Seòmar agus comataidhean

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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 47320 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6T-00671

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is putting in place to ensure that Ukrainian families understand the conditions of its Super Sponsor Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-08060

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure deaf and disabled people are involved in the changes that will lead to a just transition.

The Scottish Government is committed to working across society to deliver lasting action that secures a just transition to climate resilience and net zero for Scotland. Our Just Transition Plans, representing a large degree of our policy, will identify concrete steps to manage the economic and social impacts of the transition fairly. We have committed to co-designing our Just Transition Plans to ensure they are underpinned by diversity and inclusion and support wider objectives on furthering equality and human rights across all protected characteristics. We will be publishing details on our approach to co-design, including the involvement of deaf and disabled people, shortly.

Question reference: S6W-08095

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what work has been carried out to ensure that police and health services work together when drink spiking is reported.

In November last year, Police Scotland had established a Gold command on the issue of spiking. Led by an Assistant Chief Constable, this comprised of a network of health partners, victim support organisations, colleges and universities and night time economy sector to achieve the right balance of targeted and universal intervention to ensure the safety of the public.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with partners to strengthen our response to spiking, and ensure that people are supported to report, if something does happen.

This includes ongoing work with health partners to explore clinical and reporting pathways and to ensure clear and consistent messaging for anyone accessing health services where a drink is believed to have been spiked.

Question reference: S6W-08054

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has met with Hourglass Scotland and, if this is not the case, whether it plans to do so, and, if it does, when this meeting will take place.

Question reference: S6W-08098

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to re-establish the Healthy Working Lives award programme to support the health of the working age population.

The Healthy Working Lives programme, which is delivered on our behalf by the Public Health Scotland, was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Scottish Government is determining how best to take the Healthy Working Lives programme forward in light of the changing needs of the population coming out of the pandemic.

Needs arising from the pandemic, such as support for those suffering from Long Covid and mental health support, will be of particular focus as we adapt to the changed situation we find ourselves in. This will be in line with the commitments outlined in the Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan.

Question reference: S6W-07945

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many outstanding rail passenger compensation claims it is responsible for, as a result of Abellio no longer being responsible for them, broken down by the year in which they were made, and what the total amount of live compensation claims is.

Question reference: S6W-08068

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how the £1 million funding under the Creative Digital Initiative has been spent to date.

The Scottish Government funded a £1 million Creative Digital Initiative to deliver a range of activity and support to upskill creative businesses in their digital capabilities and capacity through a public sector partnership.

Creative Scotland were allocated over £290,000 to deliver multiple projects, including a digital commissioning programme via The Space to help creative businesses grow the skills, knowledge and confidence required in key areas of their digital activity. Creative Scotland also delivered a Digital Pivot mentoring and peer support programme, and the Next Level Up programme to transform those who were already digitally engaged into digital leaders and support creative industries and to cultural sector participants to take the digital opportunity to the next level.

£40,000 of funding was allocated to the delivery of an XpoNorth web portal and nearly £30,000 was allocated to South of Scotland Enterprise to deliver digital skills webinars and short courses to support the understanding of the potential of digital.

Skills Development Scotland were allocated £60,000 to deliver a Creative Game Changers programme, providing specialist mentoring, coaching and 1-2-1 support, engaging with up to 20 creative businesses, freelancers or sole traders. Skills Development Scotland are also leading on an evaluation of the project to consider next steps for upskilling the digital capability of creatives.

£525,000 was provided to Scottish Enterprise to provide large enterprise grant support.

The CDI Steering Group will consider how best to allocate any remaining funds, using the CDI project evaluation to consider sector needs.

Question reference: S6W-08071

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it will commission its proposed feasibility study on rent data collection.

The level of engagement with the ‘New Deal for Tenants’ consultation has been positive, generating a large number of responses. The Scottish Government are currently considering these responses to inform the development of our approach to collection of rent data. The emerging findings from the consultation will help to define the scope of the proposed feasibility study, which we will seek to commission as soon as we have fully taken into account the analysis of responses from the consultation.

Question reference: S6W-07754

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it collects information on the measures being put in place by local authorities to address any barriers faced by disabled people who work for local authorities.

The duty to ensure equality of opportunity rests with employers and so the development and implementation of plans is a matter for Local Authorities. The Scottish Government does not collect this information centrally.

Public sector bodies, including local authorities, are subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) which requires listed public authorities, in all their functions, to have due regard to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic, such as disabled people, and those who do not.

Furthermore, local authorities in Scotland are subject to The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012. This includes a duty to gather and use employee information in relation to their protected characteristics, before using that information to better fulfil their duties under the PSED; as well as a duty to publish statements on equal pay and occupational segregation (within organisations) regarding disabled people. Responsibility for ensuring compliance with these duties lies with the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The Scottish Government is currently reviewing the effectiveness of the PSED in Scotland. This means reviewing the Scottish Specific Duties as well as the implementation environment in which they sit. From December 2021 to April 2022 we ran a public consultation containing ambitious and detailed proposals for changes to the duties, several of which will help to address barriers faced by disabled people in the workforce.

After consultation responses have been analysed, we will continue to work with public bodies and equality advocacy groups with a view to introducing new regulations that will deliver better outcomes for those who experience inequality.

Question reference: S6W-08066

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards the SNP manifesto commitment to create a fund for public artwork, and when it anticipates that this will be in place.

This Government is committed to broadening the range of people represented in Scotland’s public places, reflecting in particular the contribution of women and ethnic minorities. A specific fund is being considered in the context of the Scottish Government’s longer term spending plans and we will discuss how such a fund might be best deployed with Creative Scotland, whose remit includes public art.