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-14913

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 21 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding applicable safety standards to protect (a) offshore workers and (b) seafarers from Scotland working on internationally flagged vessels in waters over 12 nautical miles from the Scottish coastline.

The Scottish Government expects the highest safety and crew welfare and employment conditions for all workers employed in offshore and maritime industries.

Safety standards for offshore workers in the UK Continental Shelf are regulated in Great Britain by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and is a reserved matter for the UK Government. All relevant legislation was enacted prior to devolution.

Maritime safety is also a reserved competence of the UK Government undertaken by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The Maritime Labour Convention came into force in the UK on 7 August 2014. It sets out the minimum working and living rights for seafarers with the onus on operators.

Question reference: S6W-14556

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many hectares of land each local authority (a) currently owns and (b) owned (i) five, (ii) 10 and (iii) 20 years ago.

This is a question for the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland. She advises me that current ownership for each local authority is provided in the following table. This is provided from a combination of titles in the Land Register and General Register of Sasines, and as the areas held in Sasines are indicative rather than definitive it provides a best estimate.

Whilst it is possible to retrieve historic ownership details for specific plots of land, Scotland-wide views of the Land Register showing aggregate ownership by specific parties at five, 10, or 20 years ago are not maintained, and the nature of the General Register of Sasines means it is not feasible to retrieve historic ownership information en masse .

Local Authority	Area (hectares)
Aberdeen City	1,100
Aberdeenshire	764
Angus	825
Argyll and Bute	143
City of Edinburgh	1,434
Clackmannanshire	665
Dumfries and Galloway	454
Dundee City	523
East Ayrshire	645
East Dunbartonshire	325
East Lothian	854
East Renfrewshire	405
Falkirk	798
Fife	2,823
Glasgow City	1,622
Highland	1,164
Inverclyde	1,956
Midlothian	378
Moray	424
Na h-Eileanan an Iar	4
North Ayrshire	1,858
North Lanarkshire	7,018
Orkney Islands	417
Perth and Kinross	440
Renfrewshire	1,849
Scottish Borders	1,391
Shetland Islands	2,989
South Ayrshire	186
South Lanarkshire	3,653
Stirling	1,091
West Dunbartonshire	478
West Lothian	5,274
Total	43,949

Figures were current on 6 February 2023.

Question reference: S6W-14825

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it plans to take to ensure that the National Planning Framework and its plans for net zero are supported by implementing an alternative to public private partnership (PPP) arrangements across sectors.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) was adopted on 13 February 2023. Delivery of NPF4 is not the sole responsibility of one organisation or sector and implementation of the proposed actions will support leadership and collaborative working across the public and private sectors throughout Scotland.

Our NPF4 Delivery Programme will guide how NPF4 will be implemented by all relevant stakeholders and aims to create the conditions under which place-based collaboration can underpin the implementation of NPF4, by clearly setting out strategic actions, responsibilities and ways of working. The Delivery Programme proposes a governance structure that will include providing oversight of NPF4 implementation and delivery, supporting its incorporation into Scottish Government and wider stakeholder decision-making, promoting alignment across sectors and providing a framework through which delivery partners can communicate, identify barriers to delivery and be solution-focused. This includes establishing a new Planning, Infrastructure and Place Advisory Group, with a core membership of key external delivery partners and key agency representation, supported by a Scottish Government secretariat.

Question reference: S6W-14587

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 21 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13427 by Lorna Slater on 19 January 2023, what further work is currently underway to ensure that the interactions between minimum unit pricing and the Deposit Return Scheme are understood, and what discussions it has had with the industry on this issue.

Scottish Government officials are undertaking work to ensure that the interactions between Minimum Unit Price and the Deposit Return Scheme are fully understood. This work includes engagement with stakeholders.

For example, a planned evaluation of the Deposit Return Scheme will explore consumer behaviours prior to the scheme’s introduction, a year after implementation and two years after implementation.

Question reference: S6W-14856

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is the case that only two of its buildings have a heat pump installed; what action it will take to increase the number of its buildings that have a heat pump installed, and within what timescale will any such action be undertaken.

Currently 1 building on the core Scottish Government estate has a heat pump installed (Tweedbank)

Feasibility studied will be carried out in the first quarter of 2023/24 financial year to look at a range of renewable technologies for the estate, including air source heat pumps.

Timescale for installing air source heat pumps to suitable buildings:-

2023-24 – (1st quarter) - Feasibility studies will be carried out with business cases and funding applications submitted for suitable projects.
2023-24 – (2nd quarter) - Apply, design and install power cable upgrades if required or – if the incoming power needs to be increased from the supplier.
2023-24 – (3rd/4th quarter quarter) - Design, tender, appoint a contractor, planning permissions
2024-25 – Installation of ASHP, radiators, pipework.

Question reference: S6W-14561

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of available accommodation in Glasgow and the surrounding areas to relocate the reported 1,111 Ukrainians still onboard MS Ambition by 31 March 2023.

Analysis has been undertaken to estimate how many guests on MS Ambition will likely be matched into longer term accommodation based on the availability of hosted and Responsible Social Landlord properties in Glasgow and the surrounding areas. Analysis into the availability of accommodation for guests disembarking MS Ambition remains ongoing and is being revised as new data becomes available via the monitoring of the disembarkation process.

Question reference: S6W-14712

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support will be made available to provide planners with additional resources to assess the environmental impacts of developments, including making assessments of the impact of these on biodiversity.

The Scottish Government recognises the challenges facing the planning system, in particular planning authorities. Appropriate resourcing is a key challenge for delivery of NPF4 and we are committed to working collaboratively with our partners to make progress with this, including through our work with the High Level Group on Planning Performance. NPF4 Policy 3 (c) is underpinned by NatureScot’s Developing With Nature guidance published on 13 February 2023. We have also committed to developing guidance on Policy 3 more generally. Through ongoing work to bring forward the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, we are exploring opportunities to enhance ecological expertise that is needed locally to implement nature positive approaches. We have commissioned research to explore options for developing approaches to measuring biodiversity at the ‘site’ scale in Scotland. This research will involve a programme of engagement with stakeholders as it progresses.

Question reference: S6W-14559

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to house the reported 1,111 Ukrainians currently onboard MS Ambition after 31 March 2023.

Since November 2022, Scottish Government officials and Glasgow City Council engage regularly to undertake a Joint Assurance Review to ensure exit planning for the exit of the MS Ambition remains on track.

Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council have been meeting with guests to help them make an informed decision about their next accommodation and where possible, we are seeking to move a displaced people according to their needs. The lack of suitable properties in Glasgow however means that it is unlikely that everyone on board MS Ambition will be able to be accommodated in Glasgow.

Should guests be unable to secure alternative accommodation or not accept an offer of accommodation from the Scottish Government matching team or Glasgow City Council, they will be allocated alternative welcome accommodation before 31 March 2023.

Question reference: S6T-01181

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on pay negotiations between teaching unions and COSLA, in light of the EIS rejecting the most recent offer and reports that industrial action is set to continue.

Question reference: S6T-01182

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to a report by WWF Scotland that states that Scotland will fall "significantly short" of its target for decarbonising heating in homes.