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-03427

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the constitution secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the delivery of its commitment to invest at least £100 million more in culture and the arts by the financial year 2028-29.

Question reference: S6O-03428

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a further update on the Scottish Prison Service’s work to address reported noise disturbance at HMP Stirling.

Question reference: S6O-03433

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update ahead of the introduction of the proposed Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Bill, including in relation to the potential overturning of any wrongful convictions of postmasters in Scotland that were based on evidence from the Post Office’s Horizon computer system.

Question reference: S6W-27099

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any steps that sportscotland is taking to (a) assess the impact of artificial sports pitches on (i) the natural environment and (ii) human health and (b) identify long-term alternatives to artificial sports pitches.

Artificial grass pitches play an important role in the delivery of sport and physical activity across Scotland, helping the nation to lead more active, healthy lives. Well maintained artificial pitches allow for year-round, intensive use and can provide significantly more playing hours than traditional grass pitches.

There are already alternatives on the market such as cork, corn husks and olive pits amongst others. sport scotland are part of the UK Artificial Grass Pitch forum monitoring work on the long-term viability of these products. St Andrews University has already installed a full-size 3G pitch with cork infill, and there is research and development continuing across the industry with more products in the market.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry published a wide-ranging report in April on rubber crumb infill. It is the largest study ever conducted in the US on the topic and was launched to characterise the chemicals associated with tire crumb rubber and to identify how people may be potentially exposed to those chemicals based on their activities on synthetic turf fields. In its conclusion, the report highlighted that:

‎ “As expected, a range of metals, semivolatile organic compounds, volatile organic compounds and bacteria were detected in recycled tire crumb rubber infill.
‎
‎ "Although chemicals are present in the tire crumb rubber and exposures can occur, they are likely limited. For example, only small amounts of most organic chemicals are released from tire crumb into the air through emissions and no differences in PAH metabolites in urine were observed between study participants using synthetic turf fields compared to those using grass fields.”

The full report can be read here: https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/federal-research-recycled-tire-crumb-used-playing-fields-and-playgrounds?utm_source=brevo&utm_campaign=Friday%20News%20Roundup%2019%20April&utm_medium=email

Question reference: S6W-27116

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many recommendations of the Good Governance Steering Group have been implemented since its inception.

The Scottish Government has implemented the following recommendations since the Good Governance Steering Group’s inception in 2015:

Recommendation

Status

College Development Network to imbed teamwork training within the induction training of board members.

Completed - October 2019.

Trade Union nominees will be added to the boards of the incorporated colleges, the GCRB and the Lanarkshire Board, in addition to the elected staff representatives.

Completed – came into force 31 January 2024.

Question reference: S6W-27017

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the minutes of the Regulatory Review Group meeting of February 2024.

Re-instating the Regulatory Review Group (RRG) was a priority for business when developing the New Deal for Business recommendations and is pivotal in supporting Ministers understand and mitigate challenges associated with implementing regulations. Within its first six months, the RRG scrutinised regulation implementation on high-profile proposals, including Alcohol Minimum Unit Pricing, Vaping, Heat in Buildings and Circular Economy Bill.

To ensure transparency, all meeting minutes and advice sent to Scottish Ministers are published on its webpage found on the Scottish Government website. The minutes from the RRG meeting on February 17 have now been published on Regulatory Review Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6W-27114

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that any trade union representatives elected to a college board of management are given sufficient remission from their day job in order to undertake any responsibilities relating to their participation in board business.

Question reference: S6W-27101

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Emma Roddick on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it engaged with (a) black and minority ethnic people in Scotland, (b) race equality groups and (c) National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in the drafting of Scotland's input to the 2023 UK state report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

We routinely engage with a range of stakeholders in our work across Scottish Government, including work to implement the recommendations and observations of the Committee.

The UK's State Report covers the measures that have been adopted, by Government, relating to the rights described in the Convention, and on the progress made in upholding them. Scottish Government did not engage with these groups for the specific purpose of providing our updates to the UK Government for inclusion in their State Report, due to the nature of the reporting process.

Scotland is determined to play our part in eradicating racism, inequality and injustice – and in building a better, fairer world. Specifically, the Race Equality Framework demonstrates our commitment to eliminating racism – our Vision for a fairer Scotland is that by 2030 Scotland is a place where people are healthier, happier and treated with respect, and where opportunities, wealth and power are spread more equally.

Question reference: S6W-27119

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the current scope of the Good Governance Steering Group’s terms of reference is sufficient for influencing decisions made in the college sector.

Question reference: S6W-27115

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Good Governance Steering Group reportedly has no decision-making powers.