Parliamentary questions
Ross Greer
616 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
6 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28887 by Jenny Gilruth on 23 August 2024, which stated that "The relationships, sexual health and parenthood education consultation report will be published in the coming weeks", whether it will confirm by what date this will be published, and what …
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The relationships, sexual health and parenthood consultation report is now being prepared for publication. I am grateful for the extensive contributions to the consultation and the report will be published shortly.
6 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the reported concerns raised by the Young Women's Movement and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) regarding the varying quality and inconsistent delivery of relationships, sexual health, and parenthood educa…
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: We must ensure our children and young people learn about the issues affecting their daily lives, including consent and healthy relationships. The concerns raised by the Young Women's Movement and NSPCC around the consistency in delivery of RSHP education high…
6 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether all school pupils' experience of relationships, sexual health, and parenthood education should include education on the importance of the principle of consent as a mechanism to tackle gender-based violence in schools.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring all children and young people receive high quality relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education, which is an integral part of the Health and Wellbeing area of the curriculum. The current Curric…
22 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to granting an exemption to the Additional Dwelling Supplement on Land and Buildings Transaction Tax for those buying property for disabled family members.
Answer · Shona Robison: My December 2025-25 Budget announcement included the commitment to conduct our first five-year review of LBTT by the end of this Parliament, to support an evaluation of key aspects of the tax legislation, including the application of the ADS where exceptional…
16 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the conviction on 10 October 2024 of the master of ascallop diving vessel in breach of the South Arran Marine Conservation Order,whether the accused was offered a fixed penalty notice (FPN) prior to referralto the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), and, if so,…
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The master of the vessel convicted of fishing in the South Aran Marine Protected Area was initially offered a £10,000 Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN), the maximum permitted under the FPN scheme. This consisted of £4,000 for the "access offence" and &po…
11 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce any requirements on local government pension schemes in Scotland regarding community wealth building and local investment, in light of reports of the UK Government setting out its intention to do so for local government pension schemes in England and Wales.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Local Government Pension Scheme in Scotland is in a very strong position and the Scottish Government continues to engage with the 11 Scottish Local Government funds, which each have responsibility for their own investments.We are monitoring developments i…
3 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been awarded to each local authority for the cancellation of school meal debt.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government has made £2,877,287.97 of funding available to local authorities to enable them to cancel school meal debts within their respective local areas. This sum represents the entire amounts bid for by each local authority.29 local auth…
19 Nov 2024 · SPCB Oral Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body which inflation index it plans to use in determining any MSP staff pay uplift in the 2025-26 financial year.
15 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether any public funding has been provided to Stream Bioenergy in the last five years; if so, how much was provided, and for what purpose.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government payment system confirms that no funding has been provided to Stream Bioenergy in the last 5 years.
15 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has undertaken an assessment of any public health impacts of anaerobic digestion and biogas infrastructure.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government has had no applications for consent under s36 of the Electricity Act 1989 to construct an electricity generating station that uses biogas as its fuel source and has therefore not been required to assess any environmental impacts in rel…
15 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the (a) expansion of anaerobic digestion and biogas capacity and (b) reported potential negative impact of any such developments on efforts to tackle the climate crisis and their increased reliance on the existing gas network.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government supports the expansion of anaerobic digestion and biogas capacity, where it adheres to the guiding principles for bioenergy use as set out in our draft Bioenergy Policy Statement (BPS). These include the use of biomass, when in complia…
15 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the recycling of medical packaging, including blister packs, in its circular economy strategy and associated guidance.
Answer · Gillian Martin: Medical packaging, such as blister packaging, is not easily recycled due to strict regulatory requirements for pharmaceutical packaging set by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. However, the Scottish Government is taking steps to enco…
14 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-27639 by Jenny Gilruth on 28 May 2024, for what reason the summary report on access to counsellors in secondary schools and children and young people’s community mental health services for January to June 2023 has not yet been published, and b…
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The summary report on access to counsellors in secondary schools and children and young people’s community mental health services for the period January to June 2023 has now been published on the Scottish Government website at: Access to counsellors in …
13 Nov 2024 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with East Dunbartonshire Council regarding the condition of Milngavie Primary School.
12 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs (a) are currently supported by and (b) have been created through the Nature Restoration Fund.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: While competitive scheme Nature Restoration Fund projects must provide details of project finances which include staff costs, we do not collect data on the total number of jobs supported or created by the Nature Restoration Fund on a programme-wide basis.
