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: S6F-00365

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 October 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 October 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-03293

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 11 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the report of the public inquiry into Islamophobia in Scotland, whether it will commit to instigating an independent review into Islamophobia in Scotland and, if so, within what timetable.

The Scottish Government unequivocally condemns any form of hatred or prejudice, including towards our Muslim communities. Scotland is a diverse, multi-cultural society and this diversity strengthens us as a nation. That is why we are determined to tackle all forms of prejudice and discrimination.

In June 2017, we published our Tackling Prejudice and Building Connected Communities Action Plan in response to recommendations made by the Independent Advisory Group on Hate Crime, Prejudice and Community Cohesion. We established a ministerial-led group to take this ambitious action plan forward. A report on implementation of these actions will be published and we will begin development of a new hate crime strategy in conjunction with key partners and stakeholders later this year. The new strategy will support implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021.

It is in all of our interests to eliminate prejudice in Scotland, regardless of race or religion, and we would like to reiterate our commitment to working collaboratively with you and the Cross Party Group on Islamophobia to do so, including offering engagement on the range of issues highlighted within the report of the public enquiry into Islamophobia in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-03292

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 8 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the report of the public inquiry into Islamophobia in Scotland, whether it will adopt a formal definition of Islamophobia to promote understanding, encourage reporting, and indicate a commitment to addressing Islamophobia.

Our Tackling Prejudice and Building Connected Communities Action Plan includes a number of actions around raising awareness of hate crime and to encourage reporting. For information, a full list of action commitments in this area can be found at http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/06/1336/5 . We will publish a report on progress made in delivering those actions during the coming months.

Implementation of the Hate Crime Act provides a good opportunity for the Scottish Government, justice partners and stakeholders to take stock of and refresh our approach to tackling hate crime and we are committed to developing a new hate crime strategy later this year. The new strategy will support implementation of the Hate Crime Act, as well as further work to consider the need for the Scottish Government to define Islamophobia, including consideration of the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group’s definition.

Question reference: S6W-03290

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 8 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendations of the report of the public inquiry into Islamophobia in Scotland, what steps it is taking to pay specific and ongoing attention to issues relating to ethnic and religious health inequalities, employment experiences and poverty.

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling racial inequalities. Our recently-published Immediate Priorities Plan (IPP) sets out how we will work across government and beyond to tackle deep rooted inequalities, and implements the recommendations of the Expert Reference Group on Covid-19 and Ethnicity. The IPP captures work ongoing across government, including our Fair Work First approach; the development of a race equality toolkit for employers; a Workplace Equality Fund to support minority ethnic people into employment; an ethnicity pay strategy; and a £20 increase to the Scottish Child Payment. We recognise the need for our work to tackle poverty to reach minority ethnic families in particular. That is why they are one of six priority groups we want to focus on in our national mission to eradicate child poverty in Scotland. Health inequalities are being tackled through a concurrent focus on improving Covid-19 health outcomes and targeting diseases, such as diabetes, which are overrepresented in certain minority ethnic communities.

Question reference: S6W-03291

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 8 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendations of the report of the public inquiry into Islamophobia in Scotland, what steps it is taking to address the reported shortfall in data about Islamophobia in Scotland.

We recognise that there is very limited data on Islamophobia in Scotland and that this is essential to effectively tackle Islamophobia in Scotland.

In respect of anti-Muslim hate crime, in February 2020, the Scottish Government published a research report ‘A Study of the Characteristics of Police Recorded Hate Crime in Scotland’. This is the first time that such information has been publicised, and includes information on the type of prejudice shown. In around one-quarter (26%) of religiously-aggravated hate crimes recorded in 2018-19, the perpetrator showed prejudice towards the Muslim community.

Another study into the characteristics of hate crimes recorded in 2020-21 is ongoing and is currently planned to be published in 2022. The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 includes provision to require disaggregated data on hate crime to be published annually and we are currently developing our approach in partnership with justice agencies. This will provide key information about the nature of hate crime in Scotland, including information about those involved. Such data will be essential to effectively tackle hate crime in Scotland and to inform future interventions in this area.