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: S6W-14339

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how (a) many (i) full- and (ii) part-time staff have been employed and (b) much it has spent on (A) travel costs, (B) accommodation costs, (C) research costs, (D) payments to organisations, (E) any other expenses and (F) its work in total, to support its membership of the Open Government Partnership in each year since it became a member.

Scotland has been a member of the Open Government Partnership since 2016. The Open Government team works collaboratively with civil society to promote transparency, participation, inclusivity and accountability across the Scottish Government and internationally. This includes sharing learning with governments around the world, and funding to promote participation and co-production work in Scotland. Scottish Government strongly supports these priorities and recognises the value of this work. We are currently delivering Scotland’s third Open Government Action Plan, which includes a focus on health and social care, climate change, fiscal transparency, improving participation, and data and digital.

It is not possible to accurately identify costs to support membership of the Open Government Partnership for the years 2016 - 2020. This is due to changes in the organisation of teams and categorisation of resources.

The number of staff working to support membership of the Open Government Partnership since 2016 is comparable to current numbers of staff.

You will also want to note that the costs of the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights’ attendance at the OGP Europe Regional Meeting in October 2022 were recently published in response to S6W-13376 on 17 January 2023.

Breakdown of Open Government team approximate spend, excluding staff costs

Financial year	Item	Approximate figures
2021-22	Grant funding	£84,000
	Action Plan co-creation process	£23,967.60
	External research	£30,825
	Publishing	£3,089.05
	Commissioned support	£12,138
TOTAL £154,019.65
2022-23 (as of 31 Jan 2023)	Grant funding	£84,000
	Independent evaluation	£9,450
	Travel and accommodation	£430.26
	Publishing	£938.54
TOTAL (as of 31 Jan 2023) £94,818.80

Open Government team staff costs and numbers

Year	Total staff costs	Staff numbers
2021-22	£201,389	3 FTE, with 1 FTE vacant for 4 months
2022-23	£222,704	3 FTE, with 1 FTE vacant for 2 months

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-14317

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason shooting is permitted at, or adjacent to, sites that have statutory protection, such as National Nature Reserves, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Local Nature Reserves.

The legislation underpinning Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) requires that NatureScot identifies any activities that are likely to damage the natural features for which the site is designated. These activities are listed for each site as ‘Operations Requiring Consent’ (ORC).

Before a private owner or occupier of a SSSI carries out any activity listed on the ORC list, permission must be sought from NatureScot and a consent issued. A SSSI Consent may be required by the landowner/occupier to undertake wildfowling on a specific SSSI if ORC 10 ‘The killing or removal of any wild mammal, bird, fish or invertebrate’ is in place for the SSSI in question, as this indicates that such activity has the potential to adversely affect nationally important bird populations. Further information on ORC can be found on the NatureScot website .

Most, if not all National Nature Reserves (NNRs) are also SSSIs, and so the provisions above for ORC would also apply. There is also provision in the underpinning legislation for NNRs for the creation of bye-laws to prevent damaging activity.

Where wildfowling takes place on Local Nature Reserves (LNRs) local authorities have powers to make bylaws to protect the interests of LNRs.

Question reference: S6W-14580

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many operators of vessels have been prosecuted for turning off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) in waters around (a) Scotland and (b) Shetland in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6T-01171

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that M&Co will close all of its 170 stores, resulting in almost 2,000 job losses.

Question reference: S6T-01164

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to bring the strike action by teachers to an end.

Question reference: S6F-01802

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 February 2023

To ask the First Minister, in light of reports of people being forced onto prepayment meters, what steps the Scottish Government is taking to support vulnerable people in Scotland with rising energy costs.

Question reference: S6F-01815

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 February 2023

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on whether oil and gas companies are investing enough of their profits to support a just transition in Scotland.

Question reference: S6F-01796

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 February 2023

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reports that 600 drinks producers are concerned about the impact on their businesses, and the survival of them, in relation to the Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6F-01795

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 February 2023

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the potential impact on the hospitality and tourism sectors of a ban on advertising alcohol products.

Question reference: S6F-01792

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 February 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.