Jeremy Balfour

13 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-37429 by Jim Fairlie on 12 May 2025, how many (a) canaries, (b) budgerigars, (c) other finches, (d) pigeons and (e) parrots are included in the 142,450 captive birds of other species that have been registered on the Scottish Kept Bird Register.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The number of birds registered on the Scottish Kept Bird Register has increased since the numbers provided in the answer to question S6W-37429 on 12 May 2025. The number of birds registered on the Scottish Kept Bird Register has increased to 15,621,470 as at …

13 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-37428 by Jim Fairlie on 12 May 2025, and in light of reported errors within the February 2025 version of the general licence to arrange a fair, market, show, exhibition or other gathering involving the collecting together of birds in Scotland (…

Answer · Jim Fairlie: Scottish Government sought legal advice whilst drafting the general licence.The licence is made under article 4(1) of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Scotland) Order 2007 and issued by a veterinary inspector. It permits the collection of birds at f…

2 May 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with the music sector to enable up-and-coming artists to hold concerts in Scotland.

2 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to make the Scottish Kept Birds Register publicly searchable, and, if not, for what reason. 

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Scottish Government has no plans to make the Scottish Kept Birds Register publicly searchable.The Scottish Kept Bird Register is a mandatory register for bird keepers in Scotland under the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2…

2 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have registered under the Scottish Kept Bird Register, and whether it will provide a breakdown of the number of (a) poultry, (b) birds of prey and (c) other captive birds.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: As of 8 May 2025, there are 10,786 bird keepers registered on the Scottish Kept Bird Register. In total, they have registered 15,539,346 birds. 15,393,511 of these birds are classified as poultry (which are defined as birds kept for the production of meat or …

29 Apr 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the number of Child Winter Heating Payments reportedly increased by 115% during the winter of 2024-25, compared with 2020-21.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The latest published Official Statistics for Child Winter Heating Payment show the number of payments issued increased from 18,365 for winter 2020-2021 to 39,590 for winter 2024-2025.Of the winter 2024-2025 payments issued by 8 April 2025, 93% were for childr…

15 Apr 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it can take to reduce the number of teachers on temporary contracts.

27 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether Caledonian Sleeper has shared with it the timeframe for replacing the fold-out tables in individual berths to enable customers to consume hot drinks without the current reported risk to their health or safety.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Caledonian Sleeper Ltd. has not yet provided a timeframe for replacing the fold-out tables in individual berths. However, Scottish Rail Holdings advise that Caledonian Sleeper is actively working on the replacement programme and will share a timeline in due c…

27 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to require Caledonian Sleeper to adapt its carriages so that all of them are capable of having a portable ramp fitted for the safe emergency egress of customers with mobility impairments, and, if it plans to make this a requirement, by when.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Caledonian Sleeper currently offers accessible rooms, toilets, and designated seating areas for Persons of Reduced Mobility (PRM) in its carriages. On board ramps operated by Caledonian Sleeper staff enable passengers to enter and exit the carriages, ensuring…

18 Mar 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the finance secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the allocation of additional funding for health and social care, in light of the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board's reported plans to end funding for its third sector grant programme.

14 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that children and young people with cancer, and their carers and families, receive clear, timely and accessible communication from Social Security Scotland regarding their disability benefit applications.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland continues to review and improve how people access its service, including how the organisation communicates with applicants and clients.The application forms for Adult and Child Disability Payment were designed and developed in consult…

14 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review and aim to simplify the disability benefit application process for children and young people diagnosed with cancer, including reducing any delays caused where medical evidence is required to determine eligibility.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: For disability benefit applications, Social Security Scotland requires one piece of supporting evidence on an individual’s condition or disability to understand the impact their condition has on their daily life.Applicants can request Social Security Sc…

14 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of concerns raised by Young Lives vs Cancer that almost half of patients in Scotland finish their cancer treatment before receiving a decision regarding disability benefit claims due to lengthy waits, what assessment it has made of the adequacy of Social Security Scotland&rsquo…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: There are a number of factors that impact on how long it takes Social Security Scotland to make a decision on disability benefit applications, including the time taken to gather the supporting information required to make a decision on an application.Social S…

14 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of any delays in receiving disability benefits on children and young people with cancer, and their families, particularly in respect of (a) financial pressures and (b) emotional wellbeing.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We fully acknowledge that a cancer diagnosis will be a difficult time. That is why Social Security Scotland continues to prioritise decision-making, with the last nine months of official statistics for Child Disability Payment showing Social Security Scotland…

14 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of concerns raised by Young Lives vs Cancer regarding the three-month qualifying period for disability benefits for children and young people diagnosed with cancer, what consideration it has given to removing this, in light of any immediate additional costs that they might…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We recognise this is a challenging time for families. Our essential support for disabled people helps cover the costs of basic everyday living tasks. The qualifying period – which similarly applies in UK disability benefits - ensures this support is tar…

