Parliamentary questions
Jeremy Balfour
489 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
4 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the potentialcost to the third sector in Scotland of the UK Government’s decision to raiseemployer national insurance contributions, and what plans it has to help alleviate any additionalcosts, including inflationary costs, arising from this dec…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The actual cost to the third sector of the increase in Employer National Insurance contributions is difficult to determine given the diversity in size and employment numbers across the sector. However, in the joint letter from the First Minister and President…
28 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when legislative regulations regarding alkaline hydrolysis will be laid before the Parliament.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government intends to lay the regulations for alkaline hydrolysis in Parliament this year. A working group is currently being established.
28 Jan 2025 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to making bereavement education a formal part of the school syllabus.
21 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on strengthening (a) planning law and (b) national guidance to improve the provision of accessible parking spaces.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Accessible parking space provision is influenced by many regimes including planning, building standards and roads policy. It is for the local authority to decide on the suitable parking requirements in each locale, taking a place based approach. Planning law …
17 Dec 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted an assessment of the potential impact of the reported proposed budget reduction for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service on its ability to reduce any court backlogs.
3 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish Household Survey 2023 findings, which show a further decline in respondents' formal volunteer participation, will be considered when finalising the decision regarding the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) fee proposals for volunteers in qualifying volun…
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:Long and short term trends in formal volunteering, including information gathered in the Scottish Household Survey 2023, have informed the development of p…
3 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to address the decline in formal volunteer participation in Scotland since 2019.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Scotland’s volunteers make a fantastic contribution to people’s lives and our communities.The Scottish Government provide direct funding to national and local intermediaries to support the national and local volunteering infrastructure. This inclu…
2 Dec 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to enhance regional transport partnerships over the coming year.
20 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to repeat the Health and Wellbeing Census; if so, what the earliest date is by which this may be implemented; which local authorities have confirmed so far that they (a) will and (b) will not participate; whether children's identity numbers will be gathered again, and wh…
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Plans for any future Health and Wellbeing Census are still under consideration.
19 Nov 2024 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consultations it has held with businesses in advance of its 2025-26 Budget.
19 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to (a) the Marie Curie report, Dying in Poverty in Scotland 2024, and (b) its finding that one in five people will be in fuel poverty at the end of life.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government supports the delivery of the highest standards of palliative care, and we will give this report and its recommendations careful consideration. Our palliative care strategy, currently out for public consultation, aims to ensure that peo…
21 Oct 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the participation of disabled people in the economy is of significant benefit.
14 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring that value for money is achieved by the flood protection schemes that it is funding in full or partly.
Answer · Gillian Martin: It is a local authority responsibility to develop and deliver flood protection schemes. As such, it is for the local authority to ensure that its individual project is value for money and has a robust business case.Individual local authorities are responsible…
14 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the potential impact of schemes and actions to prevent flood risks in conservation areas must be carried out in equivalence to that of historic and scheduled monuments, in light of these being covered by the Listed Buildings and Conservation Area (Scotland…
Answer · Gillian Martin: It is a local authority responsibility to develop and deliver flood protection schemes, ensuring that it complies with all relevant legislation, policy and guidance.
14 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the community that is purported to benefit from a flood protection scheme must always be consulted on the options long list in the early stages of a proposal, which is then used to produce an options short list.
Answer · Gillian Martin: It is a local authority responsibility to develop and deliver flood protection schemes and we would expect them to engage with their local communities on relevant design considerations throughout the development process.The Scottish Government will publish a …
14 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, prior to progressing a flood protection scheme to the objections stage, and where any proposals other than the deemed planning authority-granted elements are included in presentations to the community, what its position is on whether planning permission for such proposals should be obta…
Answer · Gillian Martin: Section 57(2B) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 provides that once a flood protection scheme is confirmed (whether by the local authority or the Scottish Ministers), the Scottish Ministers are to direct that planning permission for the dev…
14 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the presentation of a flood protection scheme in a publicly-available notification must be sufficiently clear so that the deemed planning authority-granted elements of the scheme are clearly and unambiguously identifiable from any elements that require pla…
Answer · Gillian Martin: Section 57(2B) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 provides that once a flood protection scheme is confirmed (whether by the local authority or the Scottish Ministers), the Scottish Ministers are to direct that planning permission for the dev…
14 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether a working version of all hydrological and hydraulic models used to formulate flood maps in support of flood protection schemes should be made freely available to the public.
