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-04505

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jackson Carlaw on 2 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) how many staff employed by the SPCB have been (a) advised by their office or group head to declare a potential conflict of interest and (b) in a circumstance that might reasonably give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest, due to a financial, political or professional reason, in (i) Session 5 and (ii) Session 6 to date, broken down by the committee or team that the staff were supporting.

The process for declaring an interest is outlined in the SPCB staff conduct rules.

The purpose of the Code of Conduct is to set out standards of behaviour required of SPCB staff. The Code of Conduct is a tool for ensuring that SPCB staff meet their contractual obligations and for enabling managers to manage staff conduct.

All staff are required under the Code of Conduct to inform their Head of Office/Group if they have a private interest which may impact on the conduct of their duties. The responsibility rests with the individual member of staff who must declare all interests of a personal, financial, political or professional nature which may compromise or be reasonably perceived to compromise that person’s ability to perform their role in an impartial or objective manner.

The Code of Conduct requires managers and staff to take steps to mitigate for the risk of a potential conflict of interest so that it, or the perception of a conflict, can be removed. Management action can include requiring the member of staff to withdraw from the work where the conflict has or may arise, referring decisions to others or requiring the member of staff to withdraw from the activity giving rise to the actual, potential or perceived conflict.

The People and Culture Office maintains a central record of interests. This is a live register which is updated regularly. This means that new interests can be added as and when they arise, and interests can be removed as they cease to be relevant. For example, when a member of staff ceases to carry out an activity which gave rise to a potential conflict of interest the activity is removed from the register.

The SPCB is aware that there is an increased level of scrutiny of standards in public life and that transparency is important to give re-assurance. The current arrangements, including the central register of interests, have been in place since 2010. The SPCB is currently reviewing the Code of Conduct and has asked officials to provide advice on this matter.

The SPCB will publish the outcome of its review in line with the SPCB’s Publication Scheme and will notify the Member when it has done so.

Question reference: S6W-04531

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 2 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the UK Government in relation to the dualling of the A1.

The section of the A1 between Edinburgh and the border with England is a trunk road and therefore responsibility for investment decisions on the route rests with Scottish Ministers. There has been no recent meaningful engagement with the UK Government on their plans for the A1 in England. Furthermore, I would like to refer the member to the previously answered question S6W-02271 on 14 September 2021 on the Scottish Government’s plans for dualling and improving the A1. 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: S6W-04532

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 2 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it will commit to expanding agritourism.

Question reference: S6W-04510

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 2 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the Women in Agriculture Practical Training Fund there have been, and of those how many (a) were approved, (b) were not approved and (c) following appeal, were (i) approved and (ii) not approved.

In total 585 applications for the Women in Agriculture Practical Training Fund were received. Of this:

- 460 applications were approved.

- Where an application was not approved (125 applications), there was always a reason provided, specific to the application and if sought clarification and discussion on this reasoning was provided.

- There have been no appeals. A number of applications were asked to provide additional information, and where provided the application was reviewed in light of the additional information.

Question reference: S6W-04512

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 2 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many successful applications to the Young Farmers Start-Up Grant Scheme there were from women in each year for which the scheme was open for applications.

Question reference: S6W-04453

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 1 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to replace vessels on CalMac services, in light of reports that the average age of each is 23.6 years old, compared with 13 years old in 1974.

The Scottish Government has announced £580 million investment in vessels and harbours over the next five years, in addition to the completion of vessels 801 and 802. These plans are set out in the Scottish Government’s Infrastructure Investment Plan published 4 February 2021 (link for convenience- Scottish Government's Infrastructure Investment Plan 2021-2025-26 ) which includes replacement vessel projects for:

Islay, 2 vessel procurement announced 14 June 2021
Gourock-Dunoon-Kilcreggan passenger services
Up to 7 small vessels for the Clyde & Hebrides network
Craignure-Oban
Mallaig-Lochboisdale
Northern Isles freight services

In addition to these projects the Scottish Government has recently funded the purchase by Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd of the MV Utne to bring additional resilience and capacity to the fleet and provide a year round island-based service to the Isle of Mull from Oban.

Question reference: S6W-04454

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 1 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the age is of each CalMac ferry.

Question reference: S6W-04167

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 1 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many rejected applications to the Scottish Forestry Grant Scheme have been appealed, and of those how many (a) were upheld following appeal and (b) are awaiting a decision, in each year since 2015.

The following table provides information on how many applications to the Forestry Grant Scheme have been rejected, in how many cases the applicant formally requested a review of the approval decision, how many reviews have been upheld and how many are awaiting a decision, in each year since 2015.

FGS Case Approval Status	Calendar Year							Total
FGS Case Approval Status	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Applications whole or partially rejected	0	1	3	6	3	6	2	21
Rejections for which a review was requested	0	0	1	2	3	5	2	13
No. of requests for review upheld	0	0	0	0	2	2	1	5
No. of Reviews awaiting a decision	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Question reference: S6W-04172

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 1 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the Forestry Grant Scheme there were, and of those how many (a) were approved and (b) are awaiting a decision, in each year since 2015.

The following table provides information on how many applications to the Forestry Grant Scheme there have been, how many have been approved and how many are awaiting a decision, in each year since 2015.

FGS Case Approval Status	Calendar Year							Total
FGS Case Approval Status	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Applications Submitted	324	723	714	663	629	746	592	4,391
Applications Approved	309	712	708	655	621	716	397	4,118
Awaiting a Decision	0	0	0	0	0	0	193	252

Question reference: S6W-04529

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many farmers who have applied for peatland restoration funding through the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme have been (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful in receiving funding.

Scheme Year	Applications successful from women
2016	25
2017	10
2018	26
2019	1