- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 9 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many doses of naloxone are currently held in reserves.
Answer
In line with the action from the Drug Death Taskforce 'Changing Lives' report that the Scottish Government should work with NHS naloxone leads and pharmaceutical companies to ensure sufficient supplies are available to meet demand we are working closely with these bodies, as well as others involved in the supply and distribution of Naloxone, to ensure sufficient supplies are available and to monitor demand and any increases.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 9 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how much public money was spent on the regeneration of town centres in the (a) North Lanarkshire, (b) South Lanarkshire and (c) Falkirk local authority area, in each financial year from 2016-17 to 2021-22.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold complete information on the expenditure of public money on town centre regeneration in local areas. Local authorities are responsible for delivering local economic development and local regeneration in their areas and public money from the wider public sector will contribute to regeneration of town centres.
While noting that many wider public sector budgets and funds contribute to town centre regeneration, the Scottish Government has provided targeted funding to support regeneration, including in town centres. This includes support available through the:
- Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) which includes the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF).
- Town Centre Fund (TCF).
- Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme (VDLIP); and
- Vacant and Derelict Land Fund (VDLF).
Allocations to North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Falkirk from these funds are in the following tables:
| PBIP LA Allocation | 2021-22 |
| North Lanarkshire | £2,807,000 |
| South Lanarkshire | £ 797,000 |
| Falkirk | £1,391,000 |
| Total | £4,995,000 |
| Town Centre Fund | 2019-20 | 2020-21 |
| North Lanarkshire | £ 3,250,000 | £1,168,000 |
| South Lanarkshire | £ 2,506,000 | £ 902,000 |
| Falkirk | £ 4,335,000 | £ 711,000 |
| Total | £10,091,000 | £2,781,000 |
| RCGF | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
| North Lanarkshire | | | 0 | £1,740,000 | 0 | £1,421,270 |
| South Lanarkshire | £1,000,000 | | 0 | | 0 | £1,020,000 |
| Falkirk | | £1,125,547 | 0 | | 0 | |
| Total | £1,000,000 | £1,125,547 | 0 | £1,740,000 | 0 | £2,441,270 |
Note: The above RCGF figures include investment awarded to support regeneration in close proximity to town centres.
| VDLIP | 2021-22 |
| North Lanarkshire | |
| South Lanarkshire | £ 380,150 |
| Falkirk | £ 563,621 |
| Total | £ 943,771 |
Note: The VDLIP was launched in 2021. The table above includes projects that were awarded funding for regeneration in close proximity to town centres.
| VDLF | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
| North Lanarkshire | £1,982,000 | £2,375,064 | £2,396,000 | £2,886,000 | £1,956,000 | £1,938,000 |
| South Lanarkshire | £ 936,000 | £1,082,000 | £ 901,000 | £1,120,000 | £ 697,000 | £737,000 |
| Total | £2,918,000 | £3, 457,064 | £3, 297,000 | £4,006,000 | £2, 653,000 | £2,675,000 |
Note: The above table shows the full allocation of the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund for each local authority. Each local authority is responsible for developing proposals based on its local regeneration priorities and funding may have been allocated across the local authority.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the amount of school meal debt that has been forgiven since 1 January 2022, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The information you have requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.
Decisions around school meal debt management, including all aspects of policy and practice, are at the discretion of each individual local authority. Local authorities' approaches to school meal debt management, including all aspects of policy and practice, should be compassionate, proportionate, and seek to minimise as far as possible the stigmatisation of children, young people, and their families.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 9 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received, or expects to receive, Barnett consequential funding in connection with the UK Government's scheme to place automated external defibrillators in every state funded school in England, which is reportedly worth £19 million, including an external contract to the value of £14.6 million, as announced in December 2022, and, if so, whether it will allocate any such funding for the purpose of placing defibrillators in schools in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not expect to receive Barnett consequential funding in connection with this UK Government scheme.
