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: S6F-02825

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 February 2024

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on whether successive changes to national taxation policy in Scottish Budgets will support the redistribution of wealth and help sustain vital public services.

Question reference: S6O-03042

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the provision available for children, and those who teach or look after them, who were babies or toddlers during the COVID-19 pandemic and missed out on important socialisation opportunities.

Providing high quality early learning and childcare is critical to supporting children to recover from the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, including by supporting them to participate in much needed socialisation and play-based activities.

Scotland is the only part of the UK to offer 1,140 hours a year of funded ELC to all three and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds regardless of their parents’ working status - putting children first. We have put quality at the heart of delivery of the expansion of funded early learning and childcare. Latest Care Inspectorate data show that the quality of funded early learning and childcare services remains very high, with over 90% of funded providers found to be good or better in all quality key questions.

We continue to support children’s recovery through our investment in universal national programmes like Bookbug and Play Talk Read which provide books, activity packs for the home and free drop-in sessions across the country to support children’s language, learning and social skills through the provision of play, talking and singing. I also think it is important to highlight that many parents lost out on socialising with their children outwith the home and am proud that through approaches such as Stay and Play, there are opportunities for parents to do so, which will also greatly benefit children. We wish to explore models like this through our childcare expansion, including the Early Adopter Communities and expansion of funded childcare to more two-year-olds.

Question reference: S6O-03015

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its response to the recent Families Outside report, Staying Connected: Care-experienced children and young people with a sibling in prison or secure care.

Question reference: S6W-23739

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the reported decision by S-Mart in Forfar to close due to rising energy costs, in light of its aim to help social enterprise initiatives that support Scotland’s wellbeing economy.

We recognise the strain the UK cost crisis is placing on social enterprises. S-Mart have already made contact with Community Enterprise who co-ordinate a crisis recovery service for social enterprises, designed to help organisations get the right support quickly.

The Scottish Government understands the important role that Social Enterprises have to play in delivering our ambition for a Wellbeing Economy, helping to build a greener, fairer and more equal society.

To support the growth of the social enterprise ecosystem in Scotland we launched our Social Enterprise Strategy in 2016. This sets out a wide-ranging, ambitious and long-term programme to develop the potential of Scotland's social enterprise sector.

Question reference: S6W-23456

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 21 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the application for a new gas-fired power plant at Peterhead has been called in by the Scottish Ministers.

Question reference: S6W-23457

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its potential impact on the delivery of emergency services, transport and health services in Scotland, what its position is on whether the UK Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 undermines (a) trade unions and (b) the fair work principle of effective worker voice, and whether it plans to cooperate with this legislation.

The Scottish Government remains strongly opposed to the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 and any associated secondary legislation which affects devolved services. This legislation seeks to undermine legitimate trade union activity and does not respect the Scottish Government’s Fair Work principles. We should be working with trade unions to reach fair and reasonable settlements respecting the legitimate interest of workers, not seeking to curb their right to strike.

Under the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act it is a matter for individual employers in the affected sectors to decide whether to issue work notices to trade unions specifying the workforce required to meet minimum service levels for a particular strike period. We have no intention of directing any employers within their control to issue work notices and will do all we can to oppose this appalling piece of anti-worker and anti-trade union legislation, which will undermine not enhance industrial relations.

Question reference: S6W-23948

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Emma Roddick on 15 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its consultation on ending conversion practices.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing legislation on ending conversion practices in Scotland. In developing our proposals for legislative change we have carefully considered a wide range of evidence and expert advice. This includes the report of the Scottish Parliament’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee, and the report and recommendations of the independent Expert Advisory Group established by the Scottish Government.

The consultation setting out our proposals for legislative change will be published on 9 January 2024. While the consultation document is ready for publication this year prior to recess, this timescale responds to an ask from a range of stakeholders to avoid publishing the consultation during a holiday period where those with an interest in the proposals work at a lower capacity. A January publication also maximises the opportunity for responses during the twelve-week consultation period. Critically, it also ensures that there is sufficient support available for victims and survivors of conversion practices who may be impacted by the public discussion. To facilitate this we are providing funding to support the delivery of a helpline service for survivors in Scotland.

Our public consultation will contain clear and detailed information on our proposals for legislative change in order to obtain views from stakeholders and the broader public.

Question reference: S6O-02871

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 December 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any impact on communities, including in the north east, of conditionality in public sector procurement.

Question reference: S6O-02693

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the Scottish Mental Health Law Review on the legal status of autistic people in relation to treatment and involuntary detention.

Question reference: S6W-22137

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 30 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of the reported loss of food crops in the North East Scotland region as a result of recent flooding.

The rainfall we have seen across Scotland in October has been extreme, affecting many communities and businesses. The Scottish Government has been in close contact with the agricultural sector through our Area Offices and networks to determine the extent to which producers have been affected and what the implications of that are, including for food crops in the North East region.

Following the severe rainfall of 6 th to 8 th October I met with NFUS, East of Scotland Growers and Kettle Produce on 13th October to hear about the impacts on fruit and vegetable producers at that stage, which were principally in the Perthshire area, with losses reported to crops such as carrots, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, swede and sprouts. I then visited Keithick Farms near Coupar Angus to see and discuss the impacts of the flooding with a number of affected farm businesses.

From 19th to 21st October there were further impacts on crops from Storm Babet, which as well as worsening the situation in some of the areas affected earlier in the month, has also led to some further flooding of crops in Angus and Aberdeenshire, including potatoes.

It will take time for the extent of the impacts of the October flooding on food crops to become fully apparent, as the condition of crops still in the ground becomes clearer on fuller assessment and harvesting. The Scottish Government remains in close contact with farming organisations and producers to understand those impacts and discuss what actions can be taken to mitigate them. In the meantime we would encourage retailers to ensure that they are sympathetic to any producers who may have been negatively impacted by the flooding.