Answer · Gillian Martin: SEPA’s National Flood Risk Assessment (NFRA) underpins the Flood Risk Management Planning process in Scotland. It identifies potentially vulnerable areas (PVAs) where a multiagency approach is likely to be required to address flood risk. This ensures th…
14 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the design requirements of flood protection schemes (FPS) should be determined first-and-foremost by the hydrological and river and/or coastal geomorphology, and that, therefore, the design of any active travel plans in the same area should only ever be co…
Answer · Gillian Martin: A Flood Protection Scheme is a major place-based intervention. Local Authorities take the lead on their development and delivery, because they are best placed to understand local needs and opportunities. Like all place-based interventions, the design of a new…
14 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it is appropriate that all new and, as yet, unbuilt flood protection schemes should incorporate a component of natural flood management as a requirement for receiving public funding.
Answer · Gillian Martin: The Flood Risk Management Act promotes a catchment wide approach to managing flood risk. The Scottish Government recognise that Natural Flood Management (NFM) can provide multiple benefits, including reducing flood risks, enhancing biodiversity, and contribut…
14 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether community "appetite for risk" should be secondary to the implied standard of protection arising from the implementation of the UK Treasury Green Book and based upon Cost Benefit Analysis using SEPA’s proposed risk levels in relation to the developmen…
Answer · Gillian Martin: It is a local authority responsibility to develop and deliver flood protection schemes. This includes the selection of an appropriate standard of protection. This is because each place is unique and bespoke solutions are required.We would expect local authori…
14 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the standard of protection in Flood Risk Management Plans, under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009, should encompass the views of the beneficiaries, particularly the local community’s perceptions of the level of risk that is desirable and…
Answer · Gillian Martin: It is a local authority responsibility to develop and deliver flood protection scheme, including the selection of an appropriate standard of protection. This is because each place is unique and bespoke solutions are required.Schedule 2 of the Flood Risk Manag…
14 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the pressures on its spending, what its position is on whether it is now appropriate for all Flood Risk Management Plans that are still to be approved to be subject to Cycle Two arrangements.
Answer · Gillian Martin: For the last 15 years the Scottish Government has provided Local Authorities with £42m per annum for flood resilience through the general capital grant and we have committed to continue that until 2026. We have also committed an additional £150m o…
14 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has developed the Cycle Two process for guiding and determining flood protection schemes under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009, and, if so, when this will be published.
Answer · Gillian Martin: A joint COSLA/ Scottish Government Flood Risk Management Funding Working Group has been set up to discuss funding and governance of flood resilience actions in Scotland and make recommendations to Cosla and Scottish Ministers on cycle 1 and cycle 2 flood prot…
14 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether Flood Risk Management Plans submitted to it by local authorities, under the provisions of the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009, have been scrutinised and signed-off by experts with relevant expertise in all aspects of a scheme, including hydrology and civil and str…
Answer · Gillian Martin: Flood Risk Management Plans are developed by SEPA, which has the expertise to do so as Scotland’s Strategic Flood Risk Management Authority.It is a local authority responsibility to develop and deliver flood protection schemes. However, the Flood Risk M…
25 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the findings in the report, The Ethical Basis of the Scottish Health and Wellbeing Census, 2021-22, by Lindsay Paterson, Emeritus Professor of Education Policy at the University of Edinburgh, which outlines ethical failings in how data was gathered, how it will give all chil…
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government takes the privacy of citizen’s data very seriously and is committed to ensuring that the personal data we hold complies with the Data Protection Act and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).The UK GDPR gives indivi…
10 Sep 2024 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported comments by Glasgow Disability Alliance that the Disability Equality Plan lacks the ambition, meaningful actions or commitments needed to improve disabled people's lives.
26 Aug 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further details of its position on the re-introduction of peak fares on ScotRail trains.
2 Jul 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19319 by Mairi McAllan on 11 July 2023, when the UK Dolphin and Porpoise Conservation Strategy will be finalised and adopted, and what it is doing to safeguard cetaceans in the meantime.
Answer · Gillian Martin: A public consultation on the UK Dolphin and Porpoise Conservation Strategy took place in 2021 and we are working on amendments to the strategy, in partnership with the other UK administrations and the working group, ahead of implementation in early 2025. The…
2 Jul 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-25394 by Mairi Gougeon on 6 March 2024, whether it will provide an up-to-date timeline for introducing public consultations on proposed fisheries management measures within offshore and inshore marine protected areas that do not currently have measu…
Answer · Gillian Martin: Putting in place the remaining fisheries management measures remains a top government priority. We want to achieve this as soon as possible, however developing the evidence based and effective fisheries management measures for over 180 sites is a complex and …