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 40990 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-05694

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 9 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the delivery of the increase in the Scottish Child Payment, whether a solution has been found to the "ongoing issue around the preferred technical solution", as referred to in the minutes from the 17th meeting of the Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare from November 2021.

Question reference: S6W-05911

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Bioenergy Expert Panel, including when it was or will be established, when it will next meet, and what sectoral representation is on the panel.

Question reference: S6W-05693

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 9 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates any delay to the planned roll-out of the increased Scottish Child Payment.

Question reference: S6W-05914

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what processes are in place to ensure Best Value and financial transparency in relation to any costs that will be, or are expected to be, incurred by the contract with Abellio during the transition from its franchise to a new rail operator.

Question reference: S6W-05859

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether reducing 300 rail services from pre-pandemic levels will increase or decrease rail passenger numbers.

Question reference: S6W-06008

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to accelerate the rate of peatland restoration.

We are committed to significantly increasing annual rates of peatland restoration in Scotland. We have committed £250 million for peatland restoration over the period 2020 to 2030 and this sends a clear signal of the Government’s intent to restore peatlands to help address the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Peatland Action, a Scottish Government-funded programme delivered by NatureScot and other delivery partners, provides technical and logistical support to land owners and land managers to support their scale-up and delivery of peatland restoration. We are developing further support to drive this new industry in rural areas and engage with crofting communities; we are also gathering evidence on how to target restoration activity to ensure maximum value for money, emission reduction savings and a just transition.

Question reference: S6W-05994

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 9 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many employees have been trained or retrained through the North East Economic Recovery and