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-22746

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the ongoing annual cost of providing free school breakfasts for all primary school pupils will be.

Question reference: S6W-22740

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional pupils have accessed free school breakfasts since the beginning of the current parliamentary session.

Question reference: S6W-22328

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 17 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the new transport study to explore the reinstatement of the rail network north of Aberdeen, to Peterhead and Fraserburgh.

The Just Transition Fund has provided up to £250,000 to the Campaign for North East Rail (CNER) to produce a study examining possible travel interventions in Dyce, Ellon, Peterhead, and Fraserburgh which will accelerate the region’s transition to net zero.

The early stages of the project are underway. Project consultants have been appointed and the first monthly progress meeting was held in September. The project team continue to work across a range of tasks crucial to meeting the study’s overall objectives and the project remains on track to conclude in March 2024.

Question reference: S6W-22895

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 17 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) management plans for key Scottish stocks, (b) a consultation on fisheries management for offshore Marine Protected Areas, (c) fisheries management measures in Marine Protected Areas and Priority Marine Features and (d) the other commitments set out in the future fisheries management plan will be delivered, and, if so, when.

The fisheries policy authorities intend to deliver the Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) according to the timescales set out in Annex A of the Joint Fisheries Statement .

Fisheries management proposals for offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) will be consulted on in early 2024. Fisheries management proposals for all inshore MPAs and Priority Marine Features (PMFs) are expected to go to public consultation at the end of 2024.

The Scottish Government’s Fisheries Management Strategy has a timeframe of ten years, and will be delivered over the course of December 2020 to December 2030. The actions within the Strategy are intended to be delivered across this full timeframe.

Question reference: S6W-22773

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 17 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what it is doing to meet its tree planting and coverage targets.

In June this year, a delivery action plan was announced aimed at ramping up tree planting levels. This included a £1 million investment by Scottish Forestry to provide comprehensive training for its staff to speed up the woodland creation application process.

Other measures announced include increasing the level of support for smaller scale woodland projects, providing more advice and support for farmers, refreshed community engagement guidance and more support for riparian planting.

I will chair a Woodland Creation Summit on 12 December, with industry leaders and stakeholders directly involved in woodland creation, which will look at the opportunities for growing more trees and also look at overcoming any associated barriers in meeting the woodland creation targets.

To date this year, Scottish Forestry has provided regulatory approval for over 11,200 hectares worth of new woodland applications, which already exceeds last year’s total, with more approvals expected.

Question reference: S6W-21986

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the conclusions of the Audit Scotland report, Investing in Scotland's infrastructure, and, in particular, the stated change in status of the Borders railway decarbonisation project to "Paused", alter the status of the Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan's objective to electrify the Edinburgh to Dundee and Aberdeen mainline by 2035, and whether it can confirm that the Edinburgh to Dundee and Aberdeen mainline will be fully electrified by 2035, as committed to in the Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan.

Question reference: S6O-02788

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what its position is on whether the £3,000 used from Michael Matheson’s office expenses for roaming charges constituted value for money, as required of all expense claims under the Reimbursement of Members’ Expenses Scheme.

Question reference: S6O-02796

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when SPCB staff were notified by Michael Matheson of his holiday to Morocco and intention to take a parliamentary device abroad.

Question reference: S6O-02747

Asked by: Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide an update on its work to ensure that the crèche facility can offer more than four hours per week per child.

Question reference: S6O-02781

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what difficulties there are, if any, in recruiting staff for jobs in the Scottish Parliament.