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-22635

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of any non-native tree species seeding from commercial plantations into adjacent or nearby habitats, including any significant adverse impacts on (a) biodiversity, (b) other environmental interests and (c) social or economic interests.

Assessments are made at local level of the potential impacts of non-native species on adjacent or nearby habitats, through implementation of the Forestry Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations (EIA), and the implementation of the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) and associated guidance.

The EIA Regulations process ensures assessment of the potential environmental and social impact of non-native tree species seeding into other habitats. Where the new woodland proposed is adjacent to European designated site, a Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA) is also required to assess potential impacts. The UKFS and associated guidance also requires appraisals to be made of the potential impact of productive woodland on neighbouring habitats, as part of both woodland creation applications and Long-Term Forest Plans.

Question reference: S6W-22633

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of any seeding of non-native tree species from commercial plantations on peatland restoration measures and associated carbon sequestration and peatland restoration targets.

Assessments are made at local level of the potential impacts of non-native species on peatland sites and other priority habitats, through implementation of the Forestry Environmental Impact Assessment regulations, and the implementation of the UK Forestry Standard and associated guidance.

NatureScot is currently undertaking an initial national GIS analysis to estimate the potential scale and distribution of regeneration onto peatland from commercial plantations. This analysis could contribute to an assessment of the potential impact on carbon sequestration and peatland restoration targets in due course. Other assessments have been made on a site by site basis, specifically in Caithness and Sutherland, which have guided management planning.

Question reference: S6W-22620

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce driver-only or driver-controlled operation on any newly electrified routes, including the (a) Barrhead, (b) East Kilbride and (c) Kilmarnock routes.

Question reference: S6W-22621

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to fulfil the 2016 agreement between ScotRail and the RMT union that there would be a guaranteed safety critical conductor on every new electrified train.

Question reference: S6W-22599

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to undertake a review of legislation relating to the Home Report.

Question reference: S6W-22554

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many miles of single track A roads there are in Scotland.

Transport Scotland is responsible for the management and maintenance of the strategic trunk road network including motorways, which is delivered through our operating company contracts. There are no single track trunk roads in Scotland.

Local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads in their area. Each local authority will be best placed to advise how many miles of single track A roads are in their area.

Question reference: S6W-22530

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many live homeless applications there were in each local authority area on Christmas Day in 2022, and how many (a) adults and (b) children these related to.

The following table gives the number of homelessness applications live as at 25 December 2022, by local authority and the associated number of (a) adults and (b) children.

	Number of
	Applications	Adults	Children
Scotland	28,154	32,749	16,493
Aberdeen City	490	527	211
Aberdeenshire	288	326	142
Angus	733	830	270
Argyll & Bute	374	454	183
Clackmannanshire	287	327	123
Dumfries & Galloway	468	535	184
Dundee City	691	749	301
East Ayrshire	399	444	235
East Dunbartonshire	294	336	221
East Lothian	823	913	331
East Renfrewshire	387	494	267
Edinburgh	6,128	7,465	3,902
Eilean Siar	124	142	46
Falkirk	1,160	1,311	596
Fife	1,983	2,259	1,000
Glasgow City	4,863	5,857	3,537
Highland	884	1,017	440
Inverclyde	107	108	34
Midlothian	616	663	443
Moray	232	273	111
North Ayrshire	427	526	201
North Lanarkshire	764	861	468
Orkney	169	197	115
Perth & Kinross	159	183	55
Renfrewshire	346	362	95
Scottish Borders	333	407	255
Shetland	102	110	27
South Ayrshire	385	408	162
South Lanarkshire	1,188	1,352	908
Stirling	763	856	475
West Dunbartonshire	587	641	337
West Lothian	1,600	1,816	818

Question reference: S6W-22525

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been convicted of an offence in relation to violence on trains in each year since 2016.

Question reference: S6W-22548

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that routine maintenance dredging of the port of Glasgow upstream of the Shieldhall river channel to the Glasgow weir is being carried out to maintain depths in the common navigable channels, docks and riverside berths to allow for the safety of navigation for shipping using these facilities, as required under the Port Marine Safety Code.

Dredging and the sea deposit of dredged material are licensable marine activities under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and a marine licence granted by Marine Directorate – Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT) on behalf of the Scottish Ministers is required for the activities. A marine licence or dredging authorisation granted to Clydeport does not place a requirement on the port to dredge. It only permits the activity if the port determines it is necessary.

The Statutory Harbour Authority (SHA) for the area is Clydeport (Peel Ports) which is responsible for marine safety in its area of jurisdiction and has a statutory duty to maintain its navigable waterways and channels. SHAs are independent statutory bodies – each governed by their own local legislation – and are deemed commercial entities. Therefore, the Scottish Government has no say in the day-to-day running of their business, nor can it dictate business decisions made by a company.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency, on behalf of the Department of Transport, conduct a three yearly Port Marine Safety Code (PMSC) compliance exercise where every SHA, berth, terminal, or marine facility is required to submit a signed statement confirming their compliance with the PMSC. For the period 2021-2023 inclusive, a statement confirming compliance was received from Clydeport.

Question reference: S6W-22526

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been admitted to A&E in relation to violence on trains in each year since 2016.