Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6O-03619

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies indicating that forecast UK Government tax and spending plans would be funded by reductions in public investment, what assessment it has made of the potential impact that any changes to Scotland’s block grant resulting from this would have on Scotland’s public finances.

Question reference: S6W-27831

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 10 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recently published data by the National Records of Scotland regarding Scotland's Census 2022, which show that over 60% of the school-age population had no religion, whether it will follow the advice of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and allow young people the right to opt out of religious observance in schools.

As stated in the Scottish Government’s Initial Response to the Concluding Observations issued by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, published on 25 March this year, the Scottish Government is considering its next steps on religious observance in schools to ensure compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Under current legislation in Scotland, religious observance is not compulsory, and parents are legally entitled to withdraw their children from religious observance in local authority and grant-aided schools. This is supported by detailed guidance which states that ‘schools should include children and young people in any discussions about aspects of their school experience, ensuring their views are taken into account.’

This guidance is available at: Curriculum for Excellence: religious observance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6O-03522

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of any impact that Brexit is having on Scotland’s culture sector.

Question reference: S6W-27897

Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-03501

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it provided to East and South Ayrshire Councils in 2023-24 for Discretionary Housing Payments.

Question reference: S6O-03457

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the net zero secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding any plans to review any unintended impacts of the fourth National Planning Framework on energy policy.

Question reference: S6W-27140

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any options that it is considering for restricting the advertising and promotion of alcohol and alcohol-branded products, following the consultation on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion, which was carried out between November 2022 and March 2023.

Further work is being undertaken to consider the range of views from our consultation on potential restrictions to alcohol advertising and promotion in Scotland.

We remain committed to progressing proposals to reduce children and young people’s exposure to alcohol marketing whilst also recognising the importance of balancing any potential impacts on business and industry.

We are continuing to engage with public health stakeholders and business organisations with an interest in alcohol marketing to ensure the Scottish Government strikes the right balance in achieving its public health aims.

Question reference: S6W-26935

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to address any long waiting times for applications to Social Security Scotland, in light of reports that nine children have died while waiting for an application for the Child Disability Payment to be processed.

Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who sadly died before a decision could be made on their application.

We know some people waited an unacceptably long time for Child Disability Payment and urgent action was taken to address this resulting in improved processing times.

We aim to process all applications as quickly as possible and have an accelerated application process for people who have a terminal illness diagnoses. We urge anyone who is applying on behalf of a terminally ill child or young person to use this dedicated route and ensure their application is given utmost priority.

While we cannot comment on individual cases, there are a number of factors that impact on how long it takes to make a decision including the time taken to gather information to support an application from a professional such as teachers or health care practitioners. This can take time – but under the DWP, people had to do this themselves – and we know people greatly value this service.

Question reference: S6W-26934

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Social Security Scotland staff reportedly do not work to timelines or key performance indicators, and what its position is on whether key performance indicators would help to improve the organisation’s efficiency.

Social Security Scotland is focused on making the right decision first time, whilst aiming to process all applications as quickly as possible.

Our Charter sets out a range of standards for our performance and each year we publish the Charter Measurement Framework to share how we are delivering against our Charter commitments. As part of this research, we invite feedback from our clients and stakeholders on our performance, through our annual client survey.

In addition, we have committed to processing Funeral Support Payment applications within 10 working days of receipt of a completed applications and to process Special Rules for Terminal Illness disability payment applications within seven working days.

All colleagues have agreed work objectives which are reviewed as part of our performance management process and are further supported to perform effectively through learning and development programmes. We also use system data and internal management information to promote continuous improvement.

We have for example taken extensive action to drive down processing times and have seen significant improvements. Latest published figures show that average processing times for Adult Disability Payment have fallen by almost 40%.

Question reference: S6O-03400

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to NHS Ayrshire and Arran to improve access to ADHD testing for adults.