Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-35034

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average primary (a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3 class size has been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S6W-34891

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of incidents in schools that Police Scotland have attended in each year since 1999.

Information on the total number of incidents in schools attended by Police Scotland is not held centrally.

Information is available from the Accredited Official Statistics on the number of police recorded crimes of weapon possession in a school. This is available within Table A8 of the Recorded Crime in Scotland 2023-24 publication, back to 2017-18 (the first year data was collected separately for school settings).

Question reference: S6W-34888

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many afterschool clubs have been funded in each local authority area since 1999.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Local authorities make their own decisions about how to prioritise the provision of after school clubs based on local need.

Through our School Age Childcare (SACC) Programme, the Scottish Government is currently investing in designing and testing funded school age childcare services within targeted communities across Scotland, in order to understand what it takes to deliver SACC that supports those families most at risk of living in poverty. This includes our Early Adopter Communities in 6 Local Authority areas, our Extra Time Programme in partnership with the Scottish Football Association, and our Access to Childcare projects.

Question reference: S6T-02391

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report, In Their Own Words: Children's Experiences in Temporary Accommodation, which was commissioned by Shelter Scotland and shows the impact that a stay in temporary accommodation can have on children's safety, health and education.

Question reference: S6W-35040

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the implementation of the pavement parking prohibitions introduced by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, and how it ensures that local authorities enforce these effectively.

The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 places a duty upon all local authorities to enforce the new parking prohibitions. It is for each local authority to determine how best to enforce these prohibitions in their area. Transport Scotland annually collates figures on income and expenditure and Penalty Charge Notices issued, which now includes pavement parking. The most recent report was published in December 2024 and can be found at the following link: Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE) Report 2023-2024 | Transport Scotland

Question reference: S6W-35041

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has received from local authorities regarding any barriers that they have identified in enforcing the pavement parking prohibitions introduced by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, and what support it has provided to them to assist with dealing with these.

Transport Scotland facilitated a Parking Standards Group with representatives from all 32 local authorities, in advance of the 2019 Act becoming law. During these meetings, in depth discussions were held around the enforcement of the new parking prohibitions. Transport Scotland also issued detailed guidance to all local authorities providing them with a procedure to follow to enforce the prohibitions This guidance also addressed any subsequent queries raised by local authorities.

Officials are in ongoing discussions with SCOTS and COSLA in respect of the funding mechanism for the relevant costs associated with the new prohibitions. Once those discussions have been concluded we will be in a position to reimburse any further eligible costs incurred by local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-35042

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment is has made of local authorities’ use of the £2.4 million funding that it allocated in 2022 to prepare for implementing the pavement parking prohibitions introduced by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019.

Transport Scotland provided £2.4 million to local authorities for the completion of their road assessments to identify if there are areas of footway they may wish to exempt from the national pavement parking ban. It is not for Transport Scotland to assess how local authorities undertook their road assessments. Local authorities are best placed to make informed decisions on the management of their local road network and to assess which of the footways within their area are suitable for exemption, in line with ministerial directions.

Question reference: S6W-34889

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 3 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much was spent on the upskilling fund when it was operational.

Question reference: S6W-35037

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce an updated version of the campaign, No Knives, Better Lives.

We review YouthLink Scotland’s No Knives, Better Lives programme regularly to consider how it can continue to help prevent violence and reduce its harm. Part of this work has included the creation of the Quit Fighting for Likes Campaign, developed by the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, YouthLink Scotland No Knives, Better Lives and Medics Against Violence. Launched on 11 September 2024, the campaign provides a suite of resources aimed at frontline practitioners to help engage young people in conversations to help them understand the impact and harms caused around the filming and sharing of violent incidents.

The campaign, including the accompanying practitioner resources, remain available to access on the websites of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit and YouthLink Scotland No Knives, Better Lives. It is intended that the campaign will be re-run again after the school summer holidays.

Question reference: S6O-04395

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on state schools of the UK Government's decision to make independent schools liable for VAT, how it plans to use any Barnett consequential funding resulting from this decision to support state schools.

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