Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-22376

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 3 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government in relation to increasing hemp production in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-22359

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21543 by Jenni Minto on 3 October 2023, what was discussed in its meeting with the Gambling Commission regarding the UK Government White Paper on Gambling on 21 September.

The meeting on the 21 September was an introductory meeting with the Gambling Commission. It discussed the role of the Gambling Commission and the consultations that they were leading on as part of the White Paper.

The meeting also discussed the role of evidence and the developments by the Gambling Commission to improve the evidence base across the UK. There was a commitment to build links between officials to support the development of gambling policy in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-22360

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21540 by Jenni Minto on 3 October 2023, when the "whole systems approach" being piloted by Public Health Scotland in Glasgow to mitigate the impact of gambling harm will (a) begin and (b) report back on its findings to the Scottish (i) Government and (ii) Parliament.

The whole systems approach in Glasgow to mitigate the impact of gambling harm is led by a Multi-Agency Group chaired by Glasgow City Council. It reports into the Glasgow City Council Wellbeing, Equalities, Communities, Culture and Engagement City Policy Committee (WECCE).

A report on progress was taken to the WECCE in August 2023. It is available from Committee Information - View Committee Document (glasgow.gov.uk) .

Question reference: S6O-02651

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to boost hydrogen production in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-21541

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to amend the questions in the Scottish Health Survey to capture more data about the impact of gambling on people's lives.

There are currently no plans to amend the gambling questions in the Scottish Health Survey.

However, the Gambling Commission have commissioned NatCen Social Research to run a new UK wide survey, which will include approx. 20,000 adults annually, with a sample of approximately 1,000 adults in Scotland.

To date the Gambling Commission results have been experimental statistics but the Gambling Commission will be publishing their first set of Official Statistics in a quarterly publication in Spring 2024. Once this new data is available we will consider it and any implications for the Scottish Health Survey.

Question reference: S6W-21542

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out any work to look at restricting advertising by gambling companies.

Betting, gaming and lotteries are largely reserved matters and their regulation is primarily the responsibility of the UK Government. The Gambling Act 2005 (“the 2005 Act”) sets out how gambling in Great Britain should be regulated.

The Gambling Commission has responsibility for regulating commercial gambling in Great Britain and requires gambling operators to hold a licence to operate. The Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice require operators to comply with the Advertising Codes, administered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Question reference: S6W-21540

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken to gauge any impact that gambling has on (a) poverty, (b) mental health, (c) suicide, (d) homelessness, (e) domestic violence and (f) addiction.

The most recent Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) found that the proportion of adults undertaking any gambling activities in Scotland (including the National Lottery) has decreased significantly between 2012 and 2021 – from 70% to 58%.

However, notwithstanding this positive trajectory, the Scottish Government recognises the adverse impacts that gambling can have on health and wellbeing, such as debt and deterioration of physical and mental health, and that this can lead to an increased risk of suicide for people affected by problem gambling. A recent evidence review by Public Health England (updated in January 2023) sets out the many health and social harms associated with gambling – including homelessness, crime, relationship harms, mental health problems and suicide.

At present, comparable Scotland specific data is not available. However work is underway in Public Health Scotland to identify and understand what data is currently available, analyse that data to inform future developments (linking to Scottish Health Survey data), and consider what further data collection may be necessary. PHS are also piloting a whole systems approach, working with partners in Glasgow, to mitigate the impact of gambling harm in a specific local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-21543

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding restricting advertising by gambling companies.

Betting, gaming and lotteries are largely reserved matters and their regulation is primarily the responsibility of the UK Government. The Gambling Act 2005 (“the 2005 Act”) sets out how gambling in Great Britain should be regulated.

The Gambling Commission has responsibility for regulating commercial gambling in Great Britain and requires gambling operators to hold a licence to operate. The Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice require operators to comply with the Advertising Codes, administered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

In advance of the publication of the UK Government White Paper on Gambling (published on 27 April 2023), Scottish Government officials met with the UK Government officials to discuss potential areas of gambling reform (including advertising and marketing).

The Scottish Government will continue to meet with the UK Government to discuss progress in taking forward the proposals within the White Paper. The Minister for Victims and Community Safety and I recently met with the Gambling Commission on 21st September to discuss the White Paper.

Question reference: S6W-20910

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 29 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, according to the latest data, how many children (a) in Aberdeen and (b) throughout Scotland are in receipt of 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare.

Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland provides census data on numbers of registrations for funded early learning and childcare (ELC) at the local authority level as of September 2022. These figures are shown in the following table. The census does not currently record the number of hours being accessed by each child.

Local Authority	Number of funded registrations
Aberdeen City	3,740
Aberdeenshire	4,765
Angus	1,806
Argyll and Bute	1,290
City of Edinburgh	7,765
Clackmannanshire	897
Dumfries and Galloway	2,244
Dundee City	2,546
East Ayrshire	2,346
East Dunbartonshire	2,024
East Lothian	2,073
East Renfrewshire	1,897
Falkirk	2,699
Fife	6,452
Glasgow City	10,403
Highland	3,946
Inverclyde	1,255
Midlothian	2,196
Moray	1,521
Na h-Eileanan Siar	406
North Ayrshire	1,952
North Lanarkshire	5,855
Orkney Islands	382
Perth and Kinross	2,398
Renfrewshire	3,427
Scottish Borders	1,704
Shetland Islands	441
South Ayrshire	1,794
South Lanarkshire	5,939
Stirling	1,506
West Dunbartonshire	1,583
West Lothian	3,363
Scotland	92,615

Separately, the latest management information collected from local authorities, and published by the Improvement Service in June 2023, reported that there were 119,108 children accessing funded ELC at the end of April 2023. Of that number, 100,506 children (84.4%) were accessing 1,140 hours and 116,625 (97.9%) children were accessing more than 600 hours. The Improvement Service does not publish this management information at local authority level.

Question reference: S6W-20915

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many new schools have been built (a) in Aberdeen and (b) throughout Scotland since the start of the Scottish National Party administration in 2007.

Chamber and committees