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 48968 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-17059

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when ministers last met with their counterparts in the (a) Welsh and (b) UK Government to discuss any impact on Scotland of the UK's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Trade Ministers from the Scottish, Welsh and UK Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive meet quarterly as the Inter Ministerial Group for Trade. The last meeting of this group took place on 9 January 2023, and was attended by the then Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, Ivan McKee MSP; Minister for Economy in the Welsh Government, Vaughan Gething MS; and the then UK Minister for Trade, Greg Hands MP. The UK Government provided an update on the CPTPP negotiations. Subsequent developments towards accession to CPTPP have been covered in official engagement and Ministerial correspondence.

Question reference: S6W-16125

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13799 by Kevin Stewart on 19 January 2023, whether it will provide an update on when further details will be available.

Question reference: S6W-17141

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Emma Roddick on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken in relation to its commitment in its strategy paper, A Scotland for the future: the opportunities and challenges of Scotland's changing population, to "consider community work hubs for people to work in who may no longer need to work in offices every day, but to reduce the impact of home working".

A key component of Scotland’s Population Strategy is to create conditions for Scotland’s population profile to be spatially distributed in as balanced a way as possible, to support communities, economies and public services to thrive.

The 2022 Town Centre Action Plan Review includes an action on maximising opportunities to create safe accessible local work spaces. Scottish Futures Trust, through its New Frontiers for Smarter Working programme, published an updated report in March 2023 which sets out approaches to shared workspaces such as enabling local working via models such as hubs and shared workspaces, and the fourth National Planning Framework also includes a focus on maximising the use of existing assets and facilitating local living to support local needs and context. This includes enabling the creation of local hubs to reduce commuting distances and provide local employment opportunities.

Delivering on commitments within both the Population Strategy and the National Islands Plan, we are also developing an Addressing Depopulation Action Plan to provide the policy framework and actions we and partners will take to enable population retention and repopulation within communities.

Question reference: S6W-17146

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the support provided by each of Scotland's enterprise agencies to the snowsports sector in each of the last six years.

The following table details the support given from the enterprise agencies between 2017 and 2022 to the 5 mountain centres and Snow Factor (currently closed). Please note the drawn down figure can be lower than the overall allocation available from the enterprise agency. This does not include the £7 million in Covid-19 support provided by the Scottish Government.

Enterprise Agency	Calendar Year	Approved Amount	Drawn Down Amount
Highlands and Islands Enterprise	2016-2017	163,925	£406,241
Scottish Enterprise	2016-2017	0	£189,894
Highlands and Islands Enterprise	2017-2018	363,100	£371,600
Scottish Enterprise	2017-2018	0	0
Highlands and Islands Enterprise	2018-2019	3,328,901	£822,126
Scottish Enterprise	2018-2019	138,600	£8,200
Highlands and Islands Enterprise	2019-2020	6,692,638	£3,583,529
Scottish Enterprise	2019-2020	409,400	£162,480
Highlands and Islands Enterprise	2020-2021	8,827,949	£6,445,558
Scottish Enterprise	2020-2021	0	£1,032,739
Highlands and Islands Enterprise	2021-2022	2,673,336.41	£3,918,288
Scottish Enterprise	2021-2022	0	£1,129,185

Question reference: S6W-17194

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15995 by Christina McKelvie on 11 April 2023, when the working group will next meet.

Question reference: S6W-17148

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking with suppliers to address the reported shortage of radionuclide that is causing delays to scans for prostate patients in NHS boards, including NHS Tayside.

Question reference: S6W-17182

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether weight is the most appropriate metric for measuring quantities of waste, and, if this is not the case, whether (a) climate change coefficient, (b) environmental impact, (c) scarcity, (d) recyclability and (e) social benefit is being considered as an alternative metric.

As set out in our 2022 Waste and Circular Economy Route Map consultation, we intend to set new circular economy targets for the period to 2030, which go beyond weight-based criteria.

We must ensure that any future targets correspond to our Environment Strategy and overall vision for a circular economy, alongside the four underpinning principles we set out in the consultation. These key principles included focus on achieving net zero by 2045 and the delivery of a sustainable international material footprint.

Our final Route Map is due for publication later in 2023.

Question reference: S6W-17111

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to implement Anne's Law as soon as possible, in light of the delay to the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill.

The Scottish Government remains committed to delivering Anne’s Law which will support the rights of people living in adult care homes to connect with their loved ones.

At Stage 1 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill, evidence was heard from seven committees and many individuals and representatives on a wide range of topics. An extension will allow the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government the necessary time to consider all of the evidence to best inform the development of Anne’s Law and the Bill.

Meantime, the Scottish Government has already utilised existing powers to adopt the core foundations of Anne’s Law through the development of two new Heath and Social Care Standards introduced in April 2022.

The new Standards established that people living in care homes should have the right to see someone who is important to them, even during an outbreak and be able to name a person or persons who can directly participate in meeting their care needs. The Care Inspectorate now refer to these Standards when registering, inspecting and supporting care homes.

In addition Public Health Scotland COVID guidance now reflects that three named visitors can visit a resident, one per day, in the event of an outbreak, and essential visiting for end-of-life care and distress should always be supported, regardless of the circumstances.

The strengthened Public Health guidance and the new Standards have helped to minimise disruption to visiting, with 99% of adult care homes reporting that they are supporting indoor visiting.

During the extension to Stage 1 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill the Scottish Government will continue to work with care home providers, relatives and organisations to develop the detail of Anne’s Law and prepare for its implementation.

Question reference: S6W-17232

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, following the publication of the Additional Support for Learning Review Action Plan – Update November 2022, how it plans to ensure that there will be career progression and pathways for teachers looking to specialise in Additional Support for Learning (ASL), and for what reason its intention is that this will result in an overall increase in the number of teachers specialising in ASL.

Career progression for teachers who want to further their careers in specialist roles in curricular, pedagogical and policy delivery are available through the role of Lead Teacher, which was introduced into the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers grading structure in August 2021.

Lead Teacher areas of specialism can include additional support needs and therefore there is the potential for an increase in the opportunities available to teachers wishing to specialise in this area.

The recruitment and deployment of teachers, including Lead Teachers, is a matter for individual local authorities, based on their local need and priorities.

Question reference: S6W-17167

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it permitted the Lord Advocate to travel to (a) Belgium, (b) the Netherlands and (c) Austria, in 2022, at a reported total cost of £1,430.

To help bring benefits to the people of Scotland.

The Lord Advocate attended the 13th Conference of the Network of Public Prosecutors or equivalent institutions at the Supreme Judicial Courts of the Member States of the European Union (Nadal Network) Conference in Vienna, Austria in May 2022 in her capacity as the head of the system for criminal prosecution in Scotland.

The Lord Advocate also visited Belgium and the Netherlands in November 2022 to build and maintain relations with key Belgian, Dutch and UK Government officials involved in international law enforcement matters.