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-02071

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure value for money in government projects.

Question reference: S6O-02069

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the UK Government's Spring Budget will have on implementing the Covid Recovery Strategy.

Question reference: S6O-02076

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its commitment to deliver superfast broadband to 100% of premises by 2021.

Question reference: S6O-02078

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address the reported second year of consecutive contraction in the number of businesses that are based in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-02070

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to propose the scheduling of time for a ministerial statement on the Green Jobs Workforce Academy.

Question reference: S6O-02080

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support the re-opening of railway stations in Dumfriesshire.

Question reference: S6O-02086

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it next plans to meet with all parties involved in the proposed Winchburgh train station development.

Question reference: S6W-15486

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of (a) the UK Government's proposed legislation to prevent public institutions from imposing their own international boycotts and (b) its statement in response to PE1803: Right to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), on 11 August 2020, that it would, “strongly encourage the UK Government to develop their legislation in a manner which restricts the scope of application, and respects the autonomy of Scottish institutions in making decisions on this issue", whether it will provide an update on its discussions with the UK Government on the matter.

Scottish Government officials have had limited engagement with UK Government officials about the UK Government’s plans to introduce legislation to prevent public institutions from imposing their own international boycotts.

The Scottish Government view remains that any legislation should be developed in a way that respects Scotland’s devolution settlement and the autonomy of Scotland’s institutions. We will continue to engage with the UK Government on the detail of the proposed Bill provisions and will consider carefully how this impacts on devolved competence.

Question reference: S6W-15808

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Additional Support for Learning (ASL) review action plan, whether it is on track to develop a mapping exercise to capture the breadth of policy development aligned to ASL by June 2023.

The Scottish Government is working with local government partners on the Additional Support for Learning Project Board to deliver the recommendations of the 2020 additional support for learning review by March 2026. As outlined in our updated action plan published in November 2022, we have committed to undertaking a policy mapping exercise to inform the development of a shared positive communications plan. The plan aims to ensure visibility and awareness of additional support for learning and children and young people’s successes and achievements. This work is currently on track.

Progress can be followed through the published minutes of the Project Board . A further progress update is due to be published in May 2024.

Question reference: S6W-15921

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in working with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to agree an increased noise budget for projects within the 50km safeguarding zone at Eskdalemuir, and when it expects that any announcement will be made on the agreed way forward.

Safeguarding the Eskdalemuir Seismic Array is the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence and any decision to amend the seismic noise budget for the array is a decision for the UK Government.

The Scottish Government and Ministry of Defence have been working constructively together and the Scottish Government has conducted a series of technical studies over the course of 2020 to 2022 in order to provide updated wind turbine data that can be used in the noise budget allocation calculation.

The results of these studies are publicly available and are hosted on the Scottish Renewables’ website. The Scottish Government shared these studies with the MoD and we understand the MoD is in the process of reviewing their noise budget management. The Scottish Government continues to engage with the MoD as they develop their approach.