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-24371

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 January 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of independence on Scotland’s economy.

The Scottish Government continues to deliver on its commitment to give people the information they need to make an informed choice about their future, and I’m pleased to confirm that today the First Minister is launching a series of speeches on the opportunities independence would bring to Scotland’s economy.

The speeches will set out the Scottish Government's vision for a stronger and more productive economy that could be delivered with independence, further developing the economic strand of the Building a New Scotland (BaNS) prospectus.

The speech also sets out three key measures for a successful industrial policy for an independent Scotland:

Joining the EU as an independent country;
Establishing a dynamic government Ministry for Industrial Policy and consensus building institutions to drive the strategy;
Targeted capital spending investment in key areas of comparative advantage, a proposal for a Building a New Scotland Fund already set out in the third BaNS paper: A Stronger Economy with Independence .

Ministers will deliver further speeches on the opportunities independence would bring to Scotland’s economy in the coming months. The speech text “Building a New Scotland: Industrial Strategy in an Independent Scotland” is available to view on the Scottish Government website from today at www.gov.scot/newscotland .

Question reference: S6O-02849

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has carried out regarding any impact of UK immigration policies on universities in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-02773

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress towards addressing the reported concerns raised by local residents about HMP Stirling.

Question reference: S6W-22213

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many baby boxes have been issued in the NHS Forth Valley area to date.

Question reference: S6O-02742

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of UK Government migration policy on Scotland’s economy and workforce.

Question reference: S6W-22215

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in the (a) Stirling and (b) Clackmannanshire Council area have received the Scottish Child Payment since its introduction to date.

As of 30 June 2023, (a) 2,345 parents or carers in the Stirling local authority area, and (b) 2,160 parents or carers in the Clackmannanshire local authority area had received at least one Scottish Child Payment since its introduction on 14 February 2021.

These figures are based on secondary analysis of the most recently published statistics on Scottish Child Payment published by Social Security Scotland. Whilst these include information on the number of children currently benefitting from Scottish Child Payment by local authority area, we do not currently produce a breakdown of the total number of parents or carers who have received payment.

The latest Scottish Child Payment Official statistics publication can be found at:

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications .

The next release of Scottish Child Payment statistics which will cover the period to the end of September 2023, is due to be published on 28 November 2023.

Question reference: S6W-22214

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in the (a) Clackmannanshire and (b) Stirling Council area have received the Winter Heating Payment since its introduction to date.

The first release of Official Statistics on Winter Heating Payment was published on 6 June 2023. It provides information on Winter Heating Payment, including the number of payments issued by local authority, from launch up to 30 April 2023. The publication shows that there were 4,110 payments issued to clients in the Clackmannanshire local authority and 5,030 payments issued to clients in the Stirling local authority.

The Official Statistics for Winter Heating Payment can be found at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/winter-heating-payment-statistics-winter-2022-2023 .

Question reference: S6W-22216

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 3 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-18694 by Tom Arthur on 14 June 2023, whether it can provide the equivalent figures for 2023, and, if not, when it expects the figures to be published.

Question reference: S6O-02665

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last received an update from the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland on any complaints regarding local bus services.

Question reference: S6O-02631

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress of the action plan put in place by the Scottish Prison Service to address reported concerns raised by local residents about HMP Stirling.