14 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of concerns raised by Young Lives vs Cancer that, currently, there is an average six-month waiting time between a child or young person's cancer diagnosis and their receiving their first disability benefit payment, what action it can take to reduce this.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We fully recognise that this is a challenging time for families. Importantly, no-one needs a formal diagnosis to apply for Child or Adult Disability Payment; decisions about eligibility are based on the individual’s level of needs, rather than a diagnos…

5 Mar 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to provide vehicles and equipment under the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment Scheme, from organisations other than Motability, it has (a) approved and (b) rejected in each of the last five years, and what steps it is taking to broaden the range and scope of such pr…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government fully accredited one provider (Motability Operations Ltd) under the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment Scheme in 2019 and rejected five providers. One provider withdrew from the process. Four additional providers were offered conditiona…

4 Mar 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to propose scheduling time for a parliamentary debate on the fishing industry. 

19 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the outcomes of the long COVID support service pilot that took place across Edinburgh in 2022-23, including whether it considers it to have been successful.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Information on the outcomes of the long COVID pilot project undertaken by Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, Pogo Digital Healthcare and NHS Lothian is not held centrally. This is a matter for those organisations.

19 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support is currently in place for people with long COVID.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Since April 2022, we have allocated over £6.2 million to territorial NHS boards to supplement core funding and support their responses to meeting the healthcare needs of people with long COVID. This has supported boards to undertake a range of activitie…

19 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the outcomes of the £10 million that it designated in 2023-24 to support people with long COVID, including how this was spent.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government’s £10 million long COVID Support Fund was announced in September 2021 and resource has been allocated from the fund from the financial year 2022-2023 onwards. The following table provides an overview of funding recipients f…

18 Feb 2025 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Housing (Scotland) Bill, which two local authority areas have been identified as areas for the planned homelessness prevention pilots, in light of reports that the pilots are due to commence in spring 2025.

17 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when Transport Scotland plans to publish the next version of its Disability and Transport report, which was last published in 2023, and whether it will commit to publishing updated versions of the publication each year, taking account of the annual data made available through the Scottis…

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The next edition of the Disability and Transport publication will be published by Transport Scotland later in March this year.It is intended that Transport Scotland will update the report on an annual basis in future. However, this is dependent on the availab…

10 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that SportScotlandis making staff redundancies, and what its position is on whether this is inrelation to reported costs incurred as a result of internal investigationsinvolving Cricket Scotland.

Answer · Maree Todd: There is no correlation between sportscotland’s voluntary severance scheme and the Changing the Boundaries report and independent referrals investigation.The referrals process underlined the failings of the governing body over recent years, and Cricket …

4 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards the ambition to achieve Fairer Funding for the voluntary sector by 2026, and how progress towards this ambition will be scrutinised.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government recognises that the third sector needs stability and certainty in order to thrive and to help the Government to deliver on its policy agenda. We have listened to the views of the Sector and have committed to progress Fairer Funding wit…

4 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it defines "Fairer Funding".

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government recognises that the third sector needs stability and certainty in order to thrive and to help the Government to deliver on its policy agenda. The Programme for Government 2024 commits the Government to continuing to invest in the third…

4 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of voluntary sector grants are (a) currently and (b) expected to be multi-year as a result of its Fairer Funding commitment.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Fairer Funding pilot consists of grants to the third sector in Scotland totalling £61.7 million in 2025-26 and £63.2 million in 2026-27. The challenging financial position means that the total volume of multi-year funding agreements is balance…

4 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans for a pilot initiative to support voluntary organisations that (a) deliver essential services and (b) contribute to its priority of eradicating child poverty.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I recognise many of the challenges faced by the third sector and continue to work with my officials to champion the voice of the Sector across Government and ensure that the vital work of third sector organisations is well understood and valued as part of a t…

4 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how important the third sector is to its priority of eradicating child poverty, and what impact (a) inflation has had and (b) the UK Government’s decision to raise employer national insurance contributions will have on that sector’s ability to achieve this goal.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Eradicating child poverty in Scotland is a national mission and this Government’s top priority.The third sector is a key partner in this work. The Scottish Government greatly values the important role of Scotland’s third sector in providing suppor…

4 Feb 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has carried out on the impact on its four strategic priorities of the UK Government’s decision to raise employer national insurance contributions on public and third sector bodies.

Answer · Shona Robison: I have raised concerns with the UK Treasury about the impact on public services if this reserved tax increase is not fully funded. The Scottish Government has published updated estimates of the impact of the increase in employer national insurance contributio…