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-00141

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 June 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-00142

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 June 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6T-00101

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of female prisoners on remand, following reports that one-in-four women in custody are awaiting trial.

Question reference: S6T-00104

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Home Office regarding the reported backlog in processing applications for the EU settlement scheme.

Question reference: S6T-00090

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 June 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government on what basis it has introduced a ban on non-essential travel between Scotland and Manchester and Salford.

Question reference: S6W-00615

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with relevant public bodies about placing a legal duty on them to prevent homelessness.

In our Ending Homelessness Together action plan we committed to developing a new legislative duty on local authorities and wider public bodies for the prevention of homelessness. We commissioned an expert group – the Prevention Review Group - in October 2019 to make recommendations.

On 18 February 2021, the Prevention Review Group published its recommendations, which were developed in consultation with relevant organisations from across the public sector and third sector, frontline workers and people with lived experience of homelessness.

The recommendations highlight the importance of a whole-system, person-centred approach to preventing homelessness, for example through the work of health, education and justice services. We are now working with COSLA and our partners across the public and third sectors to discuss how we can put these recommendations into action and create the significant legislative change required. A key early stage will be a comprehensive programme of engagement across the public sector, including a public consultation, to inform the way forward.

Question reference: S6W-00616

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what additional measures to end rough sleeping were brought in as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and which will be continued following the lifting of restrictions across Scotland.

No one in Scotland should have to sleep rough and this is a commitment we reiterated in our updated Ending Homelessness Together action plan, published with COSLA in October 2020.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, our priority has been to keep people safe and housing people without a settled home in emergency accommodation has been a public health imperative. In partnership with local authorities and the third sector, our quick and effective response dramatically reduced the number of people sleeping rough. We will continue to build on that success as restrictions lift.

In our Ending Homeless Together action plan we committed to modifying night shelter provision with a view to ending the use of night shelter and dormitory style provision in future. In winter 2020-21, we contributed to the cost of rapid rehousing welcome centres in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The centres offered hotel room accommodation and provided under-one-roof and multi-agency assessment for people at the sharpest end of homelessness. We will work with local authority and third sector partners to ensure there is no return to dormitory style night shelters in the future.

Local authorities are working hard to ensure people move as rapidly as possible through temporary accommodation and into settled accommodation, with the appropriate support. We are investing £37.5 million to support councils to prioritise settled accommodation through the implementation of rapid rehousing transition plans and the upscaling of Housing First for those facing the most challenges.

Question reference: S6W-00620

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to each of the recommendations made by the Scotland Prevention Review Group.

We commissioned this work in response to the recommendations the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group made for ending homelessness. We very much welcome the Prevention Review Group recommendations and we are grateful for the commitment Crisis and other partners have shown in delivering their report, in particular the vital role people with lived experience of homelessness had in shaping the recommendations.

We accepted the recommendations in principle earlier this year and will now consult with our partners across public services, people with experience of homelessness and the wider public as we fully consider the detail of the suite of recommendations, to ensure that their introduction leads to stronger housing rights for people in Scotland. Shifting the balance of services and response towards prevention is more important than ever as we work to recover from the public health crisis.

Question reference: S6W-00618

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what audit it has conducted to determine the costs and benefits of the duty on public bodies to maximise the receipts from land sales.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) provides clear guidance to public bodies on Property acquisition, disposal and management. There is no reference within that guidance to the maximising of receipts from the sale of land but rather a duty for each body subject to the SPFM to consider the most appropriate method for disposal either by:

1. obtaining the best possible price on the open market, or;

2. disposal of the asset at less than Market Value to deliver wider public benefits consistent with the principles of Best Value, or;

3. transfer under the Guidelines for the Transfer of Property within the Scottish Public Sector.

The costs and benefits of disposal via one of these routes will have been determined on a case by case basis when considering the method of disposal by the public body in question and any audit of such a transaction would be undertaken by Audit Scotland as part of their audit work. The duty of Best Value applies to all public bodies in Scotland and is a formal duty on Accountable Officers.

The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 sets out the rights for community bodies to seek to acquire rights in any land and property held by a named public body. Guidance has been published both for relevant authorities and community bodies which explains the how any such application is to be handled. The legislation does not comment on whether disposals should be at market value or at a discount. As with all publicly-owned assets, where a disposal is being considered at less than market value, the public body decisions should be consistent with the principles of Best Value.

Question reference: S6W-00619

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 June 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce legislation to place a duty on public bodies to prevent homelessness in its proposed Housing Bill, and whether that bill will be Introduced in 2021-22.

The recommendations we received from the Prevention Review Group are comprehensive and are likely to require significant updates to existing legislation as well as the development of new duties for the public sector. We are currently considering the most appropriate vehicles for implementing these changes which we will confirm in due course.

No decision on timings has yet been taken in relation to a new housing bill within this Parliament.