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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-20022

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 14 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many schools have been identified as containing asbestos, from 2015 to date, (a) in total and (b) broken down by local authority.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. However, local authorities are required to keep an up-to-date record of the location of asbestos in their schools.

Although Health and safety legislation is not devolved to the Scottish Government, we take the issue of asbestos within schools very seriously and expect local authorities to strictly follow Health and Safety Executive recommendations. Moreover, we remain in close contact with the Health and Safety Executive regarding asbestos in schools.

Question reference: S6W-20027

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 14 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was of using external designers for school building projects, from 2016-17 to date, (a) in total and (b) broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S6W-20019

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 14 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many schools have a dedicated car park for staff, (a) in total and (b) broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S6W-20023

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 14 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the total current overspend costs are on building new (a) schools and (b) nursery buildings, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-20007

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether ScotRail Holdings has any plans to expand the offering of "Rail and Sail" tickets between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail and Stena Line. ScotRail advises that it regularly meets with Stena Line to review potential service changes and ensure tickets are available on rail retail systems and Stena Line expands the service if demand dictates. Details of these tickets can be found via Rail & Sail to Ireland | Stena Line , which also provides contact details for Stena Line for further information.

Question reference: S6W-19962

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 14 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will instruct Scottish Water to address any defects with the (a) structural condition, (b) external paintwork and (c) architectural lighting installations at the (i) Cranhill, (ii) Craigend and (iii) Garthamlock water towers.

Question reference: S6W-20008

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) Transport Scotland and (b) ScotRail Holdings has entered negotiations with Stena Line on increasing the availability of "Rail and Sail" tickets between Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast.

Question reference: S6W-20604

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-20347

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 11 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide the dates of all Open Government Partnership meetings in 2023, including those scheduled to take place.

The Open Government Partnership Steering Group meets at a minimum three times per year.

The Open Government Partnership Steering Group met on 17 May 2023. The following dates are confirmed for the Open Government Partnership Steering Group to next meet:

26 September 2023
6 December 2023

Scottish Government proactively publishes the minute of each meeting, which includes the date of the next scheduled meeting. This information can be found on the Open Government Partnership Steering Group page . This information is also shared via Scotland’s Open Government Network .

Question reference: S6W-20145

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 11 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its commitment in the Bute House Agreement to "consult as soon as practicable on proposals to apply a cap to fishing activity in inshore waters", when it expects to deliver any such consultation.

The Bute House Agreement builds on the actions in our Fisheries Management Strategy which sets out our approach to managing Scottish sea fisheries in partnership with our stakeholders, to deliver the best results for the future of our marine environment, our fishing industry and the communities that rely on them.

Observing our co-management approach, policies relating to inshore fishing will be progressed further through our Regional Inshore Fisheries Group network and Fisheries Management and Conservation group, prior to full consultation.