12 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will prohibit employers who make use of unpaid trial shifts from receiving public funding or procurement contracts, as it committed to exploring in its 2024-25 Budget.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government is committed to using all levers at our disposal to extend Fair Work First conditionality with clear standards and minimum requirements to cover all forms of Scottish Government support within the limits of devolved competence. We are …
29 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will instruct all public bodies for which it is responsible to use an Open Government Licence, in line with the Scottish Government's own use of OGL v3.0.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Open Government Licences (OGLs) are controlled and administered solely by the Kings Printer for Scotland. The license is freely available to public bodies, and we support public bodies to use OGL where appropriate. Bodies such as the Care Inspectorate, Nature…
23 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what any underspend was on capital funding of flood protection schemes in each of the last five years.
Answer · Gillian Martin: The Scottish Government policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of capital funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsi…
23 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-17386, S6W-17387 and S6W-17875 by Mairi Gougeon on 5 May, 9 May and 24 May 2023, by what date it will publish its response to the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission paper, Report on the use of handheld remote-controlled training devices (e-collars…
Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Scottish Government does not routinely publish its response to SAWC recommendations. We are currently awaiting a further report from SAWC on a wider range of aversive dog training tools, including other types of electronic training collars. We will consid…
23 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the recommendation by the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission "that the use of e-collars for the training of animals in Scotland should be prohibited", as set out in its paper, Report on the use of handheld remote-controlled training devices (e-collars) in dog trai…
Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Scottish Government welcomed the 2023 Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) report on handheld remote-controlled training devices that use static pulse as the stimulus. We are currently awaiting a further report from SAWC on a wider range of aversive …
11 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which (a) organisations and (b) individuals have been engaged as part of the review of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Work on the review of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 has not yet concluded but is at a final stage. Three Findings Reports will be published in December 2024 which will include details of engagement.
11 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it plans to publish draft regulations in relation to the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 provisions on an infrastructure levy.
Answer · Ivan McKee: A Discussion Paper on the Infrastructure Levy was published in June and comments were invited until 30 September. We are carefully considering the responses received and will use the feedback to inform how to proceed. An update on next steps will be provided …
11 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how and (b) when it plans to deliver its commitment to allow local authorities to increase council tax rates on second and holiday homes, beyond the current cap of 200%.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government believes that local councils should decide how to achieve the right balance in the use of housing to meet local needs and to support thriving communities. We delivered secondary legislation to enable councils to apply a 100% Council Ta…
11 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it issues to local authorities in relation to the application of discretionary reliefs for non-domestic rates.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Non-domestic rates are administered by local authorities in accordance with the relevant legislation. Under that statutory framework, the award of discretionary reliefs is a matter for individual local authorities. In line with the recommendation from the ind…
11 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to bring forward legislation in relation to any future Commonwealth Games to be held in Scotland and, if so, (a) when and (b) what matters will be covered.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government will not bring forward any legislation in relation to the 2026 Commonwealth Games.For the 2014 Games, the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2008 Act was passed to support Government Guarantees in relation to street trading, advertising, ticke…
8 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether its review of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 has concluded, and when it will be published.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The review of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 is nearing completion and three Findings Reports will be published in December 2024.
7 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many passenger stations on the rail network in Scotland have gated access or ticket barriers.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: This is an operational matter for ScotRail and Network Rail who manage railway stations in Scotland. ScotRail advises there are currently 18 stations with ticket gates.
4 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the secondary headteacher who will be seconded to the SQA for the purpose of taking forward its response to the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment will be selected.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The specification for the seconded headteacher position is being developed by the Scottish Government and the SQA in consultation with key stakeholders. Recruitment to the role will be undertaken by the SQA with the selection process involving the Scottish Go…
1 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many eviction order applications from private landlords were (a) submitted to and (b) granted by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland in each year since 2019, broken down by the local authority area in which the property was located, for each local authority area in the West Scotland…
Answer · Paul McLennan: (a) The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) has published the number of applications for eviction received in their Scottish Tribunals Annual Reports. For ease of reference, this is set out in the following table.Financial yearRece…
1 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-25444 by Lorna Slater on 22 February 2024, whether it will provide an updated breakdown of how much funding has been allocated through the Recycling Improvement Fund to each local authority to date.
Answer · Gillian Martin: To date, over £63 million of funding has been allocated through the Recycling Improvement Fund (RIF) and the Fund’s Small Grant Scheme.As noted in the answer to S6W-25444, a list of local authority projects allocated funding from the RIF is availa…