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-24171

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 11 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints have been made to VisitScotland in each year since 2016, and how many of those complains were (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully resolved.

VisitScotland handles two types of complaints: Visitor complaints - complaints and feedback submitted by visitors about their holiday experience in Scotland; and Corporate complaints - complaints about VisitScotland’s actions or services, as per the Ombudsman’s definition.

The following data relates to visitor complaints regarding various issues, and are not categorised into successfully or unsuccessfully resolved. The number of complaints of this nature made to VisitScotland from 2016 to 2023 is as follows:

Calendar year	Complaints received
2016	564
2017	527
2018	498
2019	361
2020	96
2021	164
2022	241
2023	342

The following complaints are about VisitScotland and are not categorised into successfully or unsuccessfully resolved. All complaints have been responded to. When appropriate and in line with VisitScotland's complaints handling processes, on completion of an investigation-stage complaint response all complainants are directed to the SPSO. The number of corporate complaints made to VisitScotland from 2016 to 2023 is as follows:

Calendar year	Complaints received
2016	125
2017	134
2018	113
2019	42
2020	51
2021	52
2022	102
2023	83

Question reference: S6W-24159

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 11 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates that a new chief executive of Historic Environment Scotland will be announced.

Question reference: S6W-24173

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 11 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been made available for the (a) Access to Music Making and (b) Strengthening Youth Music Fund for (i) 2023-24 and (ii) 2024-25.

Question reference: S6W-24166

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 11 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to accelerate the reopening of historic sites managed by Historic Environment Scotland that are currently closed to the public.

Historic Environment Scotland’s inspection programme will conclude at the end of March 2024. Once completed, Historic Environment Scotland will have a clearer indication on extent of the challenge and the resources required to carry out conservation works. There is now full or partial access at 53 of the 70 sites that had access restricted due to High Level Masonry issues. I am pleased that Historic Environment Scotland continues to put the health and safety of individuals first, reopening sites when safe to do so and I will continue to engage regularly with Historic Environment Scotland on this matter.

Details of the inspection programme and site reopenings are published on the Historic Environment Scotland website.

Question reference: S6W-24175

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 11 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is the case that it now holds information on how many handheld music devices provided through Creative Scotland’s Youth Music Initiative are currently in use, and how much funding it has made available for the future use of these devices, and, if it is the case, whether it will provide this information.

Question reference: S6W-24284

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 10 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has offered to local authorities to help schools lower their food waste in line with its commitment to reduce food waste by one third by 2025.

Question reference: S6O-02952

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support businesses across the Highlands and Islands region.

Question reference: S6W-23643

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 20 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm the costs associated with the (a) production and (b) publication of the paper, Social security in an independent Scotland.

The external costs associated with the production and publication of the Building a New Scotland paper, ‘Social security in an independent Scotland’, are set out in the following table:

Costs
Task	VAT %	VAT	Net Price
Formatting and Online Publication	20	840.43	4,202.18
Summary Document	20	84.67	423.36
Summary Document – Easy Read Version	20	261.21	1,306.03
Summary Document – Language Translations	20	1,384.48	6,922.38
Summary Document – BSL Translation	20	357.50	1,787.50
Summary Document – Audio Translation	20	35.58	177.90
Printed Copies	0	0	2,487.46

Total		£2,963.87	£17,306.81

Total (including VAT)			£20,270.68

Papers in the Building a New Scotland prospectus series are available at the following link: www.gov.scot/newscotland .

Question reference: S6W-23549

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many fixed speed cameras are currently (a) operational and (b) not operational, broken down by local authority area.

Across Scotland, safety cameras are deployed through the Scottish Safety Camera Programme primarily at locations where they have the greatest potential to reduce injury collisions, and where there is evidence of both collisions and speeding.

National management of the Programme is shared between Transport Scotland and Police Scotland. Operational delivery of the Programme is the responsibility of Police Scotland and is managed through three regional Safety Camera Units, North, East and West. The following data is based on information submitted by Police Scotland to Transport Scotland.

	East Unit		North Unit		West Unit		National
	Operation-al	Non-operational	Operation-al	Non-operational	Operation-al	Non-operational	Operation-al	Non-operational
Fixed enforcement locations	55	11	5	9	58	13	118	33
Fixed enforcement camera equipment	18	0	5	2	22	8	45	10

The locations of all safety cameras deployed through the Scottish Safety Camera Programme can be viewed at: www.safetycameras.gov.scot/cameras/safety-camera-locations/ .

Question reference: S6W-23469

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 14 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many heat pump engineers it estimates there currently are in Scotland, and what support it will offer to the sector in order to train more engineers to (a) install and (b) maintain heat pumps.

The Renewables Installer Finder tool, funded by Scottish Government, provides information on Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certified companies who operate in Scotland and wish to list their information on the tool. The tool can be found at: Renewables Installer Finder (est.org.uk) According to the MCS, the certified companies typically have, on average, an estimated workforce of three installers. Since MCS certification is not a mandatory requirement for heat pump contractor companies, these figures will not capture all companies in Scotland.

The pace of the Heat in Buildings transition requires a substantial growth in supply chains, including heat pump installation and maintenance. Supporting Scotland’s current and future workforce to develop the skills needed for the net zero transition is a priority for this government. Our Heat in Buildings Supply Chains Delivery Plan sets out practical steps that we will take to support the growth of the green heat sector. We continue to work in partnership with the sector to ensure that the appropriate support and training provision are aligned at a local level with business needs and future local demands.

Training provision is available across both the public and private sector with scope to increase capacities to match increase in demand. In many cases, existing workers can be upskilled through relatively short training courses. For example, there are currently 4475 businesses listed on the Gas Safe Register in Scotland, with 8651 distinct engineers in Scotland qualified to work on domestic central heating. Many of these engineers will be capable of transitioning to heat pump installations through short training courses.

The consultation on a Heat in Buildings Bill will help to provide the certainty that industry has asked for to invest in skills. Ministers will host a supply chain round table as part of the consultation, to hear from the supply chain directly.