- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 30 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether having access to skilled training pathways should form part of its wider welfare-to-work strategy for under-25s, and whether it considers military service to be such a training pathway.
Answer
Access to skilled training pathways, including apprenticeships is vital for developing the young workforce. Apprenticeships play an essential role in giving young people a pathway into rewarding careers as well as enabling employers to invest in their staff.
The Scottish Government invests over £2 billion annually in colleges, universities, and the broader skills system, including apprenticeships and vital services linked to Scotland's Careers Service. This underscores our commitment to helping young people access the right education and skills pathways.
Skills Development Scotland provide an all-age career service in every local authority with an SDS Careers Adviser in every secondary school to highlight the wide range of career options available to people across Scotland. Advisers offer impartial careers information and guidance to support customers to consider and make informed personal decisions having explored all options and relevant information.
Military service can be a rewarding career pathway for many young people, offering a wide range of training and career opportunities as well as valuable transferable skills. Careers Advisers would support individuals to access information on the My World of Work site or direct to armed forces career centre sites if considered appropriate.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 30 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have died by suicide in NHS mental health facilities in each of the last five years, and what proportion of those deaths occurred in settings that had previously been identified for ligature risks.
Answer
Information on patient suicide in NHS mental health facilities is not held centrally.
Any suicide is a tragedy and should not happen when someone is in the care of the state. We are determined to do all we can to improve patient safety, and to reduce suicide deaths in NHS mental health facilities. Our ambitious suicide prevention strategy and action plan which we are delivering with COSLA, has a clear focus on preventing suicides in higher risk settings, including clinical services. We are working with NHS Boards to implement improvements.
The quality and safety of mental health estates is an important issue for the Scottish Government. Health Boards are expected to place significant emphasis on the safety of environments mental health services are delivered from.
The Scottish Government and NHS Assure have developed and piloted a tool to gather information on the built environment, including reviewing completion of ligature assessments. Wider roll out will begin in spring 2025.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 30 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many limited companies are registered in Scotland.
Answer
Data are available on the number of businesses operating in Scotland, that are registered for VAT and/or PAYE, broken down by business legal status. These estimates, sourced from the Businesses in Scotland 2024 publication, are shown in the following table.
Table 1: Number of registered businesses (including public sector) operating in Scotland, by business legal status, 2024
Legal Status | Number of businesses |
Companies (incl. Building Societies) | 118,935 |
Sole proprietors | 30,410 |
Partnerships | 16,620 |
Public Corporation/ nationalised body | 35 |
Central and local government | 225 |
Non-profit making bodies and mutual associations | 8,090 |
Total registered | 174,310 |
Source: Businesses in Scotland 2024
Notes:
1.These data are available from Table A of the Scottish Government Businesses in Scotland 2024 publication: Businesses in Scotland: 2024 - gov.scot
2.Estimates are rounded to the nearest five.
Findings from the latest Small Business Survey show that 63% of small and medium-sized enterprises with at least one employee (SME employers) and 37% of SMEs with no employees in Scotland identify as a “Private limited company, limited by shares (LTD)”. The full breakdown for legal status from the survey is shown in the following table.
Table 2: Self-identification of business legal status, Scotland, 2023-2024
Legal Status | Share of SME employers | Share of SMEs with no employees |
Sole proprietorship/trader | 11% | 43% |
Private limited company, limited by shares (LTD) | 63% | 37% |
Private company limited by guarantee | 7% | 2% |
Partnership | 11% | 11% |
Limited liability partnership | 1% | 3% |
Charitable Incorporated Organisation | 3% | 0% |
Other | 3% | 2% |
Don't know | 1% | 2% |
Source: Findings for Scotland from the Small Business Survey Scotland: 2023-2024 and Small Business Survey 2023: businesses with no employees.
Notes:
1.These data are available from Table A5 of the Scottish Government Small Business Survey Scotland: 2023-2024: Small Business Survey Scotland: 2023-2024 and Table 14 of the UK Government Small Business Survey 2023: businesses with no employees: Small Business Survey 2023: businesses with no employees
2.Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are businesses that have less than 250 employees.
Figures for corporate body type including limited companies at UK level can be found in the Companies House annual publication "Companies Register Activities 2023-2024". Please see Table C1 at the link below for figures from 2014-15 to 2023-24: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/companies-register-activities-statistical-release-april-2023-to-march-2024. The UK publication also includes some headline statistics for Scotland, Table A1 shows that there were 261,812 companies registered in Scotland at the end of 2023-24. Note that the figures for Scotland include all companies formed under the Companies Act 2006. The Act includes the following company types: public limited; private limited; private limited by guarantee / no share capital; private limited by guarantee / no share capital (exempt); private limited (section 30); private unlimited; private unlimited / no share capital companies.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 13 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will instruct all public sector bodies in Scotland to conduct an urgent review of their equality, diversity and inclusion policies, in light of the Supreme Court ruling regarding For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers.
