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: S5W-26959

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 27 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure local authority services are funded from 1 April 2020 in the event that the Budget (Scotland) (No.4) Bill [Session 5] has not completed the legislative process by the end of the current financial year.

The issues that arise in the event that a Budget Act does not come into force by the start of the financial year to which it applies are the same for 2020-21 as for previous years.

The statutory emergency arrangements which exist for such a scenario would ensure funding for local authority services from 1 April 2020, with provisions in the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 and the Budget (Scotland) Act 2019 referring back to corresponding amounts for the prior year on a monthly basis.

However, we are acting in consultation with the Parliament and the Finance and Constitution Committee to ensure a new Budget Act is in force for the start of the year.

Question reference: S5W-26960

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 27 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to send the first Local Government Finance Circular for 2020, and what information it will contain.

Question reference: S5W-26961

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 27 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to place conditions on the 2020-21 local government finance settlement and, if so, what these will be, and how it will communicate them to local authorities.

The 2020-21 Local Government Finance settlement is subject to on-going negotiations with COSLA and the results will be confirmed as part of the Scottish Budget on 6 February. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work, Derek Mackay will write to COSLA President Alison Evison, copied to all council leaders on the same day setting out the package of measures that make up the 2020-21 local government finance settlement and a Local Government Finance Circular will be published setting out the provisional individual allocations to local authorities.

Question reference: S5O-04018

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has overturned the City of Edinburgh Council's rejection of planning permission for a series of boat hotels on the Union Canal.

Question reference: S5O-04044

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has fully costed the policy commitments it has made that are to be delivered through local government.

Question reference: S5O-03925

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact has been of the Scottish Ambulance Service’s response times policy.

Question reference: S5O-03759

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to mitigate the impact that difficulties in recruiting EU citizens as a result of Brexit will have on the staffing of care services.

Question reference: S5T-01840

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 October 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what resources it is allocating to address human trafficking and exploitation.

Question reference: S5W-25591

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it will offer to local authorities when the Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2017 is extended to cover all persons.

We recognise that there are some local authorities who currently rely on the use of bed and breakfast accommodation and we will work with these local authorities as we prepare to draft the legislation, and in the lead up to it coming into force, to help them overcome any barriers they face and ensure they do not breach the Order.

The Scottish Government’s 2019-20 Budget will provide local government with an additional £298.5 million resource funding for day to day services and an increase of £207.8 million capital funding in 2019-20. As well as this funding increase councils had the flexibility to increase council tax by up to 3 per cent in real terms. Taken together with councils’ actual council tax increases they will have access to an additional £602 million (5.7 per cent) in 2019-20 compared with 2018-19.

However, the Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of the revenue funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Question reference: S5W-25590

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what it considers the outcome should be when a local authority breaches the Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2017.

Breaches of the Unsuitable Accommodation Order are not acceptable. The Scottish Housing Regulator considers and engages with local authorities about breaches of the Order as part of their annual risk assessment process. On top of that, I have written to all local authorities who have breached the Order earlier this year, and I and officials have met with each local authority, to understand and help them overcome the barriers they face and help ensure they do not continue to breach the Order.