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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6F-03565

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-03564

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-03591

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2024

To ask the First Minister for what reason at least 69,000 patients reportedly waited more than an hour to be triaged in A&E departments in the first half of this year.

Question reference: S6F-03566

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-31172

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 25 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in the event that it recommends a change to the dual role of the Lord Advocate, what process it will follow within its statutory power to give effect to the report by the former chief executive of the Scottish Law Commission regarding the offices of the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General, and within what timescale.

The baseline report is aimed at developing the understanding of the roles and functions of the Law Officers with a view to consulting on their role. The Law Officers’ role is secured by the Scotland Act 1998. What any changes to that role would require by way of an Act of the UK or Scottish parliament would depend on any changes proposed. As we have said, the Scottish Government will engage further with the UK Government when the research has concluded.

Question reference: S6W-31157

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to address any barriers that prevent women from accessing support and rehabilitation services for drug misuse.

As residential rehabilitation is a cross-cutting intervention for both alcohol and drug use, the answer provided to one of the member’s proceeding questions (ref. S6W-31156 on 21 November 2024), specific to alcohol use is also applicable to this question about drug use.

The Scottish Government has been working with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships to aid the development of clear pathways into through and out of residential rehabilitation, and has commissioned the establishment of residential rehabilitation pathway development clusters by Healthcare Improvement Scotland which has resulted in 29/30 ADPs publishing their pathway. This will facilitate an increase in publicly funded placements across the country, and support utilisation of new and renovated facilities.

We also announced the completion of a national online service directory in August which provides a nationwide list of residential rehabilitation providers for the first time, empowering individuals and their loved ones to learn about and access quality residential rehabilitation and identify the best service to support them.

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-31097

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 25 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will emulate the UK Parliament's annual Constituency Garden of Remembrance in the Scottish Parliament's garden from 2025.

Question reference: S6W-31187

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 25 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many hectares of land there have been that can be classed as land capable of supporting (a) arable agriculture, (b) mixed agriculture, (c) improved grassland and (d) rough grazing, in each year since 2019, also broken down by local authority area.

The Scottish Government does not collate information regarding land use capability in this manner. Information on Scotland’s land capability is available at a National Scale through the Land Capability for Agriculture map and can be accessed here: National scale land capability for agriculture | Scotland's soils (environment.gov.scot).

Please note that the land capability for agriculture assessment was carried out in 1981 using data collected between 1978 and 1981 and is not broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-31185

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 25 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the design capacity is of HMP Barlinnie; how many prisoners it currently holds, and how many cells typically accommodate more than one inmate.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

HMP Barlinnie has a total of 966 cells and a design capacity of 996. As of 19 November, the establishment held 1366 prisoners.

SPS are unable to quantify the number of cells that typically accommodate more than one person in our care, due to the many variables that accompany our complex population, however as of the aforementioned date, the establishment had a single cell occupancy rate of 33%.

Question reference: S6W-31189

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 25 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many hectares of land capable of supporting mixed agriculture has been used for (a) housing developments, (b) industrial developments and (c) renewable projects, in each year since 2019, also broken down by local authority area.