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-36153

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comments made by Jim Watson, Head of Domestic Fisheries Management at the Marine Directorate, to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee on 5 February 2025, that "in the mid-1990s, around 38% of our key stocks were being fished at sustainable levels and, by 2022-23, that had risen to 70%", what the full list of key stocks considered were (a) in the mid-1990s and (b) by 2022-23, and which of those were being fished at sustainable levels in both periods.

The 38% previously referred to was the sustainability indicator, as outlined in the Scottish Sustainable Fishing Indicator (SFI). This indicator tracks the status of Scotland’s commercial fish stocks and is based on the estimated percentage of commercial stocks that are fished at sustainable levels. It provides a sliding scale for how sustainable fishing levels are.

An updated version of the SFI will be published in the near future, this will provide up to date sustainability indicators for all available stocks.

The full list of stocks assessed in 1995 are outlined below.

Anglerfish (North Sea, Rockall and West of Scotland, Skagerrak, Kattegat)
Greater silver smelt (Northeast Arctic, North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat)
Greater silver smelt (Faroes grounds and west of Scotland)
Blue ling (Celtic Seas, western Hatton Bank, and Faroes grounds)
Brill (North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat, English Channel)
Cod (North Sea, West of Scotland, eastern English Channel, Skagerrak) NW substock
Cod (North Sea, West of Scotland, eastern English Channel, Skagerrak) SO substock
Cod (North Sea, West of Scotland, eastern English Channel, Skagerrak) VK substock
Spurdog (Northeast Atlantic and adjacent waters)
Greenland halibut (Iceland and Faroes grounds, West of Scotland, North of Azores, East of Greenland)
Haddock (North Sea, West of Scotland, Skagerrak)
Haddock (Rockall)
Herring (the Northeast Atlantic and Arctic Ocean)
Herring (North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat, eastern English Channel)
Hake (Greater North Sea, Celtic Seas, northern Bay of Biscay)
Horse mackerel (Northeast Atlantic and adjacent waters)
Megrim (northern North Sea, West of Scotland)
Megrim (Rockall)
Mackerel (Northeast Atlantic and adjacent waters)
Norway lobster (West of Scotland, South Minch)
Norway lobster (West of Scotland, Firth of Clyde, Sound of Jura)
Norway lobster (northern North Sea, Fladen Ground)
Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) i(North Sea) and (Skagerrak)
Saithe (North Sea, Rockall and West of Scotland, Skagerrak, Kattegat)
Pollack (Celtic Seas, English Channel)
Golden redfish (Iceland and Faroes grounds, West of Scotland, North of Azores, East of Greenland)
Sole (North Sea)
Turbot(North Sea)
Blue whiting (Northeast Atlantic and adjacent waters)
Whiting (North Sea, eastern English Channel)
Whiting (West of Scotland)
Witch (North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat, eastern English Channel)

Question reference: S6W-36212

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 11 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether future legislation that it introduces will use the word "sex" instead of "gender".

Our future decisions around the terminology to be adopted in proposed Scottish Government legislation will be made in the light of all relevant matters. This will include matters such as the proposed legislation’s operation in conjunction with existing law, or any need to maintain consistency when the proposed legislation would textually amend provisions in another enactment.

There is published information on the Scottish Government’s approach to drafting proposed Acts of this Parliament in the second edition of the Parliamentary Counsel Office drafting manual, Drafting Matters!: https://www.gov.scot/publications/drafting-matters/pages/1/.

Question reference: S6W-36606

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the amount saved by (a) visitors, (b) patients and (c) staff in the NHS (i) Dumfries and Galloway and (ii) Borders area since the abolition of car parking charges at NHS premises in 2008.

Question reference: S6W-36225

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 11 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many people are currently registered to vote in Scottish Parliament elections, and how many of those registered are foreign nationals.

At 1 December 2023:

the total number of people registered to vote in Scottish Parliamentary and local government elections was 4,241,800;
just under 189,500 qualifying foreign nationals resident in Scotland were registered to vote in Scottish Parliamentary and local government elections.

Updated information on the electoral register at 1 December 2024 is due to be published on the National Records of Scotland website: People registered to vote - National Records of Scotland (NRS) at 9.30am on 24 April 2025.

Question reference: S6W-36203

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent media coverage, including a video showing discarded fish on the seabed, how many fines it has issued in relation to illegal discarding in each year since 2020.

Question reference: S6W-36272

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the original budget for each of the national treatment centres was.

Question reference: S6W-36356

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Lothian to discuss replacing East Calder Medical Centre; what the outcome was, and what future meetings are planned.

Question reference: S6W-36824

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reduce the amount of furniture, textiles and mattresses going to incineration or landfill.

Question reference: S6W-36795

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to publish any data received to date from the ongoing Fracture Liaison Service audit.

Question reference: S6W-36815

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13059 by Keith Brown on 9 January 2023, whether it will provide an update on the Office of the Public Guardian in Scotland (OPG) backlog of power of attorney applications; how many cases are currently affected, and what funding is available to support the OPG to address this backlog.