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-13259

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 23 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline the annual targets for increasing the number of body cameras available to Police Scotland officers, in light of the recent reported announcement that £20 million will be spent over the next five years on making almost 18,000 body cameras available.

The introduction of body-worn cameras is an operational decision for Police Scotland, acting under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA).

As outlined in the answer to S6W-12605 on 12 December 2022, the SPA Resources Committee approved Police Scotland’s Initial Business Case for the Introduction of National Body Worn Video on 10 November 2022, ahead of consideration by the SPA Board. Police Scotland are expected to undertake a full procurement exercise in 2023 which will provide costs for 2023-24 and future years.

In 2023-24, the Scottish Government will invest £1.45 billion in policing. This includes a 6.3% increase to the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) resource budget.

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

Question reference: S6W-13104

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether Marine Scotland will accept the findings of peer-reviewed scientific literature when the area of disturbance and injury to cetaceans from an Acoustic Deterrent Device (ADD) or Acoustic Startle Device (ASD) is estimated by the peer-reviewed scientific literature as being much greater than the area estimated in an application from a fish farm company for a European Protected Species Licence.

Marine Scotland bases its decisions on the best available scientific evidence at any particular time including any relevant peer reviewed literature. Any such literature is subject to a critical review to determine its applicability. Marine Scotland’s decisions will reflect the outcome of this process as well as consideration of information provided by the applicant and any expert advice received.

Question reference: S6W-13395

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 23 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost to the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service has been of non-attendance at court hearings by all parties, in each year since 2016-17.

Question reference: S6W-13025

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11897 by Mairi Gougeon on 17 November 2022, (a) how much and (b) what percentage of its overall allocation to the Community Led Local Development Fund has been allocated by Local Action Groups to staffing and resourcing, and (i) how much and (ii) what percentage was allocated to staffing and resourcing by each group.

For staffing and resourcing, the Scottish Government set a maximum staffing support rate of 15% of their total allocation or £57,143 for individual Local Action Group (LAG) areas. However, LAGs could use their revenue allocation to source additional freelance support from out with their Local Authority where needed.

Area spend is ongoing and until all claims have been processed at the end of the financial year, an accurate figure cannot be given for staffing and resourcing costs.

The LAG allocation breakdown is provided in the following table;

LAG Area	Total allocation	Guideline A&A*
Aberdeenshire North	£394,296.00	£59,144.40
Aberdeenshire South	£530,694.00	£79,604.10
Angus	£288,469.00	£43,270.35
Argyll & Islands	£618,889.00	£92,833.35
Ayrshire	£533,604.00	£80,040.60
Cairngorms	£281,606.00	£42,240.90
Dumfries and Galloway	£665,492.00	£99,823.80
Fife	£279,306.00	£41,895.90
Forth Valley and Lomond	£213,746.00	£32,061.90
Greater Renfrewshire	£115,520.00	£17,328.00
Highland	£1,069,878.00	£160,481.70
Kelvin Valley and Falkirk	£140,600.00	£21,090.00
Lanarkshire	£282,826.00	£42,423.90
Moray	£292,405.00	£43,860.75
Orkney	£188,330.00	£28,249.50
Outer Hebrides	£255,806.00	£38,370.90
Rural Perth and Kinross	£447,098.00	£67,064.70
Scottish Borders	£487,275.00	£73,091.25
Shetland	£188,538.00	£28,280.70
Tyne Esk	£204,382.00	£30,657.30
West Lothian	£151,240.00	£22,686.00

*A&A = administration and animation

Question reference: S6W-13026

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11899 by Mairi Gougeon on 17 November 2022, how many applications for funding from the Ayrshire Rural and Islands Ambition (ARIA) Fund indirectly included local authorities as beneficiaries, and how many, if any, progressed to the assessment stage.

Question reference: S6W-12743

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the Serco NorthLink Ferries booking system will open for bookings for dates beyond 31 March 2023.

Question reference: S6O-01739

Asked by: Kaukab Stewart, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 22 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to increase the availability of highspeed broadband in the Glasgow Kelvin constituency.

Superfast broadband coverage in Glasgow currently stands at 98.7% - in large part, thanks to commercial coverage, which also serves as a key strand of our Reaching 100% programme, particularly in extending coverage in Scotland’s urban areas.

However, our R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme remains available for those who are not expected to receive superfast broadband through either the R100 contracts or commercial build, offering a voucher worth up to £5,000 per property to secure a connection.

Question reference: S6W-13378

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how any funding, which had been set aside for the Community Land Scotland Gaelic Development Officer, will be used to encourage community-based decision making for Gaelic development, in light of reports that the Gaelic Development Officer post has been discontinued.

Question reference: S6W-13223

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 22 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) money and (b) time was spent on translating the series of papers entitled, Building a new Scotland, into other languages, including the summaries and supporting documents, and for what reasons any specific languages were chosen.

The Scottish Government seeks to meet statutory requirements and deploy best practice in the ways in which it communicates information with people in Scotland, and wider audiences. We regularly translate key advice and information into other languages and formats. The Building a New Scotland prospectus series has been designed to be as accessible as possible to ensure that communities across Scotland are able to access the information. Languages were selected on the basis of their frequency of use and experience of usage of translations of previous Scottish Government publications. Audio and Easy Read versions make the Building a New Scotland prospectus series more accessible to more people.

The costs associated with the series are published proactively and the costs for the first three papers can be found on the Scottish Parliament website at –

Written question and answer: S6W-11001 | Scottish Parliament Website

Written question and answer: S6W-11002 | Scottish Parliament Website

Written question and answer: S6W-13303 | Scottish Parliament Website

Question reference: S6W-13071

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is increasing the budget provisions to local authorities to enable them to provide the required nutritious school meals for children.

The 2023-24 budget has made provision for £185.8 million to be allocated to local authorities for free school meals.

All food and drink served in education authority and grant aided schools must meet the standards set out in the 'Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020' to ensure that pupils receive a balanced and nutritious meal that supports healthy growth and development.