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-32632

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria are used to select communities for inclusion in the Flood Resilience Strategy pilot programmes.

Question reference: S6W-32605

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 14 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered alternative models of international representation to its international offices that could achieve similar outcomes at a lower cost.

Question reference: S6W-32599

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how any delays to the decarbonisation of the railway network will affect passenger fares over the next decade.

Question reference: S6W-32586

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what role private sector investment plays in funding (a) ScotRail and (b) Caledonian Sleeper services.

Question reference: S6W-32578

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of ScotRail’s operational costs are covered by (a) passenger fares and (b) subsidies.

Question reference: S6W-33115

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 14 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of cases handled by justices of the peace in each of the last five years resulted in convictions.

Question reference: S6W-32816

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 14 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its total Glasgow city centre office leasehold and freehold footprint has been in terms of (a) buildings occupied and (b) total square footage occupied in each of the last 10 years.

Details of Scottish Government's Glasgow city centre office accommodation, including the buildings occupied and the total area in square metres, over the last 10 years are as follows:

Year	Building	NIA (Sq m)
2014-15	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Highlander House	2,911.63
	Europa Building	3,000.54
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		13,260.89

2015-16	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Highlander House	2,911.63
	Europa Building	3,000.54
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		13,260.89

2016-17	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Highlander House	2,911.63
	Europa Building	3,000.54
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		13,260.89

2017-18	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		7,348.72

2018-19	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		7,348.72

2019-20	4 Atlantic Quay	5,580.00
	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		12,928.72

2020-21	4 Atlantic Quay	5,580.00
	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		12,928.72

2021-22	4 Atlantic Quay	5,580.00
	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		12,928.72

2022-23	4 Atlantic Quay	5,580.00
	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		12,928.72

2023-24	4 Atlantic Quay	5,580.00
	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
Total		12,803.72

2024-2025	5 Atlantic Quay	9,014.57
Total		9,014.57

Question reference: S6W-32637

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will integrate blue-green infrastructure initiatives into urban planning under the Flood Resilience Strategy.

The National Flood Resilience Strategy sets out our vision for working with partners to deliver shared outcomes for people and places and supporting a broader range of flood actions where evidence suggests they can provide a positive contribution to improving flood resilience.

This aligns with our National Planning Framework 4 whereby blue and green infrastructure are supported as an integral part of early design and development processes; designed to deliver multiple functions including climate mitigation, flood prevention and water management.

Scottish Government consulted on policy proposals regarding water, wastewater and drainage in early 2024, with respondents broadly agreeing with the proposals that Scotland’s drainage system should be a combination of grey and blue/green infrastructure, with significant support for blue/green infrastructure. Sustainable drainage systems (SUDS) are already required in new developments, aligned with NPF4, and along with retrofitting blue/green infrastructure into urban spaces, can help make a positive contribution to flood resilient places.

Question reference: S6W-32603

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to provide financial support to manufacturers to develop decarbonisation technologies for Scotland’s railways.

The Rail Cluster Builder is a specific example of Scottish Government supporting manufacturers to develop decarbonisation technologies. Funded by Scottish Enterprise, Transport Scotland and Skills Development Scotland, the Rail Cluster Builder Phase 2 is a three-year project building on the momentum of Phase 1, giving opportunities for Scottish SMEs to bring new ideas, new thinking and learning from other industries across Scotland into the railway sector and helping to create innovative, green solutions that will support our net zero targets.

A key element of Phase 2 is ensuring that businesses have access to support to address the skills related challenges faced by organisations in the rail sector. Skills Development Scotland provide support to companies to identify their skills needs and how to develop their existing workforce in order to build capacity, grasp opportunities and increase competitiveness.

Question reference: S6W-32616

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 14 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what comparative analyses of its international office spending relative to similar devolved administrations it has carried out, and on what dates.

There have been no comparative analyses undertaken of spending relative to similar devolved administrations.

However, the Scottish Government is in regular contact with the international networks of other devolved administrations to understand how they operate.

The Welsh Government has 21 international offices in 12 countries across Europe, North America, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region, which are responsible for trade and investment, government relations, tourism, culture and education.

The Northern Ireland Executive has diplomatic offices in Washington D.C, Brussels and Beijing. In addition, “Invest NI” has offices in locations across Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, India, the Middle East and Africa focussing on trade and investment.