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-34184

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what guidelines it has regarding the provision of media training to (a) ministers and (b) civil servants, including how costs are approved and monitored.

On appointment, all Ministers are offered media training options as part of their induction. Civil servants who may carry out media interviews in the course of their duties can request media training through the Scottish Government’s Communications Division. Courses are provided by Communications Division staff at no additional cost. Executive Agencies are responsible for their own training provision and information is not held centrally.

Question reference: S6W-34183

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what most recent assessment it has made of the value for money of media training provided to (a) ministers and (b) civil servants.

Media training offers Ministers and civil servants skills to represent the Scottish Government professionally and effectively in media appearances. Since 2016, all media training for Ministers or civil servants has been provided by Scottish Government Communications Division staff at no additional cost. Executive Agencies are responsible for their own training provision and information is not held centrally.

Question reference: S6W-34026

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the national flags that it owns have (a) gone missing and (b) been wilfully damaged in each of the last 15 years.

Question reference: S6W-34181

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what providers have been contracted to deliver media training for (a) ministers and (b) civil servants since 2018, and how much has been paid to each provider.

Question reference: S6W-34025

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many flagpoles it has, broken down by height, and what the maintenance costs have been in each of the last 15 years.

Question reference: S6W-34024

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which national flags it has purchased in each of the last 10 years.

A breakdown of flags purchased since 2017 is shown in the table below. The Scottish Government does not hold information on flag purchases prior to 2017.

Year of Purchase	National Flag
2017	Scotland
2018	Scotland
2019	Scotland
2019	United Kingdom Iceland
2020	Scotland United Kingdom
2021	Scotland United Kingdom
2022	Scotland Ukraine
2023	Scotland Denmark Ireland France Germany Iceland Italy Netherlands Norway Poland Spain Sweden Ukraine
2024	Ukraine

Question reference: S6W-34037

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-33011 by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025, what oversight or guidance it provides to railway station owners and operators to ensure the safety of passengers and staff, and how it monitors the effectiveness of these measures.

Question reference: S6W-34028

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures value for money regarding hospitality provision for visitors to its buildings.

As part of wider catering provision in Scottish Government buildings, a catering contract is in-place to ensure value for money for taxpayers. In-line with Scottish Government spending controls, visitor hospitality is only provided in limited circumstances.

Robust contract management arrangements are in place and this includes an annual review of tariffs and costs which are scrutinised by an independent catering specialist to ensure costs are in-line with industry standards and the Consumer Price Index.

Question reference: S6W-34182

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average cost of media training sessions for (a) ministers and (b) civil servants has been in each year since 2018.

Question reference: S6W-34138

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of trends in road traffic offences on each trunk road, with a particular focus on the A90 and its section north of Dundee.

Data on recorded road traffic offences is contained in the annual Scottish Government "Recorded Crime in Scotland" publication. Information on road traffic offences in the 2023-24 publication is at:

Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2023-24 - gov.scot

This publication includes data for 2023-24 as well as data relating to the last ten years. Data is provided at Scotland level as well as being broken down by local authority area. No information is provided broken down by trunk road.