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: S6W-31169

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 19 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with its consultation regarding the legal age of marriage.

We continue to make progress on this consultation. As well as the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership, it will cover a wide range of areas: extending simplified divorce and dissolution procedures; qualifying requirements for religious and belief bodies when they solemnise marriage or register civil partnership; a Scottish Law Commission report on cohabitant's rights following separation; and some points arising on financial provision when one cohabitant dies.

We are also preparing impact assessments in relation to this consultation. We are planning to issue it within the next few months.

Question reference: S6O-03907

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring adequate provision of enterprise support to businesses in the Mid Scotland and Fife region.

Question reference: S6W-29339

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to monitor changes in rail passenger activity following the end of the ScotRail peak fares removal pilot on 27 September 2024.

ScotRail Trains Ltd routinely monitors patronage on its services to identify trends, opportunities and to best match its resources with the passenger demand. Following the Ministerial decision to end the 12 month trial removing peak fares, the Scottish Government intends to repeat the analysis undertaken to assess the pilot, as detailed in the published report, after an appropriate period has elapsed.

Question reference: S6W-29338

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how information on the ScotRail peak fares removal pilot was targeted at (a) those on lower incomes and (b) non-rail users.

The purpose of ScotRail peak fares removal pilot is to encourage modal shift from car to rail, therefore any information promoted by ScotRail aimed to target people who commuted by car and encouraged them to switch to rail.

ScotRail was actively promoting rail travel and rail travel uptake during the pilot. Several advertisements with the key messages of the pilot have been promoted regularly through various channels, including social media, with an average reach of 4 million each.

Question reference: S6T-02099

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what discussions it has had with Harland & Wolff regarding the future of its construction yards at Methil and Arnish.

Question reference: S6O-03743

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is improving access to NHS dentistry for patients in the Mid Scotland and Fife region.

Question reference: S6W-29337

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 10 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16692 by Natalie Don on 27 April 2023, whether it will provide an update on how it has progressed towards its commitment to deliver free breakfasts for all (a) primary and (b) special school children.

The Scottish Government remains committed to developing plans to deliver free breakfasts to all primary and special school children.

The Scottish Government worked with AssistFM and the Improvement Service from September 2023 to June 2024 to map breakfast provision across Scotland at both local authority and school level. A survey of all primary and special schools showed that almost half are already delivering breakfast provision. We will use the information provided by this mapping exercise to develop plans to build on this provision in line with our commitment.

In addition, we are delivering free or subsidised school age childcare through our Early Adopter Communities and Scottish Football Association ‘Extra Time’ projects, many of which include free breakfast club places for children from families most at risk of living in poverty.

Question reference: S6W-28104

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the current national school clothing grant level is for eligible (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils; when the most recent increase to the grants took place, and when the next increase to the grants is due to take place.

The national minimum school clothing grant is £120 per annum for primary pupils, and £150 for secondary pupils.

The Scottish Government has increased funding for local authorities to £13.9 million in the 2024-25 financial year. This includes an inflationary uplift of £0.9 million on the previous year’s funding. The purpose of this increase is to support local authorities to manage increases to the minimum amounts of school clothing grant paid to eligible families in the 2024-25 academic year.

It is for local authorities to determine their own eligibility criteria for school clothing grant and they also have the option to set their school clothing grant levels higher than the minimum if they wish to do so.

Decisions about funding to local authorities in respect of the school clothing grant in future financial years will be through the Budget process in the usual way.

Question reference: S6W-27843

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with NHS representatives regarding the risks of choking during consensual sexual activity, including in relation to guidance issued to medical professionals.

The Scottish Government is aware of the guidelines issued by the Institute For Addressing Strangulation that have been endorsed by the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV Non-Fatal-Strangulation-Guidelines_AcuteEmergency_Feb24.pdf (ifas.org.uk) . We will continue to work with key partners, including the Scottish Health Protection Network, to consider how this guidance can be promoted and shared.

Question reference: S6W-27844

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 10 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what data collection it is undertaking in relation to violence within consensual sexual activity, including on the prevalence of choking.

As outlined in the answer to question S6W-15943 on 21 March 2023, the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) includes a module on sexual victimisation, which produces estimates of adults’ experiences of different types of sexual assault. At present this does not include any questions focused on specific acts of violence such as choking, during what began as consensual sexual activity. We are currently considering whether a question (or questions) on this topic could be added to the above module. Given the sensitivity of this subject, it requires careful consideration and testing prior to any rollout to ensure that such a question is understandable, accessible, and does not place undue stress on survey respondents. Analysts have recently conducted multiple evidence-gathering workshops with external organisations and charities dedicated to researching and preventing sexual violence. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as we consider options for changes to the 2025-26 survey sweep. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .