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: S6O-01855

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle bullying in schools.

Question reference: S6O-01843

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting Creative Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-01857

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what monitoring is undertaken to ensure that any commitments made to tertiary education are delivered.

Question reference: S6O-01849

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what specific training is provided to help serving police officers deal with members of the public who have mental health issues.

Question reference: S6O-01859

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent meetings it has had with Universities Scotland to discuss gender-based violence in higher education.

Question reference: S6O-01848

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-01806

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 25 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on avian flu, including any measures it is taking to tackle its spread.

Since the start of October 2022 there have been 18 confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in poultry and captive birds and 81 findings in wild birds in Scotland.

The Scottish Government responded to the risk of avian influenza from wild birds through the introduction of an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone in October 2022 requiring all bird keepers to follow strict biosecurity measures, and continues to remind keepers of these obligations. Scottish Government and its operational partners have a robust control strategy in place, and a proven track record in dealing effectively and rapidly with controlling outbreaks

Question reference: S6W-14044

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to provide any additional financial support to people in abusive relationships during the cost of living crisis, in order to enable them to leave their abusive partners in situations where they are financially reliant on them, and what its position is on the reported suggestion by Women's Aid to introduce an emergency support fund for this purpose.

We are very concerned about the additional hardship women and children experiencing domestic abuse are facing as a result of the Cost of Living Crisis. We recognise this can impact their ability to leave their abuser and we are exploring options around the delivery of financial support in order that this is not a barrier to leaving an abusive partner.

We are working with Scottish Women’s Aid (SWA) and other organisations to consider how this support can be best developed and delivered.

No-one should have to endure domestic abuse and help and support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on Scotland’s Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline on 0800 0271234.

Question reference: S6W-13777

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme, how many (a) cards were issued and (b) new applications were received on (i) 1 September 2022 and (ii) 1 January 2023.

As of the end of day 29th August 2022 there were a total of 499,822 National Entitlement Cards issued for the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme. This is the closest data available for 1 September 2022.

As of the end of day 2 January 2023 there were a total of 639,795 National Entitlement Cards issued for the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme. This is the closest available data for 1 January 2022.

The figures above include cards issued as a result of first time applications, replacement cards and cards which may no longer be active.

This data is supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). NECPO support the 32 local authorities by assisting with the integration of various national and local public services on the National Entitlement Card (NEC) and are the joint controller with local authorities of this data.

Transport Scotland does not hold application information as the Improvement Service are in charge of applications made through getyournec.scot and all other applications are managed by local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-13874

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 25 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when an update to the Reconviction Rates in Scotland statistics will next be published.

The heavy impact of the pandemic and subsequent court closures on reconvictions data must be balanced against user needs for information with the provision of meaningful and informative statistics that carry minimal risk of misinterpretation. We are currently investigating what information we could helpfully provide users in respect of reconvictions statistics. We will communicate the outcome of this investigation to users as soon as possible.