Questions and answers

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 ��˿�� 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: S5O-03264

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports communities in celebrating their heritage.

Question reference: S5W-23112

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2019
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by John Swinney on 14 May 2019

To ask Scottish Government when the first payments from the Advance Payment Scheme for survivors of childhood abuse in care will be made.

The Advance Payment Scheme opened on 25 April 2019 for those abused in care in Scotland who are either aged 70 or above, or who are terminally ill. Applicants are eligible to apply for a flat rate payment of £10,000, providing tangible recognition of the harm done to them as children

I am pleased to confirm that the first 5 payments have already been processed. Subject to the required appraisal checks, we hope to be able to approve a further 8 applications this week with a further 36 applications currently being considered.

Around 150 calls were taken in the first two weeks of the Advance Payment phone line opening and more than 100 application packs have been sent out. We have put in place a simple, yet robust application process and are focused on helping survivors and their families through the process.

Question reference: S5O-03205

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position on the work of Society Zero, which is a Glasgow-based social enterprise that provides zero waste and plastic-free food, produce and products, and how it supports the establishment of such start-ups.

Question reference: S5W-22322

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 4 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the most recent figures for the average Band D Council Tax bill in (a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) Wales.

The most recent information that the Scottish Government has on the average Band D Council Tax bill in (a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) Wales is as follows:

(a) The Scottish average Band D council tax for 2019-20 is £1,251.

The latest information for the 2019-20 Scottish average Band D council tax is available at the link below:

(b) The average Band D council tax set by local authorities in England in 2019-20 will be £1,750.

The latest available information for the 2019-20 English average Band D council tax bill is available at the link below:

The latest available information for the 2019-20 Welsh average Band D council tax bill is available at the link below:

Question reference: S5W-22324

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 3 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the most recent figures for the number of (a) police officers and (b) prison service staff per 100,000 people in (i) Scotland and (ii) England and Wales.

The most recent comparable figures on the number of (a) police officers and (b) prison service staff per 100,000 population for (i) Scotland and (ii) England and Wales are reported as at the 30 September 2018 in the following tables.

Table (a): Number of full time equivalent police officers per 100,000 population, 30 September 2018

Police Force	Total Number of Police Officers	Number of Police Officers per 100,000 population
Scotland 1	17,147	316
England & Wales 1	122,787	209
Source: Police Officer Quarterly Strength Statistics Scotland, Police workforce England and Wales statistics and Population estimates for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2017.
1. To ensure comparability the figures exclude officers working for the British Transport Police.

Table (b): Number of full time equivalent prison staff per 100,000 population, 30 September 2018

Prison Service	Total Number of Prison Staff	Number of Prison Staff per 100,000 population
Scotland 1	4,261	79
England & Wales 1,2	39,266	67
Source: Scottish Prison Service Quarterly Submission, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service workforce statistics and Population estimates for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2017.
1. Includes staff in both operational and non-operational roles.
2. To ensure comparability with Scotland the figures for England and Wales do not include Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service staff working in Probation related functions.

Question reference: S5W-22325

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the most recent figures for the number of (a) court staff and (b) prosecutors per 100,000 people in (i) Scotland and (ii) England and Wales.

The information requested is available online in the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) report. CEPEJ evaluates every two years the functioning of the judicial systems in 47 Council of Europe's Member States. The latest available information, which is for 2016, can be found on the interactive overview page by selecting 'UK - Scotland' and 'UK - England & Wales'. The relevant questions providing this information are Q52 and Q55.

The overview page can be accessed via this link:

The full report can be accessed via this link:

CEPEJ will be collecting 2018 data throughout this year for publication in 2020.

Question reference: S5F-03253

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 April 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 April 2019

To ask the First Minister how the new domestic abuse act will help reduce violence against women.

Question reference: S5W-22323

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 1 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the most recent figures for spending per person on enterprise and economic development in (a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) Wales.

According to the following table from HM Treasury’s ‘Country and Regional Analysis: 2018’ identifiable public expenditure per person in 2017-18 on enterprise and economic development in Scotland, England and Wales, was as follows.

Spend per person on enterprise and economic development (£ per person, 2017-18)

	Scotland	England	Wales
Enterprise and economic development	£231	£122	£162

Source: HM Treasury, Country and Regional Analyses (CRA), 2017-18

Question reference: S5W-22161

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) current and (b) planned allocations are to support the expansion of funded childcare, broken down by (i) local authority and (ii) (A) revenue and (B) capital funding.

Question reference: S5W-22160

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government which (a) primary and (b) secondary schools are receiving support through the Scottish Attainment Challenge, broken down by the amount awarded.

The Scottish Attainment Challenge commits £750 million over the course of this parliament to close the poverty related attainment gap. This includes support for the nine Challenge Authorities and a separate Schools Programme which supports 74 schools outside the Challenge Authorities. In addition, in 2019-20, 96% of schools will receive £120 million of Pupil Equity Funding.

A table setting out the primary and secondary schools that are receiving support through the Scottish Attainment Challenge in 2018-19 is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre - BIB reference number 59793. This was previously provided to SPICE in response to question S5W-16907 on 6 June 2018.

The 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 school level allocations of Pupil Equity Funding are now available on the Scottish Government website at .