyclers in the past.

The Environment Agency is currently working with representatives from the tyre recycling industry on the design and contents of the new Resource Framework and SEPA will consider the Framework’s findings, once it is understood what the Framework for this material contains. While awaiting the outcome of the QP review, SEPA remains open to approaches from any business seeking to agree an end-of-waste position.

SEPA’s end-of-waste positions take the approach that the storage of recovered materials remains a regulated waste activity until they are dispatched to their end user. This is to ensure that the recovery of the material is genuine and that the material is not just stockpiled with no actual prospect of an end use.

Question reference: S6W-35178

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent staff have been employed in the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-35180

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the main recorded reasons for staff leaving the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service have been in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6O-04409

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to reduce car use by 20% by 2030.

Question reference: S6W-34859

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will work with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) and Edinburgh Trams Ltd to extend the discount available to those aged under 22 from Glasgow and Edinburgh to other young people in Scotland who hold a Scottish National Entitlement Card or Young Scot National Entitlement Card.

The Scottish Government provides funding for the National Concessionary Bus Travel Schemes for Older and Disabled People and for Young People which provide free bus travel throughout Scotland for eligible National Entitlement Card holders.

We have no plans to extend the Young Persons Free Bus Travel Scheme to Edinburgh trams or the Glasgow subway.

Local authorities have discretionary powers under the Transport Act 1985 to provide and fund local concessionary travel schemes for their residents. The extent and terms of any such scheme are for individual local authorities to decide.

Although the Scottish Government contributed to the cost of the trams and the Glasgow Underground, it is for City of Edinburgh Council and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) to determine whether to offer travel concessions for those travelling on these services.

Question reference: S6W-34334

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 21 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many reports in each of the five calendar years prior to the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 coming into force were made to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) under the (a) Explosives Act 1875, (b) Environmental Protection Act 1990, (c) Fireworks Act 2003, (d) Fireworks (Scotland) Regulations 2004, (e) Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004, for the inappropriate use of fireworks and pyrotechnic articles, (f) Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005 and (g) Pyrotechnic Articles (Safety) Regulations 2010, and how many subsequent (i) prosecutions and (ii) convictions there were.

The following tables have been produced in answer to the question above. It should be noted that cases which are reported in any given year may not result in prosecutions or convictions until subsequent years.

Explosives Act 1985

Year	Charges reported	Charges prosecuted	Charges resulting in a conviction
2017	21	7	5
2018	10	2	2
2019	10	7	5
2020	13	1	0
2021	7	3	0

Environmental Protection Act 1990

Year	Charges reported	Charges prosecuted	Charges resulting in a conviction
2017	355	28	13
2018	268	30	13
2019	185	35	15
2020	158	17	7
2021	74	21	11

Fireworks Act 2003

Year	Charges reported	Charges prosecuted	Charges resulting in a conviction
2017	0	0	0
2018	2	1	1
2019	0	0	0
2020	0	0	0
2021	0	0	0

Fireworks (Scotland) Regulations 2004

Year	Charges reported	Charges prosecuted	Charges resulting in a conviction
2017	0	0	0
2018	0	0	0
2019	0	0	0
2020	0	0	0
2021	1	0	0

Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004 [1](where fireworks and/or pyrotechnics were mentioned in the charge).

Year	Charges reported	Charges prosecuted	Charges resulting in a conviction
2017	0	0	0
2018	5	0	0
2019	2	0	0
2020	0	0	0
2021	0	0	0

Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005

Year	Charges reported	Charges prosecuted	Charges resulting in a conviction
2017	0	0	0
2018	0	0	0
2019	0	0	0
2020	0	0	0
2021	0	0	0

Pyrotechnics Articles (Safety) Regulations 2010

Year	Charges reported	Charges prosecuted	Charges resulting in a conviction
2017	0	0	0
2018	0	0	0
2019	0	0	0
2020	0	0	0
2021	0	0	0

[1] These figures are based on a key word search on the relevant database. This is the only viable method by which the figures could be collated. These figures may be imperfect due to the possibility of human error at the reporting stage.

Question reference: S6W-34333

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 21 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many reports have been made (a) each calendar year and (b) since 1 January 2025 to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) under the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022, and how many subsequent (i) prosecutions and (ii) convictions there have been.

The following tables have been produced in answer to the question above. Table 1 shows figures for charges reported under the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022, Table 2 shows figures for charges reported with aggravations under the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022. It should be noted that cases which are reported in any given year may not result in prosecutions or convictions until subsequent years. Figures for 2025 cover the period from 01 January 2025 to 03 February 2025.

Table 1 Charges reported under the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022

Year	Reported Cases	Prosecutions	Convictions
2022	0	0	0
2023	31	20	08
2024	64	28	07
2025	06	0	0

Table 2 Cases reported with aggravations based on the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022

Year	Reported Cases	Prosecutions	Convictions
2022	22	2	2
2023	54	9	1
2024	14	10	0
2025	0	0	0

Question reference: S6O-04260

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to prevent death by suicide in prison.