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-15192

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 1 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the employment rate was for people with learning disabilities in each of the last four financial years.

Estimates for the employment rate for people 16-64 years who reported a severe or specific learning difficulty (lasting 12 months or more) are shown in the following table for each of the last 4 financial years.

	Employment rate for people aged 16 to 64 with severe or specific learning difficulties
April 2018 to March 2019	25.6%
April 2019 to March 2020	[b]
April 2020 to March 2021	17.4%
April 2021 to March 2022	28.2%

Source: Annual Population Survey, April to March data, ONS

Notes:

1. [b] Data are not provided for April 2019 to March 2020. This is due to a change to the response options for the question on health problems outlined below which occurred from January to March 2020 onward.

2. Please note estimates for April 2018 to March 2019 are not directly comparable with estimates for April 2020 to March 2021 onwards. This is due to a change to the question on health problems asked in the APS which occurred from January to March 2020 onward, where ‘Autism (including autism spectrum condition, Asperger syndrome)’ was added as a new category to the response options for this question. This could impact on estimates for the ‘severe and specific learning difficulties’ option.

3. People with a severe or specific learning difficulty are defined as having a health condition/illness lasting 12 months or more and included “severe or specific learning difficulty” as a response when asked what health problems they had. Specific learning difficulties includes conditions such as dyslexia or dyscalculia; severe learning difficulties covers mental impairments.

4. Data is subject to sampling variation and is not seasonally adjusted.

5. Estimates are for those aged 16 to 64.

6. Rates are rounded to one decimal place and are based on unrounded estimates.

7. Employment rates use the total 16 to 64 year old population as the denominator.

Question reference: S6O-01932

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the nationwide programme of inspection to assess the condition of, and the impact of climate change on, some of Scotland's most significant heritage sites, being undertaken by Historic Environment Scotland, is expected to be completed.

Question reference: S6W-14083

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how decisions were reached on the membership of the Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racist Infrastructure, including whether any limitations were imposed.

The Interim Governance Group (IGG) is a short-life working group with a specific remit to provide advice and feedback to Scottish Ministers on establishing long-term anti-racism infrastructure. Its membership includes those with experiences of intersecting marginalisation(s) and the realities of systemic racism, and expertise in tackling it. Individuals were also appointed on the basis of having extensive knowledge and/or experience of policy-making processes in Scotland, and design and implementation of policy/systems. More information on the remit and membership of the group is available here: Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racist Infrastructure

Members of the IGG were appointed on merit in accordance with the Ministerial Code, taking into account the views of the co-chairs and ensuring membership comprised of people with expertise and lived experience of racism. Membership reflects a gender balance, and includes those with experiences of intersecting marginalisation(s) and the realities of systemic racism and expertise in tackling it. Membership also includes:

- community members and community-led organisations

- young people

- scrutiny and governance expertise

- expertise in gathering and using inequality data

- expertise/leadership from the public, private and third sector

Two national membership organisations were invited to nominate community-led organisations to be involved in the IGG in order to provide grassroots perspectives.

Question reference: S6W-14084

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps were taken to ensure that key stakeholders were included or represented in the Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racist Infrastructure.

The Scottish Government is using a range of interventions across its policies to advance the Race Equality Framework and human rights for all minority ethnic groups, one of which is the Interim Governance Group (IGG).

The IGG is a short-life working group with a specific remit to provide advice and feedback to Scottish Ministers on establishing long-term anti-racism infrastructure. Its membership includes those with experiences of intersecting marginalisation(s) and the realities of systemic racism and expertise in tackling it. Individuals were also appointed on the basis of having extensive knowledge and/or experience of policy-making processes in Scotland, and design and implementation of policy/systems. More information on the remit and membership of the group is available here: Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racist Infrastructure

The IGG is supporting the government’s development of improved infrastructure and accountability that has a positive impact on the lives of all racialised minority communities. Racialised outcomes are not experienced uniformly, and effective interventions need to take specific experiences into account. In Scotland, this includes important disparities impacting Black/minority ethnic groups.

Ensuring that communities are engaged with policy development and in long-term oversight and accountability, is of utmost importance, and we use mechanisms and routes to achieve that in the best way possible. Policy areas focussed on anti-racism and race equality actively engage with a range of stakeholders and communities as part of their work. The IGG has commissioned a programme of community engagement, to both disseminate information about forthcoming anti-racism infrastructure and to gather community members' and stakeholders’ perspectives on how it can work best to deliver genuine change-making policy and practice in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-14086

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information from the work of the Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racist Infrastructure will be made publicly available.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14802 on‎ 27 January 2023 which outlines that the IGG is committed to being open and transparent about its work. Documents and minutes of meetings are published on the IGG webpage: Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racist Infrastructure

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

Question reference: S6W-14082

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how the Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racist Infrastructure will engage, and share information, with any stakeholders not represented in its membership.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that stakeholders and communities are engaged with on policy developments, including long-term oversight and governance. The Interim Governance Group to Develop Anti-Racist Infrastructure (IGG) has commissioned a programme of community engagement to both disseminate information about the establishment of an independent Race Observatory, and to gather community members' and stakeholders’ perspectives about the Observatory and how it can work best to contribute to genuine change-making policy and practice in Scotland.

Through its community engagement work, the IGG is actively disseminating information, and seeking the views of stakeholders and communities so that they can be incorporated into the development of the forthcoming anti-racism infrastructure.

The IGG is committed to being open and transparent about its work. Documents and minutes of meetings are published on the IGG webpage: Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racist Infrastructure

Question reference: S6W-14085

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 27 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government on what basis the remit of the Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racist Infrastructure was established.

In June 2020, the Expert Reference Group on COVID-19 and Ethnicity was established to consider and inform the Scottish Government’s approach in relation to the impacts of COVID-19 on Minority Ethnic (ME) communities. This was in response to reports at a UK-wide and international level that some ME groups may be at risk of experiencing disproportionate effects, both in terms of adverse health outcomes and in a wider context, including economically.

Our current priorities are rooted in the delivery of the recommendations of our Expert Reference Group on COVID-19 and Ethnicity (ERG). Specifically, these actions cover the ongoing work to implement the data and systemic recommendations of the Expert Reference Group (ERG) for COVID-19 and Ethnicity, as agreed to by the Scottish Government in November 2020 .

Recommendation 7 from the ERG outlined the need to establish a more effective accountability and governance infrastructure in Scotland, namely an independent Race Observatory. The Scottish Government required specific expertise to help move forward with establishing the Observatory and therefore formed a short-life working group, now known as the IGG, to provide advice and feedback to Scottish Ministers.

Question reference: S6O-01837

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-13741

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when section 50 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, prohibiting pavement parking, will come into force.

Transport Scotland is continuing to consult with Local Authorities and others to develop both the secondary legislation required to allow them to enforce the National pavement parking prohibition as well as the Parking Standards Guidance which will underpin the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019.

The first of the associated regulations, which sets out the Exemption Order Procedures which local authorities must follow, was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 16 November and came into force on 9 December 2022.

My officials continue to work on the other secondary legislation which is required during the course of this year. These further regulations will ensure Local Authorities have all of the necessary tools to enforce the pavement parking prohibitions from late 2023 onwards.

Question reference: S6O-01832

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it is encouraging increased patronage on rail routes serving Mid Scotland and Fife.