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 582 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S4W-27429

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 17 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on the levels of private investment in the private rented sector of the proposed system of local rent controls.

Question reference: S4W-27421

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2015
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 17 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of local rent controls on the housing supply.

Question reference: S4O-04530

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 August 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 September 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to use the additional welfare and employment support powers proposed in the Scotland Bill.

Question reference: S4W-26691

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 August 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether the First Minister or any other minister would meet the Dalai Lama in an official capacity if he visited Scotland again.

Question reference: S4W-26692

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2015
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 24 July 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the role of the Confucius Institute for Scotland and Confucius Classrooms in Scotland.

Confucius Institutes in Scotland, other than the Confucius Institute for Scotland’s Schools (CISS) at the University of Strathclyde, are independent and do not receive any funding from the Scottish Government. It is the decision of the university which hosts these independent institutes whether or not to review their role.

CISS is in receipt of Scottish Government funding to carry out their functions in supporting the teaching of Chinese language and culture across Scotland, including providing opportunities for young people and teachers to undergo intensive language learning in China. All of this work contributes to the implementation of the 1+2 languages policy and to the targets of the government’s China Plan.

The Scottish Government has no plans to review the role of CISS, however officials continue to discuss with them future options available. It remains important that local authorities and businesses also show their commitment to, and support of, Chinese language learning including the expansion of intensive language courses of tuition.

Question reference: S4O-04488

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of its proposed changes to registering teaching staff.

Question reference: S4W-25627

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it is offering to businesses seeking to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the (a) 2019 Rugby World Cup and (b) 2020 Olympic Games.

Building on the experience in preparing for and delivering the events during 2014, Scottish Enterprise will work with partners to raise Scottish business awareness of the 2019 Rugby World Cup and 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games and to support companies to develop their capacity and capabilities to secure contracts at these and other global sporting events.

Working with the main industry bodies and stakeholders, Scottish Enterprise will promote Scotland’s capability to deliver global sporting events, help to develop Scotland’s supply chain making it easier for companies to access overseas markets, and bring major overseas opportunities to the attention of Scottish companies.

Support to business will include:

Global sports workshops and seminars;

Identifying and applying for large business opportunities, via the High Value Opportunities programme; and

Engaging with global sports decision makers and potential partners.

Question reference: S4O-04430

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is satisfied with the performance of NHS24 in Grampian.

Question reference: S4W-25619

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-25214 by John Swinney on 2 April 2015, what plans it has to appoint further special advisers in the next 12 months.

Question reference: S4W-25616

Asked by: Alex Johnstone, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 2 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-25214 by John Swinney on 2 April 2015, whether it has since appointed further special advisers and, if so, at what salaries.