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: S5O-03758

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its no-deal Brexit planning.

Question reference: S5O-03683

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the negotiations between Stirling Council and the agents of the Park of Keir development.

Question reference: S5O-03593

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 September 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how the four-year delay to, and £2 billion cost increase of, the smart meter roll-out will impact on consumers in Scotland.

Question reference: S5O-03471

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 4 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the glass sector regarding its proposed deposit return scheme.

Scottish Government officials most recently met with representatives of the glass sector on 27 and 28 August to discuss our proposals for a Deposit Return Scheme. Those discussions followed a meeting I undertook with representatives of the sector on 26 June.

The Government will shortly publish the legislation required to implement DRS and we remain committed to engaging with the glass sector as part of the wider scrutiny of our plans in this area.

Question reference: S5W-24085

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 July 2019
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre, which is in the Clackmannanshire and Dunblane constituency, has delivered to support the Farmed Fish Health Framework.

Since its inception in 2014, the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre has made a major contribution to applied research and development into fish health and welfare. Today I issued a letter on behalf of the Farmed Fish Health Steering Group to the Convenors of the Rural Economy and Connectivity and Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform committees which outlines much of that detail. I do though wish to commend the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre, as they come towards the end of the first phase of five year funding, for making offers of £743,000 to support five new fish health projects directly aligned to the Farmed Fish Health Framework worth £2m. Those projects will contribute to delivering our 10 year plan, and I look forward to seeing the results of the applied research emerge over time.

Question reference: S5O-03365

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 June 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have used the Alloa-Stirling rail service since it opened in 2008.

Question reference: S5O-03344

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the progress being made with the Review of Intra-UK Allocation of Domestic Farm Funding that is being led by Lord Bew.

Question reference: S5O-03221

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of the impact of Brexit on the hospitality industry.

The impact of Brexit on Scotland’s hospitality industry could be extremely damaging, particularly in relation to the movement of people. EU nationals form a significant, and highly valued, part of our tourism sector’s workforce. It is established that 24000 of those employed in the Tourism sector are EU Nationals making up 13% of all those employed in the sector. The UK Government's potential approach to migration will affect the tourism and hospitality industry much more severely than some other industries and parts of the UK. Tourism has a reach across Scotland unlike any other sector, and is vital to many communities. Workers from the EU play a key role in maintaining and promoting everything Scotland has to offer to the world.

Question reference: S5O-03150

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 25 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the decision by the DWP to reject the recommendation of the Work and Pensions Committee to set the default rate for recovery of universal credit hardship payments at 5% of the Standard Allowance.

Earlier this week this chamber discussed the damaging impact that Universal Credit is having on people and the clear evidence that it is pushing people into hardship and poverty.

Refusing to consider lowering the repayment rate for hardship payments to a more affordable level is just another example of the DWP clearly failing the people who rely on this benefit.

We believe that that this is one of the many actions the DWP should take on UC to make this benefit fit for purpose. And again I will repeat my call that these flaws must be fixed before millions of people are migrated from their legacy benefits on to UC.

Question reference: S5W-22508

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 24 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how the inflation rate is calculated and whether there are any factors in Scotland that could result in a different level from that of the rest of the UK.

Consumer price inflation is the rate at which the prices of goods and services bought by households rise and fall; it is estimated using consumer price indices. As of 21 March 2017, the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) became the Office for National Statistics’ lead inflation index.

The UK CPIH is estimated by calculating a weighted average of monthly price indices for a basket of goods representing consumption by an average household. The basket of goods – and hence the weights used – are updated in January each year. Prices data are collected on a wide range of products and services at numerous sites across the UK. The series are chain-linked from month to month, and the comparison with the average price of the basket of goods one year earlier becomes the headline measure of inflation.

The CPIH data are not stratified by country or region of the UK, and hence regional inflation rates are not available as official statistics. The ONS has previously undertaken a feasibility study into producing CPIH inflation rates for the countries and regions of the UK. Further information is available from https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/methodologies/
feasibilitystudyintoproducingcpihconsistentinflationratesforukregions .