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-02036

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to celebrate and mark St Andrew's Day 2023.

Question reference: S6O-02031

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the culture minister has had with Historic Environment Scotland regarding the organisation's Waste and Resources Plan, including any potential impact of the Deposit Return Scheme on its operations.

Question reference: S6O-02051

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to increasing the income threshold for free school meal eligibility for families not currently covered by any free school meal entitlement.

Question reference: S6O-02029

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what contact it has had with the UK Government regarding concerns over the potential impact in Scotland of the proposed Illegal Migration Bill.

Question reference: S6O-02042

Asked by: Jim Fairlie, MSP for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how its proposals for reforming criminal law to address misogyny will challenge misogyny in society.

Question reference: S6O-02034

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how its culture policies can help celebrate Scotland's rich social history.

Question reference: S6W-14464

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 15 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13825 by Angus Robertson on 18 January 2023, whether any international office has failed to deliver any of its five shared strategic objectives since 2016-17.

No office has failed to deliver towards any of the strategic objectives. The progress made towards, or challenges against, achieving strategic objectives are best understood as cumulative.

Scotland’s international network comprises a broader range of partners who support our efforts across trade, investment and diplomacy. Colleagues both in Scotland and in our international offices across Scottish Government and Scottish Development International contribute together towards trade and investment measures for international sales and jobs.

The Scottish Government’s international network of offices deliver benefits to Scotland across all five strategic objectives. This is reflected in the annual monitoring and evaluation report submitted each financial year.

Monitoring and evaluation reports outline the work undertaken by each office to progress against each strategic objective; and to contribute towards ensuring they provide value for money. As part of this, offices highlight challenges as well as outlining potential and/or planned areas for improvement. In recent years this has included factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the negative impact Brexit continues to have on our economy, jobs and trade.

We recognise that there are areas where improvements can be made. The Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee’s report into the Scottish Government’s international work, published last year, highlights the challenges in measuring the impact of diplomacy and soft power, as well as quantifying areas through metrics and performance indicators as direct and immediate benefits.

This is an area where we are committed to a continuous cycle of improvement alongside ensuring our international work is measurable, transparent and available to the public. From this year, we will publish an annual report explaining how our international offices work to promote our values, objectives and priorities across the globe.

Details of progress made against each strategic objective are as follows:

Reputation

The recently published Nation Brands Index (NBI) 2022 survey, which scores and ranks countries against six dimensions (culture, tourism, governance, immigration and investment, exports, and people) demonstrated that Scotland has achieved its highest ever reported score, jumping to 65.3 out of 100, compared to a score of 62.6 out of 100 in 2020.
The work of the international offices in maintaining and promoting Scotland’s image abroad via facilitating collaborations, developing networks, and hosting officials and events is a key contributor to Scotland’s overall international reputation.

Trade & Investment

The most recent monitoring and evaluation report of the offices demonstrated that cumulatively the forecast international sales within each location country as a result of SDI support totalled approximately £972,000,000 in 2021/22.
Another source of evidence was the EY 2022 Attractiveness Survey which demonstrated that Scotland was the most successful national or region within the UK, outside London, in attracting foreign direct investment.

Research & Innovation

Scottish education has a worldwide reputation for excellence in teaching and research and each of the international offices undertakes work to help facilitate and develop further research and innovation opportunities abroad.
Recent examples include funding which was secured in Germany to facilitate a bilateral research collaboration in the fields of hydrogen, life sciences and biotechnology, as well as capacity building work around the Horizon Europe programme.
In Brussels we have also worked to ensure Scotland is able to retain a role in European organisations which facilitate research, development and innovation collaboration such our membership of the Vanguard Initiative - a network of some 30 European regions.

Scotland’s Interests in the EU and Beyond

Protecting and promoting Scotland’s interests in the EU and beyond is a key focus of Scotland’s international network. Our network comprises offices from the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise (SE) through the latter’s international trade and investment delivery arm, Scottish Development International (SDI). Collectively this network supports activity by the Scottish Government, its agencies and public and private sector partners, in strategic locations outside Scotland.
A key feature of the international offices’ activities in this domain includes the work of the GlobalScot network, a worldwide network of entrepreneurial and inspirational business leaders, dedicated to supporting Scotland’s most ambitious companies. Within the most recent measurement and evaluation report for the offices it was demonstrated that the network continues to grow.
The GlobalScot network now comprises 1200 individuals globally, of whom 545 are in Europe (January 2023). GlobalScots can be found in 68 countries and represent all key sectors.
Trade and investment envoys are also a central part of Scotland’s international business network. They are ministerial appointed to promote international trade and investment interests, strengthen local market knowledge in the countries and sectors they represent and provide strategic business insight and connections. There are eleven trade and investment envoys working in a non-political capacity across specific markets and/or sectors.

Question reference: S6W-15142

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many instances of trespassing have been recorded on the (a) Forth Rail Bridge, (b) Forth Road Bridge and (c) Queensferry Crossing in each year since 2018; what the estimated cost of this was to the emergency services, and in how many instances the bridges were closed as a result.

Instances of trespassing recorded on the (a) Forth Rail Bridge, (b) Forth Road Bridge and (c) Queensferry Crossing each year since 2018, the estimated cost of this to the emergency services, and in how many instances the bridges were closed as a result is as follows:

	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Forth Rail Bridge
Instances of trespassing	0	3	0	2	2	0
Resultant closures	0	1	0	0	0	0
Costs to Emergency Services	Information not held by Transport Scotland
Forth Road Bridge
Instances of trespassing	0	0	3	0	0	0
Resultant closures	0	0	0	0	0	0
Costs to Emergency Services	Information not held by Transport Scotland
Queensferry Crossing
Instances of trespassing	0	0	1	0	1	0
Resultant closures	0	0	0	0	0	0
Costs to Emergency Services	Information not held by Transport Scotland

Question reference: S6W-15159

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether spill data on monitored combined sewer overflows (CSOs), where data is currently reported to SEPA, will be published annually, in light of the commitment in Scottish Water's Improving Urban Waters route map that annual publication of this data would commence by December 2022.

As indicated in Scottish Water’s first annual update to its Improving Urban Waters Routemap, which I referenced in my response to S6O-01493 on 23 November 2022, spill data has been published at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/Your-Home/Your-Waste-Water/Sewer-Overflow-Spill-Data .

I refer the member to the Official Report: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-23-11-2022?meeting=14005&iob=126871

Question reference: S6W-15180

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has investigated the use of waste plastics in road repairs.

As we strive towards a lower carbon transport network and reduced environmental footprint, the wider re-use or recycling of waste materials within construction is of significant interest. Transport Scotland has investigated the potential use of waste products (including plastic) under a project funded by Scottish Road Research Board. The study provides a valuable contribution in exploring the re-use of waste derived materials within road construction and the evaluation of their overall benefits. The report, published in 2019, is available at the link below.https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/50949/briefing-report-recycled-materials-in-road-construction-and-maintenance.pdf

The report concluded that the case for waste-derived plastics to improve the performance of road materials is far from proven. There are also concerns around the quality control of mixed waste-derived plastics and this needs to be addressed to prevent variations in the material which can influence pavement performance.

The Scottish Government is a signatory of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's New Plastics Economy global commitment to end plastic pollution and has introduced legislation to prevent the use of micro-beads and single-use plastic items. Transport Scotland continues to maintain a watching brief on this topic and any such proposals will continue to be subjected to technical review against the published national standards for the design and construction of trunk roads.