Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-34331

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which classifications of train are in the ScotRail fleet, broken down by the (a) average age and (b) number of trains in each classification.

Question reference: S6W-33269

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-20923 by Maree Todd on 26 September 2023, whether it can provide an update on progress with the implementation of Anne's Law, and whether it will be in force by the end of 2025.

The core elements of Anne’s Law have already been delivered by using our existing powers to strengthen Health and social care standards on visiting in care homes and in updates to guidance. As a result people living in care homes can now expect to see family members or friends during outbreaks and are able to name people who can directly participate in meeting their care needs.

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to enshrining Anne’s Law in primary legislation, and will deliver it within the National Care Service Bill. The timing of this will be dependent on the Bill successfully completing its Parliamentary passage.

Question reference: S6W-33990

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32779 by Jenni Minto on 20 January 2025, when it anticipates that it will receive the recommendations from the expert group.

Question reference: S6W-33216

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many local authorities have received funding to forgive school meal debt.

The Scottish Government has made £2,877,287.97 of funding available to local authorities to enable them to cancel school meal debts within their respective local areas. This sum represents the entire amounts bid for by each local authority.

29 local authorities submitted applications to receive funding from the School Meal Debt Fund and, to date, 16 of those local authorities have returned their completed grant acceptance forms to us and we have now taken steps to issue those payments to all 16 local authorities. The combined amount issued to all 16 of those local authorities totals £2,164,575.52.

Information about those local authorities whom have received funding so far, plus the amounts issued so far, is contained within the following table:

Local Authority	Funding received from School Meal Debt Fund (£)

Aberdeen City	411,970.90
Aberdeenshire	145,751.82
City of Edinburgh	89,321.00
Clackmannanshire	30,624.00
Dumfries and Galloway	29,439.63
East Dunbartonshire	74,230.69
East Lothian	54,354.71
East Renfrewshire	53,760.77
Glasgow City	655,032.00
Highland	115,747.76
Inverclyde	74,041.99
Midlothian	50,030.00
North Ayrshire	314,843.00
North Lanarkshire	21,263.00
Shetland Islands	15,949.52
South Ayrshire	28,214.73

Total	2,164,575.52

Question reference: S6W-33832

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-33215 by Angus Robertson on 20 January 2025, whether it will provide further details of what opportunities it is exploring with the Swedish Government regarding peatland restoration.

Question reference: S6W-33840

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the role that foodbanks and baby banks can play in supporting access to infant formula milk in a crisis, including related UNICEF advice, in light of the reported confirmation by the UK Department of Health and Social Care that there are no UK restrictions preventing food or baby banks from supplying families in need with baby formula.

Question reference: S6W-33213

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 21 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to establish an international office in Africa, in light of its commitment to the Scotland-Malawi partnership.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the Scotland-Malawi relationship, with funding continuing to support programmes focused on health, inclusive education, equalities, renewable energy and climate justice, as well as financial support for civil society links between Scotland and Malawi. However, there are no plans to open any further Scottish Government international offices during this parliamentary term.

Question reference: S6W-33118

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 21 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31048 by Jenni Minto on 25 November 2024, whether it can provide an update on its work to improve the technical infrastructure of the existing register of tobacco and nicotine vapour product retailers.

In line with the Tobacco and Vaping Framework, work is underway to improve the technical infrastructure of the existing register of Tobacco and Nicotine Vapour Product retailers.

Officials are working with Scottish IT developers ePass, selected by the Scottish Government through CivTech Challenge 9, to create and deliver an up-to-date web-based register product. It is expected that this new product will make enforcement easier, will support improvements in data quality, as well as support engagement with retailers and increase the value of registration for retailers. It is expected to launch in Spring this year.

Question reference: S6W-32813

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 21 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether ScotRail passengers who hold a National Entitlement Card should be able to claim discounted tickets online and via machines, as is currently possible when purchasing at a ticket office.

The National Entitlement Card allows the holder to access rail concession schemes, where such schemes exist. It is a feature of these Local Authority sponsored schemes that tickets may only be purchased in face-to-face transactions – either at ticket offices or on board a train. The Scottish Government specifies that all ScotRail trains should have a member of staff on board and therefore these concessionary fares are always available for eligible passengers.

Question reference: S6W-32922

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Christine Grahame (on behalf of the SPCB) on 20 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it plans to review its social media presence on X.

Given the pace of change and developments in the digital landscape, the SPCB reviews its communications channels on an ongoing basis. Considerations include extent of reach and levels of effective audience engagement, ethical considerations linked to impartiality, and effective use of resources. Content strategies and how channels are managed are reviewed and adapted regularly. Given the need for us to provide impartial services, decisions on whether the Corporate Body remains active on a channel or not are informed by data and evidence. While recent changes to X and developments are being monitored, the Parliament does not have immediate plans to stop using it. Our combined following on this channel is over 245,000, and we still therefore consider it to be a viable channel for us in terms of our ability to reach a mass audience quickly and to raise awareness of the work of the Parliament.

As well as X, the Parliament has a presence on a range of other digital channels including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. It also has a presence on Threads and is planning to run a 6-month pilot on Bluesky. Bluesky is a relatively new social media channel that looks and feels very much like X but is based on a very different operating model. During the pilot we will be increasing our understanding of this emerging platform and exploring its potential for public engagement. At the same time, we will also be monitoring how the more recent changes introduced at Meta might impact on how we use Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

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