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: S6W-14232

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether any external organisations or individuals have provided paid consultancy services to date in relation to the development of a Biodiversity Investment Plan, as set out in the new Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, and, if so, which external organisations or individuals have done so.

Question reference: S6W-14233

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent to date on a Biodiversity Investment Plan, as set out in the new Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, and how many civil servants have worked on delivering this.

Following the recent publication of the draft biodiversity strategy, a delivery plan is now being developed and this will include the development of an investment plan. The delivery plan is being led jointly by Scottish Government and NatureScot officials, drawing on engagement from key policy areas and across a wider network which includes significant stakeholder engagement. No expenditure has therefore been directly devoted to the development of the Biodiversity Investment Plan yet.

Question reference: S6W-13793

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in securing a long-term reliable bus service between Dumfries and Edinburgh.

My officials have been in contact with the relevant local transport authorities in respect of bus services between Dumfries and Edinburgh. Regarding the 101/102 service, Houston's Coaches have had a bid approved by SPT, Scottish Borders Council and Swestrans for 3 years with a start date of 1 April 2023. SPT are currently working with Houston's to finalise the contract. Scottish Ministers, however, do not have the power to intervene directly in the provision of bus services due to the de-regulated bus market, which has operated across the United Kingdom since the 1980s.

Question reference: S6W-14580

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many operators of vessels have been prosecuted for turning off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) in waters around (a) Scotland and (b) Shetland in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-14466

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to emulate the success of the Great Tapestry of Scotland in Galashiels in order to boost tourism and promote regeneration in other small towns.

The award winning Great Tapestry of Scotland (GToS) is an excellent example of the Town Centre First Principle (TCFP) in practice. This principle has been embedded in the recently approved National Planning Framework (NPF4), so that future planning decisions will help to guide development to locations that support tourism and regeneration of our towns.

The Scottish Government is also supporting local authorities, businesses, and communities to promote regeneration within towns including through the Place Based Investment, Vacant and Derelict Land and Empowering Communities Programmes. In particular, on 6 February, it was announced that 15 projects, across Scotland, have successfully secured around £10 million funding, from the Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme, to prioritise the reuse of such land as well community regeneration and town centres.

Question reference: S6W-14479

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding Architecture and Design Scotland has allocated to the Scotland + Venice project for each year since 2016-17.

Since joining the Scotland + Venice project in 2016, Architecture and Design Scotland has supported the commissioning and work of external curatorial teams on behalf of the Scotland + Venice partners, (Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, National Galleries of Scotland, the British Council (Scotland), the V&A Dundee, and Architecture and Design Scotland).

Funding allocated directly by Architecture and Design Scotland towards the Scotland + Venice project in the years 2016-17 to 2022-23 is provided in the following table.

Year	Funding allocated (£)
2016-17	5,000
2017-18	5,000
2018-19	5,000
2019-20	5,000
2020-21	5,000
2021-22	0
2022-23	25,000*

* increased funding in 2022-23 to support students from Scotland to undertake research and invigilation as part of a professional development programme

Question reference: S6W-14290

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will increase the funded childcare entitlement to the equivalent of 50 hours a week.

Since August 2021 the Scottish Government has funded 1140 hours of high-quality early learning and childcare (ELC) for all eligible children. Scotland is the only part of the UK to offer 1140 hours a year of funded ELC to all three- and four-year-olds - and eligible two-year-olds regardless of whether their parents are in work or not, putting children first. If families paid for this offer themselves, it would cost them around £5,000 per eligible child per year.

We have already set out ambitious plans to expand our childcare offer further this Parliament. The Strategic Childcare Plan published last October explained how we will approach building a system of school age childcare, offering care before and after school and in the holidays, and developing an offer to provide funded early learning and childcare to all one- and two-year-olds, starting in the course of this Parliament with families who will benefit most.

Question reference: S6W-14269

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation in the paper, Transforming Nursing, Midwifery and Health Professions’ Roles: Review of Clinical Nurse Specialist and Nurse Practitioner Roles within Scotland, whether it has commissioned NHS boards to review all clinical nurse specialist roles by undertaking to establish the numbers of nurse specialists who map across to the new definition outlined in the paper.

The Scottish Government is currently working with NHS Education for Scotland to identify a workplan for the next phase of the Transforming Roles Programme. This involves agreeing priority actions and implementing outstanding recommendations from the ‘Transforming Nursing, Midwifery and Health Professions’ Roles: Review of Clinical Nurse Specialist and Nurse Practitioner Roles within Scotland’ publication.

At a time of significant system pressure, this priority setting is to be undertaken as part of wider considerations in collaboration with the Scottish Executive Nurse Directors Group in Spring 2023.

Question reference: S6W-14259

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the amount of public funding that independent schools potentially save as a result of not receiving funding directly from central government for the services that they provide.

Question reference: S6W-14223

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commission its statutory environmental agencies to embed the control of the most prolific species, such as grey squirrels, into their operations long-term, in light of reports that non-native invasive species are now recognised as one of the top five drivers of biodiversity loss, and of it making the managing of them a priority in the latest draft of its Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045.

The control of invasive non-native species is already a priority in the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy which states that a key aim for the Strategy is that by 2045:

“Harmful invasive non-native species (INNS) will be managed so that established INNS no longer degrade native habitats and species or impede their restoration and regeneration and new introductions are managed quickly and effectively”

The Strategy will be supported by a delivery plan which will set our approach to tackling INNS in Scotland, including the grey squirrel.

NatureScot, the key statutory agency for delivering the Biodiversity Strategy states in its business plan for 2022-23 that it will:

“Deliver invasive non-native species controls and reduce the biodiversity impacts of established invasive non-native species”

Work on the ground at present includes Scottish Government to support the work of Local Action Groups including the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative (SISI), an ambitious 5-year partnership project led by NatureScot that is tackling invasive non-native species alongside rivers and water courses in an area of 29,500km2 within northern Scotland.