Parliamentary questions

Monica Lennon

3,484 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

12 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance has reportedly not permitted New Year's Day trading to be discussed in relation to the Fair Work Agreement.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Minister previously stated that the Retail Strategy, specifically the action on fair work, was the route by which the Scottish Government wished to promote fair work practices across the whole retail sector. An approach to fair work is a priority action f…

12 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding of a recent NUS Scotland survey that (a) 12% of students have experienced homelessness during their studies, (b) 13% have been unable to find accommodation before their academic year began and (c) 35% have been unable to pay their rent in full.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The NUS report raises significant issues and no student should find themselves without somewhere to live. While the Scottish Government has no direct role in provision of student residential accommodation we are determined to work with partners to improve acc…

11 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23265 by Jenni Minto on 11 December 2023, how many times the Environmental Health Policy Co-ordination Group has met to consider solutions to the Environmental Health Officer (EHO) vacancies and workforce shortages, and who was in attendance at any …

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Environmental Health Policy Co-ordination Group was formed in October 2022 and, as per the Terms of Reference aims to meet monthly, subject to member availability and other diary commitments. Since its inception in October 2022, the group has met 9 times.…

11 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with the Music Education Partnership Group and what was discussed.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Music Education Partnership Group had a joint meeting with myself and the Minister for Culture, Europe And International Development on 29 June 2023. This was an introductory meeting and covered school and community music in Scotland, the various MEPG in…

11 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on the We Make Music (WMM) schools initiative, led by the Music Education Partnership Group, which aims to create an award system similar to Eco Schools, including pilot work in Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire and Inverclyde.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The We Make Music schools initiative is led by the Music Education Partnership Group, which is an independent charity and network of music-based organisations. Information on the We Make Music school initiative and progress with the programme is available vi…

11 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to increase funding for local authorities to enhance the provision of musical lessons and instruments in schools.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Scottish Government provided £8m in 2021-22 and £12m in 2022-23 and 2023-24 to local authorities in order to support the policy to remove all charges for instrumental music tuition in schools. As confirmed in the budget published in December 2023, the Scotti…

8 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will restore the £315 million of funding that is due to be lost from the Network Rail funding envelope, in light of an RMT survey finding that 92% of its Network Rail members said that a major rail safety incident occurring on the railway within the next two years was "likely"…

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has fully funded Network Rail Scotland to meet the assessment of its requirements as carried out by the independent rail regulator for the next five year rail investment Control Period (2024-29). The total funding for the rail sector…

6 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the update on the implementation plan for its chronic pain service delivery on 24 November 2023, when it anticipates that feedback comments from patients will be published in full.

Answer · Jenni Minto: In summer 2023 we engaged with stakeholders including clinicians, third-sector organisations and people with lived experience of chronic pain. Feedback received was used to inform the development of the updated Pain Management Service Delivery Framework – Im…

6 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on the publication of the review of highly specialised pain services that was completed through work carried out by National Services Division (NSD).

Answer · Jenni Minto: In 2022 National Services Division (NSD) carried out an internal minor review specifically on the Scottish National Pain Management Programme. The Scottish Government does not hold information on its publication, this would be a matter for NSD.

6 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many volunteer pain patient representatives with known conditions have been appointed to its Pain Management Task Force and to each of its itemised seven sub-committees since 2022.

Answer · Jenni Minto: A member of the third-sector community was identified to join the Pain Management Task Force in October 2022 to represent the needs of people with lived experience. We are committed to increasing the representation of the needs of people with lived experien…

6 Dec 2023 · SPCB Written Question

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what immediate action it is taking in light of reports that the Scottish Parliament building was forced to close to the public in October due to a lack of security staff.

Answer · Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB): The Parliament building closed to the public for one day, Friday 13 October. Unfortunately, on the day in question, there was a combination of staff taking pre-approved annual leave, several staff who were too unwell to come to work, and a small number o…

6 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it will allocate from its Budget for the piloting of universal free school meals in secondary schools.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The budget process is underway and we are prioritising programmes of work which have the greatest impact on the delivery of our three core missions of equality, opportunity, and community. We will set out our spending plans in the 2024-25 Scottish Budget on 1…

6 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date(s) it has met with local authorities to discuss the piloting of universal free school meals in secondary schools, and which local authorities or schools it expects will be participating in any such pilot.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government has met with several Local Authorities to discuss their delivery of Free School Meals during which views on being involved in any future pilot were sought. These meetings took place; on the following dates;Western Isles Council – 5 Jul…

6 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey, which found that teenagers in the UK reported a high level of food poverty, with 11% of 15-year-olds skipping a meal at least once a week because of a lack of money, and how this finding will…

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: We remain committed to delivering a pilot of universal free school meals in secondary schools, and continue to work closely with key delivery partners on our free school meal expansion programme. We have prioritised the work to expand free school meals on the…

4 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will announce proposals for the rent adjudication process.

Answer · Patrick Harvie: The emergency, temporary measures within the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 are expected to remain in place until 31 March 2024. To support a transition away from those measures, the Act contains a regulation-making power to temporaril…

4 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reform energy performance certificate (EPC) ratings, and whether it will consider linking its stated policy of introducing rent controls to EPC ratings.

Answer · Patrick Harvie: The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has previously written to the Scottish Government setting out a series of recommendations for the reform on Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs). In response to this advice, we published a consultation on EPC reform on 25 …

4 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement on 7 November 2023, when it will provide an update on the anticipated publication date of the new Climate Change Plan; whether it will publish a timeline setting out the periods for public engagement and proposed parliamentary scrutiny of the new plan, and wh…

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government announced the delay to the next Climate Change Plan on 7 November 2023 and confirmed their commitment to bringing forward a draft plan in line with statutory deadlines which require a final version of the next Climate Change Plan to be…

4 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it plans to publish the final version of the publication, Reducing car use for a healthier, fairer and greener Scotland: A route map to achieve a 20 per cent reduction in car kilometres by 2030, which was committed to in the 2020 Climate Change Plan update and subject to con…

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Programme for Government 2023-24, published September 2023, states that in the coming year we will ‘publish a 20% car kilometre reduction route map, promoting sustainable behaviours when planning a journey, and reducing both our reliance on cars and our t…

1 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22297 by Dorothy Bain on 1 November 2023, how many post-mortem examinations were (a) able and (b) unable to determine what the cause of death had been.

Answer · Dorothy Bain: The certification of a person’s death is a matter that falls solely within the clinical responsibility of medical practitioners, who require to be satisfied to the best of their knowledge and belief as to the cause of death. Following a post mortem examinati…

30 Nov 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Educational Institute of Scotland campaign and survey, Stand Up for Quality Education, which found that "three quarters of schools said teachers have sustained physical injuries and almost two thirds report that teachers in their school had been on sick leave …

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: No teacher, member of staff or pupil should have to suffer abuse in schools. The Scottish Government is absolutely clear that our schools should be safe and consistent learning environments for all, and that violent and abusive behaviour towards pupils or sta…