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: S6O-04040

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-30846

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 20 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what any underspend was on capital funding of flood protection schemes in each of the last five years.

The Scottish Government policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of capital funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on flood protection, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities. Individual local authorities hold information on spending in this area.

Question reference: S6O-04000

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with East Dunbartonshire Council regarding the condition of Milngavie Primary School.

Question reference: S6W-30939

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 7 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will instruct all public bodies for which it is responsible to use an Open Government Licence, in line with the Scottish Government's own use of OGL v3.0.

Open Government Licences (OGLs) are controlled and administered solely by the Kings Printer for Scotland. The license is freely available to public bodies, and we support public bodies to use OGL where appropriate. Bodies such as the Care Inspectorate, Nature Scot, Food Standards Scotland and the National Records of Scotland are already using OGLs. It should be noted it is a matter for anyone who wants to use material under the OGL to satisfy themselves that the terms of that licence are suitable to cover any intended use.

Question reference: S6W-30626

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how and (b) when it plans to deliver its commitment to allow local authorities to increase council tax rates on second and holiday homes, beyond the current cap of 200%.

The Scottish Government believes that local councils should decide how to achieve the right balance in the use of housing to meet local needs and to support thriving communities. We delivered secondary legislation to enable councils to apply a 100% Council Tax premium to second homes from 1 April 2024.

To enable increases beyond the 100% premium would require primary legislation. We are continuing to explore and consider this change, in partnership with COSLA, as part of the Joint Working Group on Sources of Local Government Funding and Council Tax Reform.

Question reference: S6W-30836

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the recommendation by the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission "that the use of e-collars for the training of animals in Scotland should be prohibited", as set out in its paper, Report on the use of handheld remote-controlled training devices (e-collars) in dog training.

The Scottish Government welcomed the 2023 Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) report on handheld remote-controlled training devices that use static pulse as the stimulus. We are currently awaiting a further report from SAWC on a wider range of aversive dog training tools, including other types of electronic training collars. We will consider all their findings carefully as part of our ongoing commitment to improve and enhance animal welfare.

Question reference: S6W-30837

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-17386, S6W-17387 and S6W-17875 by Mairi Gougeon on 5 May, 9 May and 24 May 2023, by what date it will publish its response to the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission paper, Report on the use of handheld remote-controlled training devices (e-collars) in dog training.

Question reference: S6W-30465

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how the secondary headteacher who will be seconded to the SQA for the purpose of taking forward its response to the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment will be selected.

The specification for the seconded headteacher position is being developed by the Scottish Government and the SQA in consultation with key stakeholders. Recruitment to the role will be undertaken by the SQA with the selection process involving the Scottish Government.

The seconded headteacher will be pivotal in delivering improvements to the relationship between the national qualifications body and the school sector and enabling the successful implementation of qualifications and assessment reform. More information on the role and the selection process will be available soon.

Question reference: S6W-30501

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 29 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many passenger stations on the rail network in Scotland have gated access or ticket barriers.

Question reference: S6W-30301

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government with whom it has met to discuss a potential power of general competence for local government, and on how many occasions.

As part of discussions around the development of a fiscal framework, and in direct response to specific requests to explore a general power of competence, both officials and Ministers have held numerous meetings with COSLA, SOLACE and Local Government representatives to clarify what additional powers Local Government would wish to use and to better understand the restrictions of the wide latitude of existing legislative provisions, which include a power for local authorities ‘to do anything to advance well-being’ in their local area. Regular discussions are ongoing, with the most recent meeting held on 14 October, and further meetings planned to develop robust proposals for such a power to ensure that any legislative amendments will be effective in delivering the greater freedoms local authorities wish to have while providing assurance over potential increased financial risk.