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-36348

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the implementation of its 2017 guidance on religious observance.

The delivery of school education including the implementation of 2017 non-statutory guidance on religious observance (RO) is the responsibility of local authorities.

The Scottish Government's current proposals to amend the legislation on RO in schools propose to bring legislation into line with the current guidance regarding taking account of children and young people's views when a parent/carer is exercising their right to withdraw their child from RO.

Question reference: S6W-36146

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-34946 by Mairi Gougeon on 20 February 2025, whether it can now provide a breakdown of its Budget commitment to invest £5.11 million to restore rainforest.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34946 on 20 February 2025, budget allocation for Atlantic Rainforest restoration at the project/programme level is still to be finalised. Further details will be released in due course. 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: S6O-04517

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the breeding of disease resistant ash trees.

Question reference: S6O-04436

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to data from the most recent Scottish Landlord Register, which shows that the number of landlords has decreased by 2,650 in three years.

Question reference: S6W-34946

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 20 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of its Budget commitment to invest £5.11 million to restore rainforest.

Question reference: S6T-02350

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Scottish Water continues to pay bonuses to its executives, when public sector pay policy reportedly prohibits this.

Question reference: S6O-04284

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with the board of Ferguson Marine and what was discussed.

Question reference: S6W-33268

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 28 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting and resourcing local authorities to manage ash dieback effectively and to replace lost trees with appropriate species.

The Scottish Government supports local authorities to manage ash dieback and replace lost trees with appropriate species through Scottish Forestry working in partnership with The Tree Council. This collaboration produced an ash dieback toolkit, first published in 2022, to help local authorities to manage ash dieback effectively. This covers:

• Raising awareness of ash dieback

• Preparing an Ash Dieback Action Plan

• Taking action and responding to ash dieback

• Recovery and adaptation

Ongoing support for local authorities provides help to develop Ash Dieback Action Plans and facilitates joint working and sharing of experience and best practice across local authorities. Guidance is provided to help those with responsibility for ash trees in Scotland, including local authorities, to make informed management decisions. This includes identifying and monitoring affected ash trees and managing them accordingly, taking a risk-based approach considering tree condition and location. Guidance is also provided to assist with decisions about replacing lost ash trees. This covers both advice on encouraging natural regeneration of alternative native species where possible, and information on appropriate replacement tree species for ash in different habitat types in Scotland in cases where planting is necessary.

Question reference: S6W-33266

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 28 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce any risk from imported tree diseases and pests that threaten Scotland's native woodland and commercial forestry sectors.

The Scottish Government works together with the other devolved governments, Defra and the Forestry Commission as part of the UK Plant Health Service to reduce the risk from imported tree diseases and pests that threaten Scotland’s native woodland and commercial forests. As part of that service, the UK Plant Health Risk Group manage the UK Plant Health Risk Register and advise of new and emerging plant health threats with recommendations for actions.

Biosecurity measures to reduce risks from imported plant (including tree) pests and diseases have three main stages: Pre-border, at the border, and inland. Pre-border controls include phytosanitary regulations which can be used to ban commodities posing a high risk, for example imports of ash trees to GB are prohibited from countries where the damaging tree pest Emerald ash borer is known to be present. Plant health controls at the border include documentary checks and physical inspections, following a risk-based approach. Inland, monitoring and surveillance, including aerial surveillance, ground surveys and trapping networks, is conducted across forests and woodlands as a further measure to detect any potential incursions. A system of plant passports allows the internal movement within GB of regulated plants and plant products to be traced.

Question reference: S6O-04250

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is undertaking to reopen historic sites that are managed by Historic Environment Scotland over the coming months.