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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-30410

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 22 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that some of the 477 prisoners that were released in summer 2024 under the Emergency Early Release programme went on to reoffended, how many of those prisoners that went on to reoffend were originally released from HMP Barlinnie.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

By 18 September 2024, 57 people of the 477 who left custody as part of the emergency release (ER) programme in June and July 2024 had returned to custody before their original Earliest Date of Liberation (EDL), i.e. the date when they would originally have been liberated.

SPS have proactively published a range of data relating to ER and we recently published a summary report of ER return to custody data. We are unable to publish return to custody data for HMP Barlinnie and for other establishments because some of the data could relate to a small group of individuals, which could lead to inadvertent identification.

Question reference: S6W-30413

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that Police Scotland is prepared for when Glasgow hosts the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

As the event organiser, Commonwealth Games Scotland are now formally engaging with Police Scotland and other public sector partners to commence planning to ensure the delivery of a safe and secure Commonwealth Games.

The event budget makes provision for policing and stewarding costs to ensure the event can be delivered safely and securely. Commonwealth Games Scotland have engaged with Police Scotland to carry out an initial assessment of the budget and resources that will be required.

Commonwealth Games Scotland will now engage with the relevant organisations to undertake robust safety and security risk assessments, which will determine the exact resourcing requirements and associated costs for public sector, including Police Scotland, to deliver the event. These costs will be met by Commonwealth Games Scotland.

The Scottish Government will engage across the Games governance structure to ensure our interests are represented and that the relevant organisations are engaged and supported at the appropriate junctures.

Question reference: S6O-03841

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what preparations it has conducted in advance of the planned opening of Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership’s safer drug consumption facility on 21 October.

Question reference: S6W-29891

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £12.8 million reduction in the Mental Health Services budget announced in its Pre-Budget Fiscal Update will be taken from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's budget.

The recent reduction in mental health budget provision relates to the Scottish Government’s direct programme budget in 2024-25, not NHS Board baseline allocations.

Through the overall 2024-25 budget, NHS Boards and the Scottish Government will continue to spend in excess of £1.3billion on mental health.

The reduction in the Scottish Government’s budget has been identified through programmes being adapted, or which have come to an end. In some cases work has been re-profiled where this has been possible.

Whilst any reduction is regrettable, we remain committed to taking forward our work across mental health, working closely with key partners. Our collective focus has to be on making as much difference as possible with our funding.

As part of this, we have allocated £120million to NHS Boards and Integrated Joint Boards for the Enhanced Mental Health Outcomes Framework in 2024-25, which will be baselined from April 2025. This flexible funding stream means local areas have choices in how services are configured and organised in order to deliver better outcomes. This will enable mental health services to deliver the long-term services reforms required that will help us work towards a more sustainable and improved system.

Question reference: S6W-29892

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many ScotRail passengers travelled on all lines between Glasgow and Edinburgh in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.

Question reference: S6W-29889

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much money will be taken from sustainable travel projects in Glasgow, in light of the £23.7 million reduction in its Active and Sustainable Travel budget in 2024-25 compared with 2023-24.

Transport Scotland has already allocated over £145 million of our 2024-25 budget to delivery partners across both Active Travel infrastructure and behaviour change. 2024-25 is the first year for a local authority and Regional Transport Partnerships led delivery model for infrastructure and behaviour change programmes that will encourage a shift towards more walking, wheeling and cycling. This funding remains in place.

The utmost importance is placed on balancing the Scottish Government’s budget each financial year. The Scottish Government and the whole of the public sector face a financial position that is extremely challenging. As with all programmes across Scottish Government, further active travel funding will need to be considered in this context for 2024-25. As the active and sustainable travel funding referred to in the Cabinet Secretary for Finance’s Pre-Budget Fiscal Update had not been allocated, no organisations nor local authorities will see their previously confirmed 2024-25 funding reduced as a result.

Question reference: S6W-29890

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many primary school pupils have received free school meals, compared with the total number of pupils in the Glasgow region, since 2021.

Question reference: S6W-29896

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 26 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to address the reportedly increased number of cancelled operations in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde since March 2020.

During the pandemic, and beginning in March 2020, routine planned operations were paused to allow our NHS to focus on patients with COVID-19 and to minimise transmission of the virus.

As services have remobilised, the number of patients listed for surgery has increased, therefore the number of cancelled operations increased in parallel.

The latest data for NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde shows that in July 2024, of all cancelled planned operations, just 1.6% were cancelled for capacity reasons, down from 2.1% in July 2021, while 5.7% were cancelled either by the patient or for clinical reasons.

We have also seen planned activity in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde rise from 4,238 in July 2021 to 4,798 in July 2024 – a 13.2% increase.

When a patient’s operation is cancelled, I expect NHS Boards to liaise with patients to find a suitable date as quickly as possible in order to ensure disruption to the patient is kept the minimum.

Question reference: S6W-29895

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 24 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to address any misuse of off-road vehicles in Glasgow.

Safety is a paramount priority and the Scottish Government fully supports Police Scotland and its partners in dealing with illegal use and misuse of off-road vehicles.

Enforcement is a matter for Police Scotland and local policing teams are best placed to identify where misuse is causing public concern and ensuring those areas can be prioritised to prevent future incidents. Police Scotland have previously outlined work within local policing divisions that raises awareness about the dangers of the misuse of these vehicles and we encourage local authorities to continue to work with Police Scotland to address this issue.

Within Glasgow, there are a range of initiatives being pursued by Police Scotland working closely with partners including Glasgow City Council. This includes nine officers within the Greater Glasgow Division who are trained with off-road motorbike capability and can access hard to reach local areas and open spaces. The local division also promotes social media messaging promoting legal use of these vehicles.

Question reference: S6W-29610

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 20 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many listed buildings in Glasgow are considered to be "at risk", and what plans it has to allocate funding for their preservation and restoration.

The owner of any property, listed or otherwise is responsible for the repair and maintenance of their property. There is a Buildings at Risk Register online, hosted by Historic Environment Scotland at Welcome to Buildings at Risk Register | Buildings at Risk Register. This site provides information on properties of architectural or historic merit that are considered to be at risk, including listings by planning authority area. The Glasgow Planning authority currently list 143 properties.

Questions regarding Historic Environment Scotland’s day-to-day operational matters, such as their Grant programme and awards, are best answered by Historic Environment Scotland.

I have asked Historic Environment Scotland to respond directly to the member with a full reply to her question in writing.