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: S5W-34365

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether victims’ organisations were able to apply for support from the Victim Surcharge Fund by the end of 2020 and, if so, (a) how many applications were received and (b) what the average bid was.

The Victim Surcharge Fund opened for applications by victim support organisations on 14 January 2021. Organisations have until 12 February to apply for funding. We aim to make the first payments from the Fund by the end of March 2021.

In line with our intention, as stated in published guidance, ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/victim-surcharge-fund-guidance ) the Fund opened for applications once sufficient funding had accumulated in it. The Fund will re-open for applications on a regular basis, once sufficient funding has accumulated.

More information on applying to the Fund is available on the Scottish Government website https://www.gov.scot/publications/victim-surcharge-fund-information/

Question reference: S5W-34683

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when the review of government funding to support organisations outlined in the latest Victims’ Taskforce workplan will be completed, and what the scope of the review is.

The review referred to is a recommendation from the report ‘Transforming
Services for Victims And Witnesses’, commissioned by the Scottish Government,
COPFS and Victim Support Scotland and published in September 2020 https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/minutes/
2020/11/victims-taskforce-papers-september-2020/documents/paper-five-thrive-
report-on-transforming-services-for-victims-and-witnesses/paper-five-thrive-report
-on-transforming-services-for-victims-and-witnesses/govscot%3Adocument/FINAL
_TSVW.pdf .

The report and the range of recommendations it contains are being considered by the
Scottish Government, the Victims Taskforce and the Victim Centred Approach
Governance Group, and will help inform their work moving forward.

Question reference: S5W-34685

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what relevant communications were listed in action 1b of the latest Victims' Taskforce workplan; how these were prioritised, and when it anticipates action 1b will be completed.

Scottish Government officials have undertaken an initial information gathering exercise to establish the scope of this work and determine a suitable approach to reviewing publications and other materials provided to victims as they progress through the criminal justice system.

This initial work, which we anticipate will be completed by April 2021, will help inform next steps, which will include engagement with relevant criminal justice stakeholders.

Question reference: S5W-34729

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support is being put in place for supply teachers during the current COVID-19 lockdown.

The Scottish Government has provided local authorities with‎ £80 million of additional investment in education staff, sufficient for the recruitment of around 1,400 additional teachers, including supply teachers, and 200 support staff this year.

In addition, a package of £45 million of new funding was announced on 13 January to support the delivery of remote learning. This new funding can be used to recruit additional teachers and may offer further employment opportunities for supply teachers.

Question reference: S5O-04992

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 January 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the delivery timetable for the three disability payments.

Question reference: S5W-34682

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 27 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it expects further engagement to take place following the publication of the consultation, Improving Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Interventions for Victims of Domestic Abuse, as outlined in the next steps action 3e, in light of the latest Victims' Taskforce workplan referencing the date as "end 2019", which had already passed by the time of publication.

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling violence against women and girls through Equally Safe, our co-owned strategy with COSLA. This strategy identifies effective multi-agency risk assessment processes as a key component in addressing violence against women and girls in Scotland.

At the end of 2019, we published our analysis of responses to the Improving Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Interventions for Victims of Domestic Abuse consultation. Unfortunately, due to the global pandemic and the reprioritisation of work to meet immediate needs arising from COVID, work in this area was paused until November 2020 when officials held a virtual workshop with stakeholders from across the VAWG sector to help prioritise key themes and outputs from the consultation and inform our next steps.

Following on from this discussion, officials will be undertaking a series of virtual mini work-shops or ‘deep dives’ into these key areas and will convene a short life advisory group comprised of key stakeholders to monitor progress.

Question reference: S5W-34555

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether only victims registered with the Victim Notification Scheme will be able to observe parole hearings under the Transforming Parole proposals.

The changes which will come into force on 1 March 2021, through the Parole Board (Scotland) Amendment Rules 2021, set out a procedure for victims and family members of victims to be silent observers at parole hearings. Only victims who are registered with the Victim Notification Scheme (VNS) will be able to make an application to observe.

Not everyone wants to observe a hearing so we had to consider who this might apply to. People who have registered with the VNS have already expressed an interest in being kept informed of a prisoner’s release so it is important to them to have this opportunity.

A victim, or an entitled relative of the victim as set out in the Guidance for the Scheme can register with the VNS at any time so nobody will be barred from observing a hearing if they are not registered initially.

This amendment to the rules sets out a specific procedure by which victims can request to attend a hearing. This will make it clearer for victims.

Question reference: S5W-34551

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, for what reason the 2019-20 Scottish Prison Service (SPS) annual report did not record information regarding addiction prevalence testing and, if this information is no longer recorded, (a) for what reason the SPS reached this decision and (b) how the SPS will monitor the scale of drug misuse in prisons.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Addictions Prevalence Testing (APT) for Performance Measurement purposes was suspended in November 2019 and therefore not included in the latest annual report. The APT process at that point was considered to be no longer fit for purpose as it did not acknowledge the changing trends in drug taking evidenced through the Management of Risk from Substances (MoRS) Policy and drug-find results .

SPS is currently reviewing its approach with the aim of procuring a comprehensive solution which improves the validity of testing and its connection to subsequent monitoring, intervention and action. In the interim period, further investment in technology has been made to prevent the introduction of illicit articles to prisons and relevant adaptations have been made to the existing testing arrangements.

Question reference: S5W-34554

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Transforming Parole proposals allow victims to speak at parole hearings, and what the reasons are for the position on this matter.

The changes which will come into force on 1 March 2021, through the Parole Board (Scotland) Amendment Rules 2021, set out a procedure for victims and family members of victims, who are registered with the Victim Notification Scheme (VNS), to be silent observers at parole hearings with the aim of allowing increased transparency to victims.

Allowing victims to make oral representations to the Parole Board members hearing the case that victims are involved with, would require an amendment to primary legislation. The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 permits certain victims, registered with the VNS, to make oral representations but only to a Parole Board member who is not involved with the case.

Question reference: S5W-34488

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 January 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 19 January 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what additional support it is providing to households that are undertaking home learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scottish Government has invested £25m to support digital inclusion for school-aged learners across Scotland. At end-December 2020, almost 59,000 devices and over 10,000 connectivity packages had been distributed to learners and more will have been distributed since then.

A further £45m is being provided to councils to support families with remote learning. This additional funding may be used flexibly by councils to purchase additional digital devices, to recruit additional staff and to provide additional family support.

Glow, which provides access to Microsoft Office 365, Google G-Suite for Education and Wordpress Blogs, is freely available to all learners and teachers in Scotland.

In addition, Education Scotland has provided a significant expansion of online learning through the National e-Learning Offer. 600 recorded lessons and 14,000 items of online learning and teaching resources are available to schools. Education Scotland have also published clear principles and entitlements for remote learning and will be monitoring provision on a weekly basis.