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 1661 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S5T-02183

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has not yet published guidance on allowing recycling centres to reopen.

Question reference: S5W-28830

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 15 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-28294 by Michael Matheson on 30 April 2020, how many vehicle trips it estimates have been made on each day since 9 March 2020, broken down by the percentage of vehicles making these trips that it estimates travelled above the speed limit on (a) roads managed by Transport Scotland and (b) other roads.

As I noted in my answer to S5W-28294, Transport Scotland maintains a number of automatic traffic count sites across the motorway and trunk road network that are able to record vehicle speeds. The following table presents the answer to part (a) the total recorded number of vehicles that passed this group of sites from 9 March 2020 up to 07 May 2020. In addition, the table also reports the number of vehicles that were recorded as travelling over the speed limit and as a proportion of the total vehicles.

With regard to part (b) of the question, the Scottish Government does not hold this information. The collection and collation of speed data on other roads in Scotland is the responsibility of the respective 32 local authorities. Any specific requests for such data should therefore be directed to the relevant local authority.

I would further note that the additional data presented in this response continues to show that since the COVID-19 lockdown was announced on the 23 March, the proportion of vehicles recorded over the speed limit has risen, while the actual number of vehicles observed speeding has fallen by approximately 50% compared with a typical weekday or weekend prior to COVID-19 restrictions being introduced.

Table: Response to part (a) Vehicles over the Speed Limit on roads managed by Transport Scotland

Date	Total recorded vehicles (at sites where data was available)	Number of vehicle movements over the speed limit	Proportion of vehicle movements over the speed limit
09-03-2020	1,528,929	300,470	19.7%
10-03-2020	1,547,452	312,407	20.2%
11-03-2020	1,559,566	314,360	20.2%
12-03-2020	1,564,448	299,124	19.1%
13-03-2020	1,606,097	384,164	23.9%
14-03-2020	1,166,771	336,332	28.8%
15-03-2020	1,042,651	297,450	28.5%
16-03-2020	1,431,085	296,135	20.7%
17-03-2020	1,359,666	276,409	20.3%
18-03-2020	1,341,195	313,061	23.3%
19-03-2020	1,345,437	323,522	24.0%
20-03-2020	1,356,171	342,792	25.3%
21-03-2020	902,376	271,477	30.1%
22-03-2020	776,166	239,532	30.9%
23-03-2020	1,090,990	289,940	26.6%
24-03-2020	803,308	226,453	28.2%
25-03-2020	633,380	175,697	27.7%
26-03-2020	589,997	158,421	26.9%
27-03-2020	573,025	162,939	28.4%
28-03-2020	322,254	98,542	30.6%
29-03-2020	270,126	79,468	29.4%
30-03-2020	517,039	149,108	28.8%
31-03-2020	530,146	152,681	28.8%
01-04-2020	532,787	154,942	29.1%
02-04-2020	535,028	154,754	28.9%
03-04-2020	556,168	170,071	30.6%
04-04-2020	335,472	108,830	32.4%
05-04-2020	273,387	90,734	33.2%
06-04-2020	528,218	153,462	29.1%
07-04-2020	540,414	160,820	29.8%
08-04-2020	551,759	166,432	30.2%
09-04-2020	568,367	169,019	29.7%
10-04-2020	497,763	162,433	32.6%
11-04-2020	332,285	109,498	33.0%
12-04-2020	256,464	87,412	34.1%
13-04-2020	392,037	125,101	31.9%
14-04-2020	547,055	163,160	29.8%
15-04-2020	561,405	170,333	30.3%
16-04-2020	569,542	173,280	30.4%
17-04-2020	578,703	183,008	31.6%
18-04-2020	369,127	122,672	33.2%
19-04-2020	311,722	105,787	33.9%
20-04-2020	575,655	173,821	30.2%
21-04-2020	587,684	175,720	29.9%
22-04-2020	600,393	182,072	30.3%
23-04-2020	613,779	188,777	30.8%
24-04-2020	624,363	198,912	31.9%
25-04-2020	400,861	136,473	34.0%
26-04-2020	338,994	111,982	33.0%
27-04-2020	600,773	180,156	30.0%
28-04-2020	617,454	185,149	30.0%
29-04-2020	623,926	183,284	29.4%
30-04-2020	640,638	193,722	30.2%
01-05-2020	652,740	205,004	31.4%
02-05-2020	430,369	141,547	32.9%
03-05-2020	363,890	120,441	33.1%
04-05-2020	618,414	179,945	29.1%
05-05-2020	661,830	197,008	29.8%
06-05-2020	672,190	202,531	30.1%
07-05-2020	673,977	205,908	30.6%

Question reference: S5W-28829

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 15 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to change the law in relation to the wilful damage of animal traps.

