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

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 636 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-29932

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 20 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the forestry sector regarding any potential future reduction in the maximum threshold for planting of a single species to below 65%.

Question reference: S6W-29814

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports from a General Medical Council survey that one in three doctors felt unable to cope with their workload, what assessment is being undertaken to identify the satisfaction rates of NHS staff in Scotland.

The NHSScotland iMatter Staff Experience Survey provides an annual assessment of staff experience. All NHSScotland staff and local authority staff from participating Health and Social Care Partnerships, are invited to respond.

All Boards receive local reports, which provide them with a measure of employee satisfaction, and they are expected to take appropriate actions based on their results. Assurance that results are being acted upon is sought via our annual Staff Governance Monitoring exercise.

Question reference: S6W-29815

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent doctors have been employed in each of the past five years.

Question reference: S6W-29812

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of crime is estimated to have gone undetected by the police between June 2023 and June 2024.

By its nature, it is difficult to estimate the volume of crime in Scotland which doesn’t come to the attention of the police. The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) asks victims of crime whether they reported the incident to the police (or any other authority). As a survey of adults living in private residences within Scotland, the SCJS findings do not include any crimes against children (those aged under 16), those living in communal establishments or businesses.

The SCJS results are typically reported for financial years ending in March with figures for 2023-24 due to be published in 2025. The latest figures available, for 2021-22, estimated that 29% of property and violent crimes combined were reported to the police (based on interviews over October 2021 to December 2022), this splits into 27% and 34% for property and violent crimes respectively.

From the 2023-24 survey sweep, the SCJS questionnaire was expanded to include measures of fraud and computer misuse victimisation, including estimates of those cases reported to the police. The first results from this new module will be published alongside the main report next year.

Finally, the survey also asks about experiences of sexual victimisation and partner abuse. The latest figures for 2018-20 estimated that the police came to know about the most recent (or only) incident for 22% and 16% of respondents who experienced serious sexual assault or partner abuse respectively since the age of 16.

We encourage victims to report all crimes to Police Scotland, who are committed to protecting our communities.

Question reference: S6W-29348

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many police road traffic officers were employed by Police Scotland in each of the past five calendar years.

The deployment of officers and staff is a matter for the Chief Constable, the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The Scottish Government has provided a record £36m towards road safety in this year’s Scottish Budget. This funding has supported councils to improve safety on local roads, campaigns to tackle the behaviours identified as causing most harm on our roads, and the continued development of learning resources for children and young people.

Question reference: S6W-29349

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 12 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers are expected to not have completed their safety training regarding the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 as of the end of August 2024.

Question reference: S6W-28904

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 2 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the further education sector in advance of any potential industrial action.

Question reference: S6O-03682

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported significant increase in shoplifting recorded in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-28807

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what review it has undertaken, or plans to undertake, of Scotland’s beauty industry, in light of reports that “Scots gangsters flog dangerous fillers and weight loss jabs ‘that could kill’ as they launder cash through beauty industry”.

The implications of the use of counterfeit and unlicensed beauty products is one of a number of issues under consideration as we consider further regulation of non-surgical cosmetic procedures.

Scottish Government officials met with Police Scotland and Environmental Health Officers on 12 January 2023 regarding concerns related to the suspected involvement of organised crime groups in the beauty/cosmetics sector.

The Scottish Government and its partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce are committed to working together to disrupt any serious organised crime and the harm it causes to individuals and communities.

Question reference: S6W-28905

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 19 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape.

Work continues apace on the Post-School Education and Skills Reform Programme, developed in light of the recommendations of James Withers’ Independent Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape and the Scottish Government’s own report on the Post-school education, research and skills - purpose and principles - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Following my initial update of March 2024 to the Education, Children and Young People Committee, I provided the latest update on progress in a letter to that Committee on 25 June 2024, available at Post School Reform 25 June 2024 (parliament.scot) . This letter includes an annex detailing our position and actions taken with regards to each of the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape.