Questions and answers

Question reference: S6F-04087

Asked by: Collette Stevenson, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2025

To ask the First Minister, regarding any implications for its work to tackle poverty, what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the Department for Work and Pension’s forecasts reportedly indicating that the UK Government’s planned reductions to disability benefits will impact 700,000 families that are already in poverty.

Question reference: S6F-04071

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04075

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2025

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to address the performance of NHS 24, in light of reports that nearly one in five calls to the service went unanswered last year.

Question reference: S6F-04070

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04069

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04082

Asked by: Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2025

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the recently announced UK-USA trade deal and its potential implications for businesses in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-35730

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 12 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop a single passporting system of support for students in (a) further and (b) higher education to support widening access.

The final report of the Commission on Widening Access was published in 2016. A lot has changed since 2016 and we are now considering what has worked well and what we could do better.

The Scottish Government recognises the need to simplify the support landscape for students as it can be difficult for young people and their parents and carers to identify what support is available particularly in non-linear learning pathways.

The Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) currently provides living cost support to higher education students whilst the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) provides bursary support to further education students via individual colleges. The Scottish Government is pressing ahead with the proposal to consolidate all student support funding within SAAS. Bringing student support responsibilities together unlocks opportunities and enables new ways of administering student support, collecting data and providing coherent information and guidance to learners and institutions.

Through the Student Mental Health Action Plan Scottish Government has committed to working with institutions, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), CoSLA, and prospective students to explore what information institutions require to inform continuity of support for newly-enrolled students, and how students and their families can be supported to request and share this information with colleges and universities. This action is being driven forward by the Plan’s Delivery Group, which met recently, and includes consideration of the use of the Getting it Right for Everybody (GIRFE) practice model to support a more person centred offer of support.

Question reference: S6W-36481

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 12 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will issue guidance to higher education institutions regarding the right to freedom of expression and concerns regarding reported censorship by protest or disruption.

The Scottish Government expects institutions to comply with relevant legal requirements already in place, and carefully consider existing Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance on freedom of expression for higher education providers in Scotland. In 2020 the Scottish Funding Council entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Equalities & Human Rights Commission to support colleges and universities in meeting Public Sector Equality Duty requirements.

Question reference: S6W-36467

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 12 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many formal complaints it has received in each of the last five years relating to concerns regarding freedom of speech on university campuses.

Question reference: S6W-37221

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 12 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 210 appeals against SEPA's sea lice control measures, reported active as of March 2025, (a) have been (i) upheld and (ii) dismissed and (b) are still under consideration.

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