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: S5W-21732

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2019
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 21 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide a progress update on the Northern Isles Ferry Services tender.

The Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the Northern Isles Ferry Services was issued to CalMac Ferries Ltd, Förde Reederei Seetouristik GmbH & Co. KG (FRS) and Serco NorthLink Ltd on 17 January. The ITT will be published on Transport Scotland’s website today.

Pentland Ferries has lodged a Petition for Judicial Review of a decision of the Scottish Ministers, published in the OJEU on 27th September 2018, to subsidise the provision of public services in relation to Northern Isles Ferry Services to or from harbours located at Aberdeen, Kirkwall, Lerwick, Scrabster and Stromness. In addition, Pentland Ferries have lodged a related complaint with the European Commission.

The Scottish Ministers will defend their position in relation to the continued provision of subsidy in support of these lifeline ferry services. The procurement process will continue as planned, pending the outcome of the Judicial Review and complaint to the European Commission.

Question reference: S5W-21336

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how complete the Scottish Land Register is.

Question reference: S5W-21699

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 February 2019
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fergus Ewing on 18 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on completing the devolution of forestry by bringing into force the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018.

A package of regulations was laid on 15 February which will bring into force the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018 on 1 April 2019. This package also creates a new regime for the regulation of forestry, which is based on the current regime to ensure continuity for the forestry sector, but is also modernised in line with the Act itself.

Alongside the recently published Scottish Forestry Strategy 2019-2029 https://scotland.forestry.gov.uk/supporting/strategy-policy-guidance/forestry-strategy , the new regulatory regime will help us to achieve our ambitions for forestry in Scotland and complete the devolution of forestry this year.

Question reference: S5W-21406

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 18 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on the use of mobile phones in school classrooms, and whether it has any plans for a complete ban on personal devices.

Given the prevalence of mobile phone ownership, and the wide ranging potential of mobile phones to support and enhance the learning experience, we have no plans to impose an outright ban at a national level. We urge schools and local authorities to think carefully about how they can best utilise mobile phones to enhance education. However, they are free to make their own decisions about the use of mobile phones in their schools, including imposing a ban if they so choose.

Question reference: S5W-21221

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 31 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans there are to extend the use of the railhead at Georgemas to commercial use in order to take more freight off roads and onto railways.

Question reference: S5O-02849

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 January 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it can support schools to ensure that their staff and teachers are trauma informed.

Question reference: S5F-03036

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 January 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 January 2019

To ask the First Minister what support the Scottish Government provides to mountain rescue services.

Question reference: S5O-02798

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the Far North Line Working Group's proposals.

The Far North Line Review Team has made significant progress since establishment in 2017, including identifying an improved timetable for the route, removal of temporary speed restrictions, identification of possible infrastructure enhancement options, linespeed increases, trials for an improved request stop process, development work to enhance token operated points and token transfers, and upgrades to level-crossings.

Benefits from these combined enhancements and interventions include improved passenger experience and safety, timetable resilience and journey time reductions. The Team will meet for the final time in February and the outputs will be taken forward by Transport Scotland and it's industry partners.

Question reference: S5W-21051

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 23 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Crown Office will publish its final letter of instruction to the Procurator Fiscal at Dingwall from January 1996 regarding tolls on the Skye bridge.

Question reference: S5W-21076

Asked by: Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fergus Ewing on 18 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to better understand the role that mobile abattoirs could play in the rural economy and constituencies such Caithness, Sutherland and Ross.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance local slaughter provisions can play in the red meat sector. As such on the 16 January we invited applications through our Contract Research Fund Project to bid for a research project that will look to assess the viability and sustainability options of mobile abattoirs in Scotland. The closing date for tenders is noon on 12 February 2019.

We envisage that the project will start in March and complete in the Autumn and will look to provide detailed analysis of all aspects that would be required to operate mobile abattoirs in Scotland. This will include reviewing business models in other countries, costs involved and the regulatory environment and will be used to determine their potential use in Scotland.