Scottish Government is a key partner in the Save a Life for Scotland partnership which delivers the Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy 2021 – 2026. A key aim of this strategy is to increase the percentage of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest incidents which have a defibrillator applied before the ambulance service arrives from 8% to 20%.
This is not only about increasing the number of defibrillators in public places but also about building the evidence base to support defibrillator guardians to make strategic decisions about the placement of their defibrillators, to encourage their registration with Scottish Ambulance Service and to increase public confidence and knowledge around defibrillation. We are working as part of the Save a Life Scotland partnership to deliver on these aims.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 16 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with its Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, including in relation to expanding free school meal provision.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 16 March 2023
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 8 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many people currently employed in the public sector are paid at least £10.90 an hour or an equivalent salary.
Answer
The Scottish Government has supported payment of the real Living Wage in our Public Sector Pay Policy since 2011. Data from the 2022 Annual Survey of Hourly Earnings (ASHE) shows that 97.6% employees in the whole Scottish public sector (devolved and reserved) earn at least Real Living Wage or more. The recent increase to the real Living Wage to £10.90 per hour should be applied as part of public sector pay settlements from April 2023. The 2023 ASHE data (expected to be released in October / November) will show the proportion of employees who are paid the £10.90 Real Living Wage in the Scottish Public Sector.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 8 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of a reported trend of incidents of youth violence in Scotland being filmed and circulated across social media platforms, what action Police Scotland (a) can and (b) will take to ensure that such videos are immediately (i) removed from social media and (ii) investigated, and whether it will allocate funding to create community safe spaces for young people in Scotland who are experiencing bullying.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring everyone lives free from violence, in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe.
For Police Scotland to take any action, the uploading images of violence would be deemed criminal if they breached the evidential threshold of Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 in terms of sharing grossly indecent, obscene, menacing character or offensive messages etc.
The removal of offensive content is the responsibility of the social media platforms themselves and can be done by users flagging the content as breaching the community guidelines/terms and conditions. There are report/removal tools operated by Police Scotland’s partner organisations to remove content from the internet, however these are generally aimed at indecent images.
We are providing nearly £13.5 billion in the 2023-24 Local Government Settlement, an increase of over £793 million compared with the 2022-23 budget. The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate financial resources available to them, including on youth services, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the independent report of the detailed analysis of the future prospects for the North Sea and how Scotland's energy activity aligns with its climate change commitments, as referred to in the Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, which is currently open for consultation.
Answer
The analysis was published on 3 March and can be found here - https://www.gov.scot/publications/energy-system-transition-independent-analysis/ .
This publication is an independent report, reviewed by an independent panel, which provides a significant volume of evidence and analysis and will contribute to our understanding of the opportunities and challenges in energy transition. To allow stakeholders to fully consider this material before responding, the consultation period for the draft ESJTP has been extended by 5 weeks, and will now close on 9 May.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 13 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Priority Action to 2030 in its draft Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045, to continue effective species recovery, reintroduction and reinforcement programmes, adequately reflects the goals and targets for species recovery in the outputs from the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, and whether it will increase the ambition and priority given to targeted species recovery programmes in its draft strategy.
Answer
The Priority Action in the draft Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, ‘Continue effective species recovery, reintroduction and reinforcement programmes’, is one of several actions that supports the recovery and protection of vulnerable species in Scotland, and will help us to meet Goal A and Target 4 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
We are committed to continue protecting vulnerable species, and are determined to step up our ambition in taking action to support nature-friendly farming, fishing and forestry, and to expand, restore and connect existing protected areas, to ensure high quality landscapes for all species across Scotland to thrive, and adapt to our changing climate.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14330 by Lorna Slater on 8 February 2023, when it anticipates that Zero Waste Scotland's urgent review of the environmental impacts and management of single-use vapes will report.
Answer
We expect Zero Waste Scotland to submit the review report in May, and we will then consider its findings.
