Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-36757

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the care sector, in light of reported comments from the Chief Executive of Scottish Care that "the bottom will fall out of the sector in three months".

The Scottish Government understand the level of concern Dr Donald Macaskill has for the challenges currently being faced by the Social Care sector within Scotland

We are particularly concerned about the impact of the decisions taken by the UK Government, most notably the increase in employers National Insurance Contributions, as well as changes to the social care visa system and salary threshold levels. These decisions place serious financial strain on social care services, that so many people across Scotland rely on.

The Scottish Government has increased investment into our Health & Social Care Sector, the 2025-26 Budget provides funding of £21.7 billion for Health and Social Care - an uplift exceeding consequentials and taking funding to record levels. This budget will have a continued focus on reform and improvement in our services, driving efficiency and changing how we deliver our services to improve quality and access.

We are continuing to invest in health and social care services, with almost 2.2 billion invested in social care and integration – exceeding our commitment to increase funding by 25% by almost £350 million.

We are providing an additional £125 million to support delivery of the pay uplift to a minimum of £12.60 per hour for adult social care workers as well as £5.9 million of investment into Care Inspectorate and £13.4 million into the Independent Living Fund.

Despite substantial funding increases, significant challenge remains – prevention, early intervention and reform remain critical to delivering an effective, efficient and sustainable health and social care system. Scottish Government officials have estimated that the social care sector alone face additional costs of more than £84m as a result of the increase in Employer National Insurance Contributions.

The Scottish Government and COSLA continue to raise this issue with the UK Government and request that funding is provided to cover the full cost of these changes for public services and those commissioned services that deliver critical services such as social care.

While we continue to engage with the UK Government on this matter, Scottish Government officials are undertaking a programme of work to understand and respond to the current financial viability pressures in the sector and the impact that this change will have. This has included engaging with local leaders through the Collaborative Response and Assurance Group(CRAG), as well as monthly roundtables and weekly meetings with partners including Scottish Care.

That work is ongoing, and the Scottish Government is committed to working closely with partners to identify the pro-active steps that can be taken to mitigate these impacts and protect services.

Question reference: S6W-36460

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that non-harassment orders are effectively enforced in all circumstances, including when the offender has legal title to the shared home.

A non-harassment order is an order requiring the person against whom it is made requiring them to refrain from such conduct in relation to another person as may be specified in the order. A civil court can make a non-harassment order under section 8 or section 8A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. A criminal court can make a non-harassment order under section 234A of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 and, in domestic abuse cases, section 234A as modified by section 234AZA of that Act.

Breach of a non-harassment order is a criminal offence and alleged breaches can be reported to Police Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-36317

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, to ensure timely implementation, what milestones have been set for the delivery of the Fracture Liaison Service audit.

Scottish Government commissioned the Fracture Liaison Service (FLS) audit in July 2024 following a scoping exercise and business case by Public Health Scotland (PHS). PHS are responsible for the delivery and implementation of the FLS audit, which includes setting delivery and evaluation milestones.

I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-35534 and S6W-35567 on 21 March 2025, S6W-36002 on 1 April 2025 and S6W-36035 on 17 April 2025

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-36449

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the resilience of power supply infrastructure at Scottish airports, in light of the recent disruption at Heathrow Airport.

In general, the Scottish Government has no role in day to day operations at airports in Scotland as these are regulated by the UK Government and its associated agencies.

Officials engaged regularly with Scottish airports during the disruption affecting Heathrow Airport in order to understand the impact on Scotland. Whilst no concerns were raised by Scottish airports in relation to power supply, we would of course be happy to engage further with the sector should any issues arise that directly affect Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-36442

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many violent incidents involving weapons have been recorded in schools in each year since 2020.

Information is not held centrally on the total number of violent incidents within schools that involve the use of a weapon. Some information is available where any such use of a weapon resulted in either the exclusion of a pupil or the recording of a weapon possession (used) crime by the police.

Table One shows those exclusions from school in 2020-21 and 2022-23 which included the reasons of Physical assault using improvised weapon, physical assault using weapon and threat of physical violence using weapon or improvised weapon. This data is published biennially, with the next update covering the 2024-25 academic year. It should be noted that each exclusion can include more than one reason and figures for 2020-21 will have been impacted by the closure of the school estate as part of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Table Two shows the number of weapon possession crimes in school recorded by the police, where the weapon has been used against another person (for example to threaten or assault). This only covers cases that have been reported to the police, and again the relatively lower figures for the year ending December 2020 will likely reflect the pandemic related school closures.

Table One: Reasons for exclusion from school, 2020-21 and 2022-23

Reason for exclusion	2020-21	2022-23
Physical assault using improvised weapon	201	311
Physical assault using weapon	183	255
Threat of physical violence using weapon or improvised weapon	218	296

Source: School exclusion statistics

Note: Figures cover all publicly funded local authority schools in Scotland

Table Two: Number of police recorded crimes of weapon possession (used) within a school

	Year ending December 2020	Year ending December 2021	Year ending December 2022	Year ending December 2023	Year ending December 2024
Possession of offensive weapon in a school used in other criminal activity	27	47	69	68	76
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	17	26	30	36	33
Total	44	73	99	104	109

Source: Police Recorded Crime in Scotland, Accredited Official Statistics

Question reference: S6W-36789

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) has carried out and (b) plans to carry out an impact assessment of a potential trade deal between the UK and USA on sectors in Scotland, including farming, food, environmental protection, technology and public services.

The shape of any potential trade deal between the UK and the US remains unclear, which makes analysis of potential impacts challenging.

The Scottish Government is engaging with the UK Government at ministerial and official level to get the details needed to analyse the implications of a potential deal for Scotland. We are also engaging with businesses to understand their views and concerns and, when further details are available, we will closely examine opportunities for Scotland alongside key issues like environmental protection and the protection of our public services.

Question reference: S6W-36285

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the updated list of public appointments by public body, which was published on 25 March 2025, is an exhaustive list of all public appointments.

The list of public appointments by public body, which was published on 25 March 2025, is an exhaustive list of Ministerial regulated public appointments only. Ministerial regulated public appointments are those governed by the Ethical Standards Commissioner and the Code of Conduct for Public Appointments (2022).

The list is intended to be updated regularly so that it reflects recently made appointments. It was corrected on 25 March 2025 following the identification of errors.

Details added to the spreadsheet should be correct at the point of the appointment commencing. These details may change over time and become out of date. A process is underway to update the spreadsheet to ensure accuracy, including rectification of any other errors identified, and it will be re-published when complete.

Question reference: S6W-36284

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how often the full list of public appointments by public bodies is published.

The list of public appointments by public body, which was published on 25 March 2025, is an exhaustive list of Ministerial regulated public appointments only. Ministerial regulated public appointments are those governed by the Ethical Standards Commissioner and the Code of Conduct for Public Appointments (2022).

The list is intended to be updated regularly so that it reflects recently made appointments. It was corrected on 25 March 2025 following the identification of errors.

Details added to the spreadsheet should be correct at the point of the appointment commencing. These details may change over time and become out of date. A process is underway to update the spreadsheet to ensure accuracy, including rectification of any other errors identified, and it will be re-published when complete.

Question reference: S6W-36087

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 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, whether it will introduce measures to ensure that all remand prisoners are provided with suitable accommodation and support upon unexpected release, and if this is the case, what the timeline is for implementing such measures.

Question reference: S6W-36796

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many applicants there were for health visitor training in 2024; what percentage were accepted onto a training programme, and how many completed their training.

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