S6W-44360

Asked by: Baillie, Jackie (Scottish Labour - Dumbarton)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-43847 by Dorothy Bain on 11 March 2026, whether it will provide the information requested regarding how many times the Lord Advocate has advised ministers of an indictment in criminal cases, and in which cases, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.

Answered by None

In my letter to the Presiding Officer of 24 February 2026 and the examples that I gave, I confirmed all of the examples that Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service could find based on the records available to them.

S6W-44368

Asked by: Clark, Katy (Scottish Labour - West Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-43888 by Gillian Martin on 2 March 2026, whether it has sought clarification from SSEN that its definition of “specialist” jobs covers all seafarer grades.

Answered by Martin, Gillian - Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-44369 on 25 March 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

S6W-44459

Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Walking and Wheeling Survey 2025, which suggested that 48% of adults over 65 would walk more if pavements were in better condition, and how it ensures that local authorities are meeting their Public Sector Equality Duty when making budget reductions to footway maintenance that disproportionately affect wheelchair users and people with visual impairments.

Answered by Robison, Shona - Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government

The Scottish Government recognises the benefits of walking for physical and mental wellbeing regularly reported in the Scotland Walking and Cycling Index. However, as with the response to PQ S6W-44458 on 24 March 2026 pavement maintenance is the responsibility of councils as entirely separate entities from the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government has committed to respecting local government’s democratic mandate as part of the Verity House Agreement.

Local authorities have statutory duties under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 and the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to maintain footways and secure expeditious, convenient and safe movement of people using their footways.

It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

It is for all external bodies, including local authorities, to ensure that they comply with all legal requirements. This includes the Public Sector Equality Duty and the Equality Act 2010. Responsibility for oversight of compliance with the Equality Act 2010 rests with the Equality & Human Rights Commission. The Commission is independent and cannot be directed by Scottish Ministers. Private individuals can seek to enforce their rights under the Equality Act in courts and tribunals.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

S6W-44446

Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will issue updated guidance to local authorities to ensure that early learning and childcare (ELC) demand is formally integrated into the school roll forecasting process for new housing developments, and what steps it is taking to ensure that developer contributions are consistently secured for ELC infrastructure, as well as primary and secondary school capacity.

Answered by Gilruth, Jenny - Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills

Local authorities have the statutory responsibility to manage their school and early learning and childcare (ELC) estate. While the Determining Primary School Capacity guidance focuses on primary school capacity, authorities are expected to consider ELC requirements in their wider estate planning and to secure any necessary developer contributions. The Scottish Government has no plans to issue updated guidance at this time, as decisions on forecasting and securing contributions sit with local authorities.

National Planning Framework 4 supports an Infrastructure First approach, recognising the importance of aligning development and infrastructure provision. Local development plans are expected to be informed by evidence on the infrastructure of the area, including ELC settings, primary and secondary schools. Where infrastructure is necessary to enable development, it is a decision for the planning authority whether it should be funded – in full or in part – through developer contributions, taking local needs and development viability into account.

S6W-44405

Asked by: Eagle, Tim (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Highlands and Islands)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to help homeowners make their properties more resilient to flooding.

Answered by Martin, Gillian - Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy

Flooding is our biggest climate adaptation challenge, and we know it will become more frequent and severe in the decades ahead so we need to do all we can to be prepared. The Scottish Government set out a long term vision for a flood-resilient Scotland through to 2045 in our National Flood Resilience Strategy. With a focus on people, places and processes it sets out a number of priority areas and actions to support homeowners, communities and businesses in Scotland. In relation to helping homeowners keep their properties safe further actions being undertaken are:

• The Scottish Government allocating £570 million to local authorities since 2016 to support flood protection schemes and wider flood resilience, protecting individuals and communities at risk of flooding. £42 million will continue to be provided through the general capital grant in FY 2026-27.
• Research is underway to consider actions to mitigate the negative mental health and broader wellbeing impacts of flooding.
• Households can develop their own flood plans and research is underway which is examining whether these plans can help strengthen community awareness and promote actions, including the installation of Property Flood Resilience measures.
• As part of the implementation of the National Flood Resilience Strategy a dedicated group, the Property Flood Resilience Delivery Group, is developing actions on Property Flood Resilience to further support delivery across Scotland.
• The Scottish Government provides funding to the Scottish Flood Forum, which enables them to provide support and advice to individuals and communities before, during and after flood events. The Scottish Flood Forum also has a flood bus which showcases Property Flood Resilience measures to communities.
• Building Standards have been updated to provide more advice and information to designers on property flood resilience. The updated Technical Handbooks that include section 3.3 ‘Flooding and groundwater’ will be applicable from 6 April 2026.
• The Scottish Government continues to work in co-operation with the UK Government and the other devolved administrations to ensure flood insurance remains widely available and affordable. Flood Re is a flood re-insurance scheme, which was launched in 2016 to help households at high risk of flooding. This now benefits more than 9,000 properties in Scotland.
• SEPA’s Scottish Flood Forecasting and Warning Services ensures flood forecasting and warning information is made available to the public and emergency responders throughout Scotland.

