Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Questions Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, and Parliamentary Business Roz McCall S6O-03941 1. To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to encourage library usage in the Mid Scotland and Fife region. Brian Whittle S6O-03942 2. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that young people across Scotland have access to facilities that can support their involvement in arts and culture. Michael Marra 3. [Not Lodged] Maggie Chapman S6O-03944 4. To ask the Scottish Government what conversations it has had with its international development partners regarding building resilience to increasing humanitarian crises. Colin Smyth 5. [Not Lodged] Michelle Thomson S6O-03946 6. To ask the Scottish Government what it anticipates the impact of the recent UK Budget will be on funding for Creative Scotland. James Dornan S6O-03947 7. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its funding for humanitarian assistance in Gaza. Paul Sweeney S6O-03948 8. To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK Government announcing the largest funding settlement in real terms since devolution, how it will use any increase in funding to ensure that Glasgow’s arts and culture sector is able to thrive. Justice and Home Affairs Gordon MacDonald S6O-03949 1. To ask the Scottish Government what action Police Scotland can take to ensure the safe and legal use of e-bikes and e-scooters. Murdo Fraser S6O-03950 2. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in relation to its handling of malicious and vexatious criminal complaints. John Mason S6O-03951 3. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address unnecessary court citations for police officers, in light of reports that over 500 officers are summoned to court each day, with only 10% required to give evidence, leading to an estimated £22.5 million per annum in lost productivity for Police Scotland. Jamie Halcro Johnston S6O-03952 4. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the reduction in police numbers since 2010 on Police Scotland’s ability to respond to all incidents of crime, including antisocial behaviour, within its responsibilities. Liam McArthur S6O-03953 5. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure appropriate oversight of the police use of facial recognition technology. David Torrance S6O-03954 6. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work to reform the Victim Notification Scheme in the coming year, to ensure that it operates in a more trauma-informed way. Evelyn Tweed S6O-03955 7. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the justice secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding police action to tackle raptor persecution, in light of reports of a dead golden eagle being found recently in the Stirling constituency. Pauline McNeill S6O-03956 8. To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to improve the legal aid system, in light of reports of senior defence lawyers saying they will no longer take on legal aid cases and the system being in crisis. followed by Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Debate: Reversing the Family Farm Tax Tim Eagle S6M-15400 That the Parliament calls on the UK Government to reverse its decision to impose a so-called family farm tax on agricultural businesses. Mairi Gougeon S6M-15400.2 As an amendment to motion S6M-15400 in the name of Tim Eagle (Reversing the Family Farm Tax), insert at end "and urgently commit to undertake and publish impact assessments on the cumulative impact of its budget proposals on farmers and crofters in Scotland." Rhoda Grant S6M-15400.1 As an amendment to motion S6M-15400 in the name of Tim Eagle (Reversing the Family Farm Tax), leave out from "calls" to end and insert "agrees that the Conservative Party should apologise to the country for its fiscal recklessness, which left the public finances in a dire state and required the Autumn Budget to put the country back on a sound footing, and recognises that, despite this, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has continued to put in place inheritance tax reliefs for family farms potentially worth up to £3 million and increased the Scottish devolved budget by £3.4 billion in 2025-26." followed by Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Debate: Scotland’s Housing Emergency Meghan Gallacher S6M-15401 That the Parliament believes that the Scottish Government should redraft the Housing (Scotland) Bill, as it fails to address the key factors that created the housing emergency. Shirley-Anne Somerville S6M-15401.3 As an amendment to motion S6M-15401 in the name of Meghan Gallacher (Scotland’s Housing Emergency), leave out from "believes" to end and insert "welcomes the Scottish Government’s Housing (Scotland) Bill, which delivers a package of support for tenants across Scotland, including rent controls and homelessness prevention duties." Mark Griffin S6M-15401.2 As an amendment to motion S6M-15401 in the name of Meghan Gallacher (Scotland’s Housing Emergency), insert at end "; calls on the Scottish Government to recognise the housing emergency in the redrafted legislation, and further calls on it to include the requirement for the Scottish Ministers to produce a strategy for the increased supply of houses in Scotland, and to report annually on its progress." Maggie Chapman S6M-15401.1 As an amendment to motion S6M-15401 in the name of Meghan Gallacher (Scotland’s Housing Emergency), leave out from "redraft" to end and insert "not amend the Housing (Scotland) Bill to weaken the proposed system of rent controls, which must be able to keep rent increases below inflation if they are to improve affordability and allow for rent freezes during a housing emergency." followed by Decision Time followed by Members' Business — S6M-15207 Douglas Lumsden: Rural Roads Infrastructure That the Parliament considers that driving is an essential part of daily life for those living in rural communities; believes that those communities deserve the infrastructure to allow connectivity that is safe and enables access to vital services; notes the view that tackling potholes will increase road safety and connectivity, and thereby improve the quality of roads across Scotland; further notes the belief that, to achieve such connectivity within the North East Scotland region, the Scottish Government must honour the longstanding commitment made in 2007 to dual the A90 north of Ellon, in order to make safe the reported accident hotspots such as the Cortes and Toll of Birness junctions, and notes the calls on the Scottish Government to commit to a timescale for when these works will be completed.