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 118 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-22531

Asked by: Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 13 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, as part of its post-implementation review into short-term let licensing, whether it plans to undertake any stakeholder engagement and consultation ahead of the review, and what the nature of any stakeholder involvement in the review will be.

I wrote to the Local Government Housing and Planning Committee on 27 October 2023 to set out the scope of the implementation update on short-term let licensing. In this letter I have committed to provide an update to Parliament in early 2024. A copy of this letter is available on the Scottish Parliament website at:

https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/local-gov/correspondence/2023/shorttermlets27oct.pdf

Question reference: S6W-22532

Asked by: Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 13 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will commence its post-implementation review into short-term let licensing; what the scope, remit and nature of this work is; what the timeline is for the completion of the review, and when it plans to report to (a) ministers and (b) the Parliament on its findings.

Question reference: S6O-02727

Asked by: Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its commitment to develop a model for Scotland to challenge men’s demand for prostitution.

Question reference: S6W-22393

Asked by: Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 October 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Neil Gray on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the First Minister’s Investor Panel will report, and whether it has made any comments or recommendations regarding the Scottish Government’s proposal to issue a bond.

We expect the Panel to report its full findings and recommendations by the end of November. The Panel provided its first stage work to the Scottish Government in September. This covers a wide range of findings and recommendations relating to how Scotland can attract mobile capital to support the just transition to net zero. It includes a recommendation that: “Although it will involve additional costs, Scotland’s profile could be significantly raised in the international capital markets by using existing devolved powers to issue debt. This will provide a motivation for regular engagement by investors and an opportunity to market Scotland’s investment story. It would also allow the development of relationships with providers of debt, a track record and credit rating.”

Question reference: S6O-02570

Asked by: Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it is progressing its integrated transport plan for Fort William to reduce congestion and increase resilience and reliability on the trunk road network.

Question reference: S6W-21117

Asked by: Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 15 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is exploring the possibility of providing compensation to any land managers left with no other viable methods for managing predation as a result of the proposal to ban snares and cable restraints.

We are not, at present, exploring the possibility of providing compensation to land managers in connection with the proposed ban on snares. We are still consulting on our proposals, but at this stage we are of the view that there are strong wildlife welfare reasons for bringing forward a ban. We also have not yet seen evidence of situations where no other form of essential predator or pest control is available.

Question reference: S6W-21118

Asked by: Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 15 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its proposals to ban snares and cable restraints, what its position is on how land managers can manage predation pressure by foxes in the event that the use of snares and cable restraints is the only viable method of doing so.

We understand that in some cases the use of snares may be considered by land managers to be the most cost-effective method of controlling foxes. However we take the view that that animal welfare considerations should take precedence over cost considerations in this instance. We have not seen any evidence so far of any situations where no other form of predator control other than snaring is available to land managers.

Question reference: S6W-21116

Asked by: Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 15 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what impact assessment it has undertaken regarding its plan to ban the use of snares and cable restraints.

A formal business impact assessment is not a requirement for measures introduced during the passage of a Bill through Parliament.

We invited the Rural and Environmental Land Management Group to submit a report on the use of snares by Scottish land management businesses. We considered this report alongside a report from the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission. We concluded that other, more humane, methods of predator control such as shooting and trapping are available to land managers in most circumstances and that a ban on the use of snares would have a significant benefit for wildlife welfare with only a minor impact on some rural businesses.

Question reference: S6O-02540

Asked by: Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with Highland Council to improve the school estate in the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency.

Question reference: S6W-18950

Asked by: Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 20 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, with a view to increasing the prominence of wildfire risk across all relevant sections.

NatureScot is charged with keeping the Access Code under constant review and is working with the National Access Forum to address access issues that do arise though providing new guidance, resources and advice.

The Access Code succeeds in fulfilling its statutory purpose of setting out the rights and responsibilities of land managers and those exercising access rights. The Access Code states for those exercising access rights, “Wherever possible, use a stove rather than light an open fire. If you do wish to light an open fire, keep it small, under control and supervised – fires that get out of control can cause major damage, for which you might be liable. Never light an open fire during prolonged dry periods or in areas such as forests, woods, farmland, or on peaty ground or near to buildings or in cultural heritage sites where damage can be easily caused. Heed all advice at times of high risk. Remove all traces of an open fire before you leave.”

It states for land managers, “At times of drought, work with your local authority (fire services) to inform people of the high risks involved.”

We are content that addressing challenges such as wildfires does not require modification of the Access Code, but better adherence to the Access Code including education and enforcement where necessary.

This spring has seen NatureScot’s strongest Access Code social media campaign to date, with 1.7 million social media impressions, of which 35,000 were specifically on fire messaging during the last four weeks. There have also been 128,000 plays of wild camping guidance videos.