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-34573

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve maternity services in Caithness, to reduce any need for individuals to travel to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness for childbirth and other maternity-related care.

The Scottish Government expects all NHS Boards to provide maternity services that are delivered as close to home as practicable and to offer a full range of birth place options within their region. Service planning and delivery is the responsibility of NHS Boards and it is important that these services are safe, sustainable and meet the needs of local populations.

Women in Caithness can choose to give birth with the support of a midwife, whether at home or in the midwife-led unit at Caithness General Hospital. If the mother or baby are assessed to be at higher risk, then they are advised to give birth at the consultant unit at Raigmore Hospital. To minimise the need for women to travel, NHS Highland provides weekly obstetric-run antenatal clinics and scanning services in Caithness, and helps with travel and accommodation costs for women who need to travel for care. This is the same model of care which operates across all rural areas in the NHS Highland region. We particularly recognise the importance of patient transport and work is commencing to develop guidance on Pre-hospital Maternity and Neonatal Care and Remote & Rural Intrapartum Transfers.

Question reference: S6W-34403

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions the businesses that have submitted an application for a Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) have asked for the information that they provide to be treated as confidential and therefore not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Information provided in any application for Freight Facilities Grant (FFG), including personal information, may be subject to publication or disclosure in accordance with legislation including the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs) and the Data Protection Act 1998.

All applicants are asked if any of the information they provide as part of the process is to be treated as confidential with an explanation of why this is so. If Transport Scotland receive a request for disclosure of this information we will take full account the explanation given. However, due to our obligations under the relevant legislation we have never given an assurance that information supplied to us, even in confidence, would not be disclosed.

To date, no FOI in relation to confidential information supplied as part of an application for FFG has been received by Transport Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-34411

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many successful applications have been made for the Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) in each of the past three financial years, and what the total funding awarded has been for each year.

Question reference: S6W-34263

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how Food Standards Scotland collaborates with local authorities to identify and prevent food fraud.

FSS collaborates routinely with all Scottish local authorities (LA) to identify and prevent food fraud, which is formalised through various fora, including:

MOU in relation to the investigation of food crime in Scotland
FSS acting as intelligence hub for all LA food teams
authorised LA staff having access to FSS intelligence database
representation at various LA/FSS liaison groups pertaining to food crime
use of an FSS QR code to facilitate input of intelligence at source by LA Food officers
SFELC Food Crime representative attendance at the FSS Food Crime TTCG

Question reference: S6W-34231

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how Food Standards Scotland monitors compliance with allergen labelling requirements, and how many breaches have been identified in each year since 2018.

Local Authorities check for compliance with allergen law during food law interventions at food businesses. It is not possible for Food Standards Scotland (FSS) to determine the number of breaches. However, 127 allergen incidents have been reported to FSS Incidents team since 1st April 2019. Since 1st April 2019, FSS has issued 455 allergy alerts (26 were drafted and issued by FSS), most of these alerts were drafted and issued by Food Standards Agency but were mirrored by FSS as there was distribution of implicated products to Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-34214

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what contingency plans Food Standards Scotland has in place to address food supply chain disruptions.

Question reference: S6W-34803

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the NatureScot licensing review will report, and by what date a decision will be announced regarding the agency charging for its licensing services.

Question reference: S6W-34406

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the most common types of transport projects funded through the Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) have been since 2016, and how these projects align with its transport and sustainability goals.

The most common type of schemes funded under Freight Facilities Grant since 2016 has been for the creation and expansion of rail terminals.

Heavy goods vehicles are a major contributor to emissions within the Scottish economy. Emissions from rail are considerably lower. Scottish Government policy to encourage the shift of freight from road to rail and other, more sustainable forms of transport aligns with the priority to “take climate action” in the National Transport Strategy 2 and supports the legislative target for Scotland to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045.

The Scottish Government has set regulatory targets for rail freight growth. The target for the period 2024 to 2029 is 8.7% and, if achieved, is forecast to result in an additional 2,200 annual trains by 2029.

Question reference: S6W-34408

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs have been created or supported by projects funded through the Freight Facilities Grant (FFG), and what sectors have seen the most job growth as a result.

Question reference: S6W-34370

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates that it will deliver the Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan by 2035, and whether it will propose a ministerial statement on this issue.