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-31052

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for motor neurone disease (MND) funding in the coming years.

The Scottish Government continues to face the most challenging financial situation since devolution, as a result of unprecedented economic pressures following the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. Despite the financial constraints, the Scottish Government continues to focus on building a more inclusive Scotland for all, including investing in MND services and support that will help our communities during these difficult times.

The new Scottish Budget will be presented to Parliament on Wednesday 4 December 2024. This will detail Scottish Ministers' spend proposals for the year ahead. Funding for future years will be subject to the Scottish budget process, however the Scottish Government remains committed to supporting MND services across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-31049

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with MND Scotland about funding research on motor neurone disease (MND).

Within the Scottish Government, funding for Health and Care Research comes under the policy remit of the Chief Scientist Office (CSO)

Officials from CSO met with representatives from MND Scotland on 9th February 2023 to discuss the possibility of co-funding a Clinical Academic Fellowship. Funding arrangements were agreed and a joint call for applications launched on 1 August 2023

Details of the funded fellowship are available on the CSO website

CAF/24/13 - Identifying early theragnostic targets for MND

Ms Kristine Roberts - University of Aberdeen

CAF2413abstract.pdf (scot.nhs.uk)

Question reference: S6W-31050

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided for motor neurone disease (MND) research in the last 10 years.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office (CSO) supports open competitive grant and fellowship schemes for applied health research in Scotland across a wide remit that is inclusive of consideration of applications for research relating to motor neuron disease (MND). Applications submitted to these schemes are assessed through independent expert peer-review with funding recommendations made by independent expert committees.

CSO have funded 4 Fellowships in MND in the last 10 years. 2 of these were funded in collaboration with MND Scotland and one was in collaboration with MND Scotland and the Motor Neurone Disease Association. The total CSO investment into these 4 fellowships was £672,000.

Question reference: S6O-03987

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what early discussion it has had with COSLA regarding the detail of the financial settlement that it has received from the UK Government's Budget.

Question reference: S6F-03507

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 November 2024

To ask the First Minister what plans the Scottish Government has to end the reported increase in families in the Central Belt living in temporary accommodation, in light of reports of almost 2,000 children in Glasgow living in unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation in 2024 and more than 4,600 households in Edinburgh projected to be living in temporary accommodation by 2040.

Question reference: S6W-30592

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 30 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to ensure that the data provided in its annual and bi-annual homelessness statistics is accurate, in light of reported concerns regarding any undercounting of breaches of legal duties on the unsuitable accommodation order and duty to provide temporary accommodation.

Information presented in the annual and bi-annual Homelessness in Scotland publications is based on quarterly homelessness applications and temporary accommodation data provided to the Scottish Government by local authorities.

There are rigorous quality assurance processes in place for the data provided by local authorities. Validation checks are in place with summary reports prepared for checking by local authorities. Scottish Government statisticians undertake further in-depth quality assurance on the data and follows up with local authorities to confirm or correct data as necessary prior to publication. This has included enhanced quality assurance on the reporting of breaches of the Unsuitable Accommodation Order (UAO), following on from reporting inconsistencies and inaccuracies that were uncovered due to COVID-19 exceptions that were put in place, and the extension of the UAO (to all households) over the same period.

Where specific data issues are brought to the attention of Scottish Government, these are investigated and followed up on with local authorities as necessary. Scottish Government will continue to work with local authorities to ensure the data provided is as accurate as possible for future publications.

Further information on the quality assurance of homelessness data collections is available on the homelessness statistics webpages.

Question reference: S6W-30277

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 11 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement in its Programme for Government 2024-25 of £100 million of investment to support the construction of mid-market rent homes, when it expects that the first mid-market rent home being built using this funding will begin construction.

The Programme for Government announcement is a new long-term commitment to provide £100 million of funding which will grow, with institutional investment, to create a fund of at least £500 million to support the construction of around 2,800 homes for mid-market rent, making public funds go further.

The new MMR Fund will form part of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme which already supports mid-market rent and funding will be linked to the fund's performance and growth, over a number of financial years. Decisions on future AHSP funding will be set out as part of the Scottish Government's annual budget process. The next step is the commercial process to commission a fund manager and expected delivery timescales will be set out at that stage.

Question reference: S6W-30279

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 11 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government where the money for the £100 million of investment to support the construction of mid-market rent homes, as announced in its Programme for Government 2024-25, will come from.

Question reference: S6W-30278

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 11 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether the announcement in its Programme for Government 2024-25 of £100 million of investment to support the construction of mid-market rent homes will result in £100 million being invested within the current financial year.

Question reference: S6W-30180

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 8 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29992 by Paul McLennan on 24 September 2024, whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority area of its allocations of spending on the National Acquisition Programme in 2022-23.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26978 on 7 May 2024, which details the spend and homes delivered by local authority areas through the 2022-2023 National Acquisition Programme.

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