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 48958 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-15264

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee's consideration, at its meeting on 7 February 2023, of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) (Amendment) Order 2023, what assessment it has made of whether the Festivals Edinburgh recommendations, included in its written submission, to (a) exclude home-sharing and home-letting from the scope of the Order for major events and (b) waive requirements for a licence where home-sharing or home-letting activity occurs for less than six weeks each year could undermine the health and safety rationale for the Order.

Question reference: S6W-15079

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) has fully costed the 17,000 return points that will reportedly be required as part of the Deposit Return Scheme, (b) will share the estimated cost for each business required to purchase a return point and (c) plans to support businesses that are unable to meet the cost of the return point and any other costs associated with the scheme.

The final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) and Full Business Case (FBC) Stage 1 Addendum, published on 16 March 2020, represent the Scottish Government’s final assessment of the costs and benefits associated with DRS, at that time, prior to implementation.

Retailers can choose to be either a manual return point, use a reverse vending machine or apply for an exemption if applicable.

In response to feedback from retailers, updated guidance and support was published in December to make it clearer, easier and quicker for retailers wishing to apply for an exemption.

We recommend that Return Point Operators(RPOs) contact Circularity Scotland Limited (CSL) for guidance on support. CSL opened their RPO registration on 1 March 2023.

Question reference: S6W-15438

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14430 by Jamie Hepburn on 9 February 2023, when the full review of homelessness data collections (a) was commissioned and (b) will be published.

In consultation with local authority data providers a review was felt to be valuable to ensure data collections were as up to date as possible, reflecting changes in homelessness legislation, terminology and policy. In addition, the review would aim to rationalise the collections by updating these to better reflect the data needs of the sector and data users.

Work is ongoing and we anticipate that a full review of existing content, development of new or alternative content and agreement on final content will be concluded by end 2024-beginning of 2025. This includes time to adequately research content, hold in-depth discussion with data providers and stakeholders to understand data requirements and feasibility of collection. The work will involve review of all relevant legislation and statutory guidance. The aim is to also build in an opportunity to share draft amended content publicly, with a final opportunity for stakeholders to provide feedback before content is fully agreed.

Question reference: S6W-15120

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop an amendment to legislation on short-term lets to provide for home or house sharing for a defined time period.

Licensing authorities have wide discretion in granting temporary exemptions or temporary licences within the powers of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and the Licensing Order.

Temporary licences of up to six weeks are permitted under the 1982 Act. The Licensing Order also makes provision for licensing authorities to grant temporary exemptions on application for a specified single continuous period not exceeding 6 weeks in any period of 12 months. Licensing authorities can make the temporary exemptions process light touch by offering a reduced fee, shorter application form or not applying some of the mandatory licence conditions.

These powers give licensing authorities the flexibility to cater for home sharing arrangements or large local events through the provision of short-term let accommodation.

Question reference: S6W-14882

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter from the Minister for Environment and Land Reform to the Member on 11 January 2023, how it determines whether any given incident or pattern of wildlife mortality is a "major conservation concern".

Further to my letter to you dated 11 January 2023, an incident or pattern of wildlife mortality can be determined to be a “major conservation concern” where it might have an impact on the conservation status of the species concerned. This could be because of the scale of the impact, or because of the vulnerability of the species in question.

The conservation status relating to species can be found in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species determines the listings on the UK Birds of Conservation Concern, and Species of European Conservation Concern.

Question reference: S6W-15783

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12361 by Mairi McAllan on 1 December 2022, whether it will provide an update regarding the date on which it anticipates that the goose management policy review report will be published.

As set out in the answer to S6W-15782 on 20 March 2023, stakeholders will be consulted on a draft report in April. Following this the Steering Group will produce a final report which will be submitted to Ministers and published in due course thereafter.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-15770

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the decision of the Lord Advocate to instruct the police to investigate the Scottish Prison Service for corporate homicide, whether it will hand over to Police Scotland all correspondence, transcripts, notes of meetings and all other communications with ministers, their officials and the Scottish Prison Service to assist with this investigation.

Question reference: S6W-15650

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish an impact assessment of the money spent in Malawi as part of the loss and damage fund.

The Scottish Government’s funding for addressing loss and damage is supporting work in several countries including, although not exclusively, Malawi, Bangladesh and the Pacific. The majority of the initial £2 million committed to loss and damage has already been spent on the ground supporting communities or delivering important research to help close the knowledge gaps on loss and damage. Our funding is paid in quarterly arrears and some of the remaining funds will be spent on these programmes by the end of this financial year in March 2023, including projects in Malawi supported by the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund and the Climate Justice Resilience Fund. However, some projects will continue until December 2023, including work by International Centre for Climate Change and Development on integrating loss and damage into national framework in Malawi and Zambia. The Scottish Government will aim to publish a report once the programmes supported by the initial £2 million have concluded, which will detail the outcomes and impact of the funding.

Question reference: S6W-15555

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many third sector organisations received more than 50% of their funding from the Scottish Government in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-15614

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether its review of the adaptations system has begun; what the scope of the review is; when the review is expected to conclude and report, and whether it will provide a full list of consultees.

The review of the adaptations system has begun. Adaptations are an integral part of support for independent living for older and disabled people. The scope of the review is to identify and overcome the barriers to a streamlined and responsive system where adaptations are planned for, funded and delivered in a timely and appropriate manner.

Officials have met with a number of stakeholders and will continue engagement with the newly formed Accessible Housing and Independent Living Stakeholder Group to ensure all those who have an interest and those with lived experience are able to contribute to the review. As the review is ongoing the list of consultees has not been finalised.

The initial review findings and recommendations are expected in the Summer.