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-03586

Asked by: Ben Macpherson, MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it would consider increasing the £500 annual training budget that is allocated to MSP offices for staff training.

Question reference: S6O-03583

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether any of its contracted catering companies source produce or products from occupied land in Gaza or the West Bank.

Question reference: S6O-03585

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will review the process for admitting visitors to the public gallery in the chamber.

Question reference: S6W-27900

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with (a) Transport Scotland and (b) ScotRail regarding the delivery of hourly train services between Inverness and Aberdeen, as committed to in the first Strategic Transport Projects Review in 2009 and which has not been included in the new train timetables.

My officials at Transport Scotland meet with ScotRail and Scottish Rail Holdings regularly to discuss various matters. ScotRail keeps its services under constant review to ensure they best meet the passenger demand.

Since the publication of the 2009 Strategic Transport Projects Review, the Scottish Government has invested £330 million in delivering journey time improvements and greater connectivity for both passenger and freight services operating on the line between Aberdeen and Inverness. These works were undertaken as part of the Aberdeen – Inverness Rail Improvement Project.

Question reference: S6W-27920

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 6 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates that it will publish the next paper in the Building a New Scotland series; what the topic of the paper will be, and what consultation has taken place in advance of it being published.

The Permanent Secretary wrote to the First Minister on 27 May outlining the impact of the UK general election guidance on the Scottish Government’s planned business. In this letter, in line with normal practice, the Permanent Secretary advised on the deferral of strategic policies due to be published in the pre-election period. This includes the publication of the Building a New Scotland papers, which will be paused during the pre-election period. The Scottish Government is continuing to develop material to ensure people have the information they need to make an informed choice about Scotland’s future and will resume publication following the General Election.

Question reference: S6W-27867

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 6 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what policy measures it is considering in order to reach its commitment to restore 250,000 hectares of degraded peatlands by 2030.

Caring for our peatlands, and reducing peatland emissions, through protection, management and restoration is critical to mitigating and adapting to the linked climate and nature emergencies.

Restoring 250,000 hectares is a combination of restoration through drain blocking and bare peat restoration on upland blanket bogs but also requires interventions on herbivore control as well as other farm management interventions.

Through various on-going reform programmes across government and our commitment to consult on a carbon land tax on the largest estates, we are considering the regulatory and fiscal measures that could further incentivise peatland restoration and create the conditions to keep our peatlands in good condition.

Alongside this, work continues towards implementing a ban on the sale of peat in Scotland and we have established an expert group to develop the guidance and tools needed to inform decisions on windfarm development on peat.

We are also working hard with our delivery partners through the Peatland ACTION partnership to tackle the many barriers to upscaling peatland restoration in this relatively young sector.

Question reference: S6W-27879

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what work it will undertake with (a) the Department for Work and Pensions and (b) Social Security Scotland during the roll-out of, and process of case transfer to, Carer Support Payment, to increase the level of help and advice available to unpaid carers in Scotland who may have been left in debt due to overpayments of Carer's Allowance.

The Scottish Government has urged the DWP to carefully consider people’s individual circumstances before any recovery of Carer’s Allowance overpayments from carers. It is our established policy that no-one should be placed into hardship as a result of overpayment recovery. Social Security Scotland have in place processes to prevent and identify overpayments as quickly as possible, and will consider an individual’s financial and personal circumstances as far as they are known before recovery is attempted. Social Security Scotland will discuss the best way forward for individuals and anyone affected will be able to seek support and advice before agreeing any repayment plan. Any deductions are set at manageable levels and individuals can seek a redetermination and appeal where a new determination has been made. Discussions are ongoing with the DWP as to potential arrangements for the recovery of any Carer’s Allowance overpayments for carers in Scotland that remain once case transfer is complete and the current Agency Agreement comes to an end.

Question reference: S6W-27784

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its proposals for a human rights incorporation bill, when it plans to (a) publish an initial draft of the legislation and (b) introduce any bill to the Parliament, and whether it will provide an update on whether it anticipates that a bill on this issue will be passed during the current parliamentary session.

Question reference: S6W-27794

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 6 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Independent Strategic Review of Funding and Commissioning of Violence Against Women and Girls Services, and, in particular, the views expressed in the review on single-sex spaces, what steps it has taken to ensure that single-sex services continue to be provided to biological women and girls.

Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls acknowledges the important role specialist and single-sex services play in supporting victim-survivors of violence against women and girls.

There are single sex exceptions in the UK wide Equality Act 2010, and it is the responsibility of service providers to comply with the 2010 Act. The Equality and Human Rights Commission as the body responsible for enforcing the 2010 Act has produced specific guidance to support organisations in their compliance, including a Statutory Code of Practice and a guide for service providers who operate a separate or single-sex service.

Question reference: S6W-27880

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reform the threshold element of the Carer Support Payment following the completion of the transfer from Carer's Allowance in Scotland.

As set out in our response to our 2022 public consultation, we are considering options for reform of the earnings threshold as part of longer-term plans for improvements to Carer Support Payment. These include increasing the earnings threshold and introducing a run-on of support to mitigate the earnings ‘cliff edge’, both of which were supported by the majority of respondents to the consultation. Given the range of views on how the earnings rules for Carer Support Payment could work differently from Carer’s Allowance, we are continuing to consider the responses received. We are also considering research, recently published by the DWP in May, on carers’ experiences of claiming and receiving Carer’s Allowance to inform our approach.