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-36641

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of sewage spills on Scotland’s (a) rivers, (b) beaches and (c) tourism economy.

Question reference: S6W-36627

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Green Jobs Workforce Academy website is still updated and maintained, and when it was last updated.

Question reference: S6W-36625

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the current budget is for the Green Jobs Workforce Academy.

Question reference: S6W-36209

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many body-worn cameras Police Scotland owns.

Police Scotland currently deploys Body Worn Video (BWV) to officers in Tayside, Armed Policing and as part of a legacy Grampian Police solution in A division.

In total, Police Scotland currently owns the following devices:

A Division (legacy solution) – 228 (to be replaced with national solution devices)

Armed Policing – 473

National BWV Project – 5072 to be rolled out as part of national rollout, this number will increase further as the rollout progresses and further cameras are purchased.

Question reference: S6W-36210

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its commitment in the 2023-24 Programme for Government to "support Police Scotland in its plan to roll out body worn cameras to officers over the next two years, to over 14,000 officers and staff from 2024", by what date this will be achieved.

Question reference: S6W-36126

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 7 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its procedures are for vetting and reviewing ministerial memoirs.

Paragraph 12.1 of the Scottish Ministerial Code (Scottish Ministerial Code: 2024 Edition - gov.scot) requires former Ministers intending to publish their memoirs to submit the draft manuscript in good time before publication to the Permanent Secretary and to conform to the principles set out in the Radcliffe Report of 1976. On receipt of any such manuscript the Permanent Secretary, supported as necessary by other senior Scottish Government officials, will conduct a review in accordance with that arrangement.

Question reference: S6W-36256

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted a review of (a) internet speeds in Scottish courts, (b) the effectiveness of video conferencing technology that is used in Scottish courts for virtual hearings and (c) the resourcing of the technology and infrastructure provided for such virtual hearings.

Question reference: S6W-36198

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the implementation of the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021.

The Minister for Housing and I wrote to the Convener of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on 11 March outlining some of the challenges that remained around the implementation of the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 and our planned next steps - Letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs and the Minister for Housing, 11 March 2025.

By way of an update I can advise that the workshop referenced within my letter and in connection with Domestic Abuse Protection Orders which is Part 1 of the Act, has now taken place, and involved members of the Implementation Advisory Board originally established to help make progress on the work in this area.

I am currently awaiting advice from officials and will look to reflect on the outcomes and discussions at the workshop, with the aim to provide clarity on how we will move forward in the coming months.

In addition, I can also advise that in relation to Part 2 of the Act, draft statutory guidance and information about the secondary legislation required for implementation is currently being shared with key stakeholders with a view to laying this legislation in summer and publishing the guidance as soon as possible thereafter. We are aiming to bring Part 2 of the Act into force in December 2025. Court rules will however also need to be updated and this may affect the timetable.

Question reference: S6W-35636

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 7 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the farmed fish sector has a non-binding industry code of good practice regarding the legal obligations for keepers and industry stakeholders under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 and the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (Scotland) Regulations 2012, and whether it will introduce official guidance to help ensure clarity.

Although not formally adopted under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 nor the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (Scotland) Regulations 2012, the finfish sector’s Code of Good Practice supports producers to deliver on their welfare obligations.

The Scottish Government, in its response to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee (13 March 2025), has committed to exploring options for how to best to set welfare standards for production going forward and will update the Committee in September 2025 on progress and next steps.

We are currently developing guidance for the welfare of farmed fish at the time of slaughter taking into account the recommendations made in the UK Animal Welfare Committee report of 2014 and its updated opinion of 2023. We will engage with the industry and other stakeholders, including animal welfare organisations, for their views at the appropriate stage.

Question reference: S6W-36276

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what processes are in place for the reporting of cybersecurity incidents across the public sector.

The Scottish Government has in place a Notifiable Scottish Public Sector Cyber Incidents Procedure. This is a voluntary process which encourages Scottish Public Sector bodies to report cyber incidents to the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre. The process also encourages reporting of cyber incidents to the UK Government National Cyber Security Centre and Police Scotland where appropriate.

The Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (SC3) provides a centrally coordinated, multi-agency response capability and expertise in national incident response and to support any Public Sector organisation which is victim to a cyber security incident.