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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-03389

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the rural affairs secretary last met with Forestry and Land Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-26966

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 1 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26479 by Siobhan Brown on 22 April 2024, what information it has on what criteria the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman uses for categorising cases as (a) priority and (b) non-priority.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) prioritises cases based on a number of factors. These include whether the person bringing the complaint, or person affected, is vulnerable; any immediate health issues of the complainant or person affected; whether the subject matter of the complaint is urgent and ongoing or time critical; and the impact. The SPSO encourages people to contact them if their circumstances change or if that they feel their complaint should be prioritised, so the priority level can be reviewed.

Question reference: S6W-26858

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 April 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 24 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government under whose ministerial remit its support for Scottish Men's Sheds Association falls.

The Scottish Government has been supportive of the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association since their inception in Scotland and since 2016-17 has supported the movement’s growth. In the financial year 2023-24, grant funding was provided under the portfolio of myself. However, the work of the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association is cross-cutting and is not supported by a specific minister. As with other third sector organisations, engagement with the organisation spans across a range of portfolio areas including health and social care, equalities, and communities.

Question reference: S6W-26648

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will publish updated guidance on the use of mobile phones in schools.

Question reference: S6W-26649

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it will publish its national action plan on relationships and behaviour in schools.

Question reference: S6W-26433

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many domestic abuse cases resulted in the accused receiving an absolute discharge in each of the last five years.

There is no single crime of domestic abuse. Instead domestic abuse can refer to any crime that carries a domestic abuse aggravator, which includes offences under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018. Data on people prosecuted and convicted in Scottish criminal courts are presented in the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland statistical bulletin. The most recent available version covers the financial years 2012-13 to 2021-22. People convicted where the main charge carried a domestic abuse aggravation and the main penalty was an absolute discharge are shown in the following table for the most recent five years for which data are available.

2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21 1	2021-22 1
157	131	108	78	131

1. Data for 2020-21 and 2021-22 were affected by the pandemic and subsequent court closures, reduced court capacities and delayed cases where key participants tested positive for COVID-19. Volumes for these years should be treated with caution and not considered indicative of longer term trends.

Question reference: S6W-26478

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the current waiting time is for a complaint to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) to be allocated to a complaints reviewer, and what the average length of time is for the conclusion of such a review.

All cases the SPSO receive are currently subject to an initial review within 5 working days. Cases are triaged and priority cases (categorised for example by a complainant’s vulnerability or immediate health issues) which are considered to require further investigation are allocated as soon as possible. SPSO are committed to ensuring no priority cases remains unallocated for more than 4 weeks. Cases which require further investigation but are not deemed high priority are currently being allocated within 4 months. The SPSO aims to let people know their decision within 80 working days and in 2023-24 this was achieved in 61% of cases. At 2023-24 year-end, the number of open cases (cases allocated but not yet having a full decision issued) reduced from 141 to 52 when compared to the previous year, a 63% reduction.

Question reference: S6W-26479

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the size is of any backlog of cases that the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) has, and what the SPSO is doing to reduce any such backlog.

As of 18 April 2024, the SPSO had a backlog of 286 non-priority cases awaiting allocation and 0 priority cases awaiting allocation. Over the past two years, the timescales for cases requiring further investigation being allocated has reduced from 11 months to 4 months. This is despite a 33% increase in the number of complaints being received in 2023-24 when compared to 2022-23. The SPSO have received funding from the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body to recruit more staff to assist with continuing to reduce timescales. In addition, the SPSO continues to monitor resources and service delivery to make best use of their resources.

Question reference: S6W-26434

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in each of the last five years, how many domestic abuse case trials that went ahead had been delayed by (a) between one and two years, (b) between two and three years and (c) three years or longer.

Question reference: S6W-26363

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what pathways of support and treatment are available to eating disorder patients who may require non-standardised care.

We are committed to supporting people to access the right care at the right time and having support in place to respond to the whole person needs of those who suffer from an eating disorder. That is why in 2023-24 we allocated £55.5 million to Health Boards to improve the quality and delivery of mental health and psychological services for all, including eating disorder services.

The Scottish Government has recently developed a draft National Specification for the Care and Treatment of Eating Disorders in Scotland which will be finalised later this year. It clearly outlines that we would expect services to have specialist pathways and work jointly with other services to care for anyone with co-occurring considerations such as neurodiversity, pregnancy, diabetes etc.

The vast majority of people with eating disorders will be treated in the community, with support provided by primary care or community mental health teams, and with support links to specialist hospital or voluntary sector care where appropriate.

We have also provided Beat, the UK’s largest Eating Disorder charity, with over £600,000 to provide a range of support services for those impacted by an eating disorder.