Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-34881

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what role the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland plays in monitoring psychiatric inpatient facilities for children, and whether it will review the effectiveness of any such oversight.

Question reference: S6W-34281

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on what the current bed occupancy rate is in hospitals across NHS boards, and whether any outbreaks of (a) norovirus and (b) flu are affecting levels of bed occupancy.

Question reference: S6W-34283

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the current bed occupancy rate is at safe level for staff and patients.

Question reference: S6W-33604

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 28 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve the efficiency of EV charging points in rural areas, and ensure that maintenance of these charging points is kept to a high standard to reduce any risk of chargers not working for users.

Regulating service provision and the consumer experience of public EV charging is an area that is reserved to the UK government. The UK Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 established minimum standards in terms of reliability and functionality for all public charge points. I welcome these regulations and I encourage all public charge point owners to comply with them to ensure that drivers receive the level of service that they have every right to expect.

To date, the Scottish Government has invested over £65 million in developing Scotland’s public EV charging network, which has included providing funding to public charge point owners for warranty and maintenance packages.

Our £30 million EV Infrastructure Fund aims to ensure that continued investment in Scotland’s public EV charging network is balanced across urban, rural and island areas by focusing public funding on those parts of Scotland that are less likely to see private investment, including rural an island communities. This fund also supports a transition to a public charging network that is increasingly operated by the private sector and will require those private charge point operators to continue to invest in and maintain Scotland’s public EV charging network to a high standard.

Question reference: S6F-03751

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2025

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6O-04254

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the National Galleries, in light of reports that some of its flagship attractions may have to close.

Question reference: S6W-32869

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to people who move marginally into a higher income bracket that takes them over the threshold for receipt of (a) the Scottish child payment, (b) education maintenance allowance and (c) other devolved benefits that aim to help people with meeting the costs of raising a child.

Eradicating child poverty in Scotland is a national mission and the top priority for this Government.

The Scottish Government recognises the pressure on household budgets which is why the 2025-26 draft budget continues to allocate over £3 billion a year to policies which tackle both poverty and the cost of living, ensuring that families are supported with the costs of raising a child.

This includes providing a range of support such as 1,140 hours of high-quality funded early learning and childcare to all three and four year olds and eligible two year olds. If families paid for this offer themselves it would cost them more than £5,500 per eligible child per year.

We also offer free school meals to all 277,632 pupils in P1 to 5 and in special schools, saving families taking those meals around £400 per year per child, as well as providing free bus travel for 2.3 million people, including all children and young people under 22, disabled people and everyone age 60 and over – which Child Poverty Action Group estimate saves families on the median wage £2,836 by the time a child turns 18.

Further, the draft Scottish Budget for 2025-26 preserves the social contract at the heart of the Scottish Government’s approach. This includes continuing free prescriptions, compared to £9.90 per item in England from 1 May 2024, and ensuring that no Scottish student pays tuition fees which means that, unlike elsewhere in the UK, a Scottish student studying in Scotland will not incur additional debt of up to £28,605.

In total, subject to Parliamentary approval, the Scottish Budget for 2025-26 will deliver almost £64 billion of funding, focusing resource across the four priorities set out in the Programme for Government: eradicating child poverty; growing the economy; tackling the climate emergency; and ensuring high quality and sustainable public services.

Question reference: S6W-32893

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to raise the income threshold for receipt of (a) the Scottish child payment, (b) education maintenance allowance and (c) other devolved benefits that aim to help people with meeting the costs of raising a child.

Eligibility for our low-income benefits for families with children, including Scottish Child Payment, is not based on income thresholds. To qualify for these payments individuals must generally be in receipt of certain reserved benefits.

Carer Support Payment is the only devolved benefit with an earnings threshold. The Scottish Government’s 2025-26 draft budget increases the earnings threshold to £196.

There are no current plans to increase the income thresholds for the Education Maintenance Allowance. This is on the basis that the Scottish Government has faced its most challenging budgetary settlement since devolution began – a settlement which has not been inflation-proofed, and which has subsequently required difficult decisions to be made, due to the pressures on our public services. Any future changes to the EMA and corresponding budget would need to be considered in this context.

Question reference: S6W-32872

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 20 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce an annual price cap for care homes of £87,000 per person, in line with that set by the UK Government.

The cap of £86,000 proposed by the previous UK Government had been due to come into force in October 2025, however, on the 29 July 2024 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that these reforms (and thus the cap on care costs) would not be taken forward in October 2025.

It should be noted that the proposals put forward by the UK Government were for personal care costs and did not include “hotel costs” - accommodation, food, energy bills, lifestyle and wellbeing and consumables etc. In Scotland personal care costs for adults who have been assessed as requiring such personal care do not pay for this service, regardless of their condition or means. Nursing care is also free at the point of delivery. The Local Authority pay for these elements of the residential care for all those assessed as needing them.

Question reference: S6W-32871

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans ScotRail has to review Inter7city trains to ensure that carriages (a) meet their expected capacity and (b) are fit for purpose.

Trains that currently serve Intercity routes are going to be replaced as the Scottish Government has instructed ScotRail to commence the procurement process, which will secure a replacement for these trains.

Until then, the Scottish Government has funded ScotRail to recruit additional train maintenance staff as part of its programme to improve the availability of existing refurbished Inter7City rolling stock.

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