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

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 46716 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6T-01598

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the statement issued by COSLA that the handling of the recent announcement about the council tax freeze undermined the spirit and the letter of the Verity House Agreement.

Question reference: S6T-01590

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the recently announced Centre of Teaching Excellence.

Question reference: S6T-01591

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the impact of Storm Babet on communities in Aberdeenshire, Angus, Tayside and Perthshire.

Question reference: S6F-02449

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 October 2023

To ask the First Minister, in light of the launch of Scotland’s new HIV anti-stigma campaign in partnership with the Terrence Higgins Trust, what action the Scottish Government is taking to eliminate new transmissions of HIV.

Question reference: S6F-02459

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 October 2023

To ask the First Minister what steps are being taken to eradicate long waiting times for NHS treatment, in light of Public Health Scotland data showing that over 1,500 patients have waited more than three years.

Question reference: S6F-02455

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 October 2023

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reported concerns that parents are having to give up their jobs due to childcare costs.

Question reference: S6F-02458

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 October 2023

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6F-02448

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 October 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-02447

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 October 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-21941

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 02 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish Water has an estimate of the true volume of sewage that has been discharged into Scotland's waterways in each of the last five years.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked its Chief Executive to respond. His response is as follows:

"Typically, monitors are designed to measure the duration of spills and not flow or volume. Scottish Water is not required to measure the volume of spills other than in a specific limited number of locations where specific equipment is in place to do this. Where Scottish Water is required to measure this, it provides data to SEPA on an annual basis.

The new Event Duration Monitors that are being installed under the improving urban waters routemap will give spill numbers and durations, and not flows or volumes."

However, it should be noted that volume data is not always meaningful as spills are dependent on factors beyond Scottish Water’s control, most notably the weather. The more important metrics are the quality of water in receiving water bodies and as the member is aware, comprehensive monitoring of water bodies is already undertaken by SEPA to assess water quality, water resources, physical condition and aquatic ecology which are combined to produce an overall classification of the water environment. 87% of Scotland’s entire water environment is assessed by SEPA as having a ‘high’ or ‘good’ classification for water quality and Scotland’s River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) have measures in place to achieve 92% ‘good’ water quality by 2027.