Answer
Answer expected on 13 May 2025
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 13 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what immediate action it will take to ensure that all public bodies comply fully and without qualification with the Supreme Court’s ruling that the term “woman” in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex and not gender identity.
Answer
Answer expected on 13 May 2025
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 29 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether current rules for challenging powers of attorney are sufficient for challenging potential abuses of such powers.
Answer
The Scottish Government (SG) has acknowledged that, while the current system for Powers of Attorney (PoAs) generally functions well, certain elements require improving and updating.
In January SG published analysis of responses to a consultation on proposals for reform of the Adults with Incapacity Act, including PoAs.
SG are now considering those responses and working towards modernising the AWI Act, taking forward recommendations from the Scottish Mental Health Law Review.
- Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 29 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that Scotland's Rural College's Elmwood Campus in Cupar, Fife, has sufficient funds to enable all courses, including animal care, to continue after the 2024-25 academic year.
Answer
The Scottish Government recognises the concerns of students, parents of students and staff affected by the proposed cuts to Animal Care provision and appreciates that this is a very worrying time for everyone at the Scotland's Rural College's (SRUC)Elmwood Campus.
After discussions, we can provide assurance the SRUC are committed to retaining a presence at Elmwood, and that there are no plans for closure of the campus. We do not anticipate any current Animal Care students being affected by these proposals, and any student who has not fully completed their one-year programme by the end of the current academic year will be supported by SRUC to achieve this.
We expect SRUC to continue to offer Animal Care provision at its other campuses, allowing students to progress to the next level of study at another campus, if the decision is made to withdraw Animal Care courses from Elmwood. Furthermore, I can confirm that Horticulture and Gamekeeping as well as Estate Management courses will be retained at Elmwood Campus.
The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) recently announced their indicative funding allocations for the university sector for 2025-26, which has provided certainty on the level of funding that SRUC receive and allows them to plan for the forthcoming academic year. This announcement detailed £17.7m in funding for SRUC in AY 2025-26, to support their teaching, research and estate maintenance. Additionally, SRUC have received a further £9.7 million as part of SFC’s indicative funding college allocations, announced on the 10April.
It should be highlighted that Scottish universities are autonomous, with responsibility for their own governance, course provision and estate management.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 29 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what policies are in place regarding the provision of an NHS prescription following a private diagnosis of (a) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and (b) autism.
Answer
GPs are responsible for providing patients with appropriate care whether they have been treated on the NHS or privately. This may include medication, depending on an individual patient’s need. GPs are not obliged to follow the recommendations of a private provider, but should always provide care based on their own judgement if patients are in need.
The Scottish Government funds the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT), which published guidance on Prescribing ADHD medication to adults following private sector diagnosis in Scotland in April 2022. The guidance was drafted in consultation with practising Psychiatrists, the Royal Colleges of Psychiatry and General Practice and individuals with ADHD.
The guidance highlights that shared care arrangements may be put in place between private and NHS providers. For such arrangements to work properly, everyone involved must communicate effectively. Recommendations from specialists for ongoing prescribing on the NHS need to be made at an NHS consultation with an NHS specialist.
Some NHS Boards may have shared care policies, but it remains at the clinical discretion of each individual GP to decide the best course of action for their patients.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 29 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, published in March 2023, what investment has been made in assertive outreach services to support any individuals with complex co-occurring mental health and substance misuse issues, and how the outcomes of any such investment are evaluated.
Answer
The Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standards set out what people should expect from substance use services. MAT Standard 3 sets out that people at high risk of drug-related harm should be proactively identified and offered support, while MAT Standard 9 sets out that all people with co-occurring drug use and mental health issues should receive mental health care. Implementation of the MAT Standards is supported by multi-year funding of £10.3 million per year over the life of the Parliament. Implementation of the MAT Standards is assessed by Public Health Scotland (PHS) via annual Benchmarking Reports.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 29 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to ensure that colleges remain competitive in attracting international students, compared with colleges in other parts of the UK and internationally.
Answer
Scotland’s first International Education Strategy (IES), published in February last year, highlighted the positive impact that international students make to our colleges and sets out the actions that the Scottish Government will take with both colleges and universities, to promote Scotland as a study destination and to attract and diversity our international student population.
In 2024-25, we launched the Come to Study: Find Scotland campaign aimed at attracting prospective international students to institutions across the breadth of the country. We will continue to work with partners to enhance our marketing and promotional efforts in the year ahead.
We have worked closely with Colleges Scotland in the development of the Scottish Education Exchange Programme. To date, 8 colleges (11 projects) have benefited from SEEP funding which has enabled the delivery of projects that are helping build international partnerships across the globe.
Furthermore, the Scottish Government has appointed a new Trade Envoy for International Education who will promote Scotland’s colleges and universities to international students and organisations across the world.
