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: S6T-00127

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the ongoing industrial disputes with ScotRail.

Question reference: S6F-00230

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2021

To ask the First Minister whether she will provide an update on HIAL’s proposed centralisation of air traffic control services.

Question reference: S6F-00228

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2021

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking ahead of COP26 regarding the future of oil and gas exploration and securing a just transition for workers.

Question reference: S6F-00220

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2021

To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government has had with ScotRail and the trade unions regarding industrial action on the network.

Question reference: S6F-00211

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2021

To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government has had regarding the functioning of Corporate Travel Management.

Question reference: S6F-00207

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-00206

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2021

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-02392

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 6 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address (a) the threat of (i) rhododendron ponticum invasion and (ii) overgrazing and (b) other key threats to native woodland condition.

The management of deer and invasive non-native species are fundamental to our efforts in tackling the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. Action to address threats to native woodland condition is being taken on a number of fronts, in particular to address key threats such as overgrazing and invasive species, principally Rhododendron .

While NatureScot and other public bodies take an operational lead supporting the control of invasive non-native plants in priority areas, the main responsibility for the management of invasive non-native species rests with landowners. The Scottish Government makes funding available for rhododendron control projects under the Scottish Rural Development Programme’s (SRDP) Forestry Grant Scheme (FGS). To date more than £730,000 has been committed for this purpose.

Scottish Forestry (SF) has worked with NatureScot to develop ‘ An approach to prioritising rhododendron control in Scotland ’ which encourages landscape-scale partnership work and helps guide funding to those areas where it will achieve the greatest benefit to biodiversity.

Since 2011 Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) has undertaken rhododendron control in forests, mainly in protected areas. FLS’s future rhododendron control will be co-ordinated with the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest and other land managers, with the aim of achieving effective long-term control at a landscape scale.

Addressing overgrazing by deer in woodland has been identified as one of the six Strategic Priorities for ‘ Scotland’s Wild Deer: A National Approach’ . This will require Government departments and agencies to work together with land managers to implement actions using a mixture of incentive and regulation to improve the health of our woodlands.

An independent review by the Deer Working Group into the management of wild deer sets out 99 recommendations to improve the management of wild deer in Scotland, including a number of legislative changes. The Scottish Government has set out our commitment to take forward recommendations in this parliamentary term.

SF offer a number of grants through the FGS that support the management of ecosystems. This includes support to restore plantations to native woodland and active management to expand native woodlands through natural regeneration.

Trees for Life are surveying Caledonian Pinewood remnants on Scotland’s national forests and land and FLS will develop a programme of management to address the threats it identifies.

Question reference: S6W-02337

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 6 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent media reports, whether it can confirm that Police Scotland has halted all training of Sri Lankan police, and under what circumstances such training would resume, and whether it will commit to publishing in full the outcome of the current review of Police Scotland’s training in Sri Lanka.

Question reference: S6W-02339

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 6 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether Sri Lanka is on Police Scotland’s International Development and Innovation Unit’s list of countries for which ministerial approval is required for training to take place there, and, if not, whether, for any other reason, ministerial approval is required for Police Scotland to provide training to Sri Lankan police.