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-26556

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the compulsory microchipping of pet cats.

The Scottish Government’s Code of Practice for the Welfare of Cats recommends that all cat owners should consider neutering and microchipping their pets as the best way of being reunited with their rightful owners, should they be separated.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission’s (SAWC) Responsible Cat Ownership Working Group is currently considering responsible cat ownership including microchipping and we will carefully consider the SAWC’s report and its recommendations once published before taking further action.

Question reference: S6W-26632

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what vetting process is used when appointing delivery partners for Peatland ACTION.

All Peatland ACTION delivery partners are subject to relevant Scottish Contracts Legislation.

NatureScot managed Peatland ACTION funding on an annual basis until FY 2021-2022. In order to increase our restoration rates, the Scottish Government made the decision to directly fund selected delivery partners given their proven delivery of restoration work through the existing Peatland ACTION funding model.

This was intended to empower these delivery partners to meet the Scottish Government’s programme targets within their own systems of accountability and management, directing funding streams to the most efficient delivery channels to maximise restoration rates.

Question reference: S6W-26628

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 18 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the geographic coverage of police officers trained to handle dangerous dogs for the purposes of enforcing rules on XL Bully dogs.

As noted in my response to S6W-25097 on 16 February 2024, it is a matter for Police Scotland to consider the enforcement of the new safeguards in relation to XL Bully dogs and any operational issues that arise.

Every incident presented to Police Scotland is risk assessed. Incidents relating to dogs, including XL Bully dogs, follow the same process whereby the incident is assessed and then graded accordingly. This determines the response which includes working with partner agencies such as Dog Wardens and local vets where appropriate. In addition to working with partners, there are several tactical options at Police Scotland’s disposal dependent on the risk presented. This can involve the deployment of normal response officers, and/or specialist assets such as Dog Handlers, Operational Support Units, Specially Trained Officers (Taser) and Armed Response.

The Scottish Government is committed to ongoing engagement with Police Scotland, and other relevant stakeholders, in order to consider any issues, concerns, or barriers to effective implementation of the new safeguards in relation to XL Bully dogs.

The Scottish Government chairs a regular implementation forum with Police Scotland, local authorities and COSLA to collectively consider any operational/enforcement issues that arise.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Question reference: S6W-26626

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 18 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what options exist to expedite court cases involving XL Bully dogs, in order to avoid any long periods of kennelling.

The Scottish Government takes animal welfare very seriously and is committed to the highest possible welfare standards. There is however a balance to be struck between protecting animal welfare and protecting public safety.

The scheduling of court cases is an operational matter for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) who operate independently from the Scottish Government. It would therefore not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment or intervene on such matters.

Question reference: S6W-26627

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 18 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether a veterinary surgery is regarded as a public place for the purposes of the rules regarding XL Bully dogs, and, if so, what allowances have been made to allow muzzles to be removed for the purposes of examination by a vet.

Section 10 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 defines “public place” as any street, road or other place (whether or not enclosed) to which the public have, or are permitted to have access, whether for payment or otherwise and includes the common parts of a building containing two or more separate dwellings. Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (legislation.gov.uk) .

A veterinary waiting room is likely to be considered a public place for the purposes of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 as the public are permitted access. Under the conditions of the exemption, dogs must be on a lead and muzzle when in public.

A veterinary consultation room, where access is limited to veterinary staff from the practice and members of the dog’s household, is likely to be considered a private space for the purposes of the Dangerous Dogs Act. In this instance, if the dog is kept securely in the consultation room and the veterinary staff feel comfortable to do so, the muzzle may be removed.

There will be a need for business owners, including veterinary surgeries, to ensure they carefully consider the legal requirements that have been introduced in relation to XL Bully dogs.

In addition, under section 3 of the Dangerous dogs Act 1991, if any dog is dangerously out of control in any place, including all private property, the owner, or person for the time being in charge of the dog, is guilty of a summary offence.

Question reference: S6W-26446

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26073 by Lorna Slater on 21 March 2024, what proportion of the green jobs required in the construction sector identified in the report are estimated to be as a result of its policy initiatives.

Of the 2.5m jobs in Scotland, the research mapped nearly 40% of those as green jobs. Of those green jobs, 13% were classified as ‘new and emerging’ construction sector jobs, 12% were ‘enhanced skills and knowledge’ construction sector jobs, and 25% were ‘increased demand’ construction sector jobs. The research did not seek to define how many of these were as a result of policy initiatives nor does the Scottish Government hold that information.

The full report can be found here: https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/q2lhg1v5/green-jobs-in-scotland-report_final-4.pdf

Question reference: S6W-26445

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26073 by Lorna Slater on 21 March 2024, how much targeted funding it has provided to SMEs in the construction sector to provide retraining and upskilling for workers.

The Scottish Government invests significantly in skills development, including through a £2.4 billion investment in the post-school education and skills system. This includes £200 million for Skills Development Scotland to deliver against Scottish Government priorities, including our net zero ambitions.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on what proportion of this support is targeted to SMEs in the construction sector.

Question reference: S6O-03325

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting culture in the North East Scotland region.

Question reference: S6W-26512

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the research used as the basis for the reported comments of the Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work, during the March 2024 Scotonomics Festival of Economics, that Scotland will "potentially not even have the population capacity to deal with the amount of jobs" created by the energy transition away from fossil fuels.

The Scottish Government has not conducted any specific research on the question of whether Scotland’s population has the capacity to deal with the number of jobs created from the energy transition.

However, it is clear that Scotland is facing a set of long-term demographic challenges, including an ageing workforce, and perhaps the most stark projection is that as of 2033 Scotland’s overall population will begin to decline, and this is exacerbated by the impact of the UK's exit from the EU and subsequent loss of freedom of movement of EU members wishing to live, study and work in Scotland.

Scotland’s long-term demographic challenges will have impacts for sectors, particularly those that are expected to be fast growing, like net zero. Independent analysis commissioned by the Scottish Government and conducted by Ernst and Young (EY) suggests that with the right support there could be almost 80,000 jobs in the low carbon energy production sector and a net-positive impact for overall energy production jobs by 2050.

In our forthcoming Just Transition Plans, the Scottish Government will set out how we intend to support existing workers and new entrants to the workforce to take advantage of these opportunities and deliver a just transition to net zero by 2045.

Question reference: S6W-26214

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 16 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many electric school buses it has supported each local authority to purchase, in each of the past three years.

Local authorities receive funding via the local government block grant to enable them to meet their statutory obligations, including the provision of home to school transport. Local authorities are responsible for decisions about the purchase of vehicles. The Scottish Government’s guidance on home to school transport encourages local authorities to procure zero emission vehicles for use in home to school transport services. Local authorities and bus operators that provide home-to-school transport services were eligible to apply to our recent round of ScotZEB 2 funding. This programme provides funding to increase the number of zero emission vehicles and their supporting infrastructure by encouraging collaborative working within the bus sector.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on the number of electric school buses purchased by local authorities.