S6W-44414

Asked by: Eagle, Tim (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Highlands and Islands)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding from Screen Scotland’s Production Growth Fund has been awarded to production companies that undertake their (a) post-production and (b) VFX work in the Highlands and Islands region, in each year since 2021.

Answered by Robertson, Angus - Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture

The Production Growth Fund aims to draw large-scale film and TV productions into Scotland; it does not directly target post-production or VFX work. Recent projects which were attracted to locate some or all of their production in the Highlands and Islands via the Production Growth Fund include the Netflix drama Department Q (which filmed partly in Caithness) and the feature film Jack of Spades (Argyll & Bute).

Post-production and VFX work is supported through Screen Scotland’s recently launched Project Post. This initiative was designed to help Scotland-based post-production facilities secure work that might otherwise go elsewhere. Screen Scotland is actively promoting the fund internationally to attract more business to Scotland. Any Scotland-based post-production or VFX facilities, including those in the Highlands and Islands, are encouraged to contact Screen Scotland to discuss how the Project Post fund could support their growth.

S6W-44424

Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it monitors the consistency of local authority recruitment approaches, and what guidance it provides to ensure that hiring practices do not disadvantage qualified teachers seeking employment.

Answered by Gilruth, Jenny - Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills

Local authorities, as the employers of teachers, are responsible for their own recruitment and hiring processes. Local authorities have a duty to ensure they advertise teaching vacancies through open and fair recruitment processes, in line with all public sector employers.

The Scottish Government does not monitor or interfere with the recruitment practices of local authorities, however we are working with COSLA on medium and long-term joint workforce planning, which will take into account the importance of responding to issues such as the consistency of teacher recruitment and advertising of posts.

Teaching posts are advertised throughout the year and details of current vacancies can be found at: myjobscotland.gov.uk.

S6W-44440

Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will adopt the Scotland’s Childcare Guarantee, which has been proposed by the group, Pregnant Then Screwed, specifically the call to expand funded hours to children from nine months old and the introduction of a 5% household income cap on childcare costs, and what specific modelling has been carried out on how these measures would support the retention of multiple-birth parents in the workforce.

Answered by None

Any changes to existing funded early learning and childcare arrangements will be a matter for an incoming government to address.

There has been no specific modelling carried out on how this proposal would support the retention of multiple-birth parents in the workforce.

S6W-44418

Asked by: Eagle, Tim (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Highlands and Islands)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-36564 by Gillian Martin on 29 April 2025, whether it will consider asking SEPA to review its Potentially Vulnerable Areas (PVA) information more frequently.

Answered by Martin, Gillian - Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy

The Potential Vulnerable Areas (PVAs) review identifies areas where the highest flood risk exists now or is likely to occur in the future, so is crucial in helping Scotland understand and prioritise where flood risk management work could be of most benefit to protect our communities.

However, this represents only a single stage within the broader six year flood risk management planning cycle, which commences with the National Flood Risk Assessment and culminates in the implementation of actions by councils in line with their local flood risk management plans. This cycle is set out in the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 and there are no plans to amend this.

The current PVAs were designated in December 2024 for use in the next Flood Risk Management cycle (2028-2033). They were developed and discussed with relevant responsible authorities and consulted on publicly. They will now be used by SEPA to set out objectives and actions in Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMPs) for those communities. These plans must be approved by Ministers, publicly consulted on and published.

Actions that support PVAs are therefore prioritised through FRMPs; however, this does not prevent local authorities and stakeholders from progressing other measures to address flooding in communities that are not designated as PVAs.

S6W-44408

Asked by: Eagle, Tim (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Highlands and Islands)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on any action it has taken following the 2025 seagull summit in Inverness.

Answered by Fairlie, Jim - Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity

NatureScot has taken forward a range of actions following the 2025 Gull Summit in Inverness. This has included hosting four regional roundtable events to gather information to support local management approaches and inform further guidance.

In addition to this we have made £100,000 available to support area-based gull management by local authorities, including funding provided to Highland Council and additional funding for the Inverness Gull Management Pilot.

NatureScot is also developing gull survey methods at national and regional levels, the member will also be aware of the provisions in the Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026 for NatureScot to report on gull species populations every five years.

A national awareness campaign was launched on 5 March 2026 to discourage the feeding of gulls, to secure waste and take measures to gull-proof properties and buildings.

NatureScot also continues to develop policy and procedures for area-based licensing, which ensures that licences are available where public health and safety is at risk as a result of gulls.