Under existing legislation and common law a person interfering with a legally set snare or trap may be committing one of a number of possible offences.

The Independent Review of Grouse Moor Management report which was published in December recommended changes to legislation on the use of animal traps. The Scottish Government is currently considering all of the recommendations in the report and will publish a response in due course.

Question reference: S5W-28828

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 15 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Gamekeepers Association regarding creating offences and sanctions in relation to animal trap damage, broken down by (a) date and (b) location of discussion.

Question reference: S5W-28409

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 14 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason its process, the Wild Wrasse Harvesting: Consultation on Proposed new Mandatory Fishing Measures, does not allow respondents to register support for (a) spatial restrictions on the fishery, (b) alternative closed periods that take account of the breeding season, (c) different minimum landing sizes, (d) the compulsory use of monitoring systems on all vessels and (e) a requirement for better stock data before reopening the fishery.

The purpose of the consultation is to seek views about a specific proposal, whether the Scottish Government should introduce mandatory measures to control the harvesting of live wrasse for the salmon farming industry.

The main feature is mandatory compliance with the existing voluntary control measures through a permit system and licence conditions that make non-compliance an offence. The proposal also sets out new measures to improve data gathering and reporting and inshore vessel monitoring, including tracking and remote electronic monitoring where required.

The consultation form allows respondents to express their support or otherwise for the proposal and provides a box in which to make any comment about the consultation itself. Some respondents have already used the comment box to provide additional views on a range of issues including those raised in your question.

We do of course welcome any comments about the new measures and have set out quite clearly in the consultation web page that respondents with additional comments should email separately to the inshore mailbox. Any views received in this way are incorporated into the consultation system and will be considered with the other respondents when the consultation closes.

Question reference: S5W-28821

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-28306 by John Swinney on 29 April 2020, what percentage of the relevant school and early years population are attending critical provision during the COVID-19 outbreak, broken down by reason.

Question reference: S5W-28820

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 14 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-28306 by John Swinney on 29 April 2020, what percentage of the relevant school and early years population are vulnerable children, who can attend critical provision during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Question reference: S5W-28323

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 7 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the COVID-19 outbreak is having on all-cause mortality due to reduced numbers of people presenting at health services.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) publish weekly deaths statistics. Since 8 April, these statistics include deaths where COVID-19 (included suspected cases) was mentioned on the death certificate. The statistics published on 22nd April showed the following:

The NRS weekly report shows mortality for week 16 in 2020 (13-19 April) being much higher than the equivalent week across the last 5 five years (NRS compare this using a 5 year rolling average).

The overall number of deaths in week 16 of 2020 (13–19 April) was 1,911, which is much higher than in previous years, a difference of 844. The average number of (all) deaths registered in the corresponding week over the previous five years was 1,067.

Of these 844 excess deaths: Three quarters (75%, 637) were deaths where COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death; 10% (83) came from an increase in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease deaths; 5% (38) came from an increase in cancer deaths and the remaining deaths were a combination of other causes.

The issue of excess mortality is being investigated further by Public Health Scotland to understand what is behind the excess deaths not coded as COVID-19.

Question reference: S5W-28501

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 6 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the suspension of the plastic bag levy might have on charitable donations.

The Scottish Government has introduced a six-month exemption from the single use carrier bag charge solely for bags used for the collection and delivery of groceries and takeaway food. This is to help limit the spread of Covid-19 and ensure customers receive deliveries as quickly as possible.

I have written to trade bodies to ask their members to make voluntary donations where income from carrier bag charges is reduced as a result of this measure.

Question reference: S5W-28478

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 6 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of several local authorities suspending or delaying recycling collection, what support it will be providing to ensure that all local authorities can protect workers while maintaining recycling services, to prevent recyclable materials ending up in landfill.

The Scottish Government is in ongoing dialogue with COSLA and local authorities regarding plans for the reinstatement of waste and recycling services. It is absolutely right that the personal health and wellbeing of waste workers is safeguarded at all times. Councils have made a number of adjustments to the way services operate in order to safeguard the wellbeing of waste workers during this time.

The Scottish Government has developed guidance for essential workers, to complement UK wide waste industry guidance, on safe practice during the pandemic. This provides practical information on matters including physical distancing and the use of personal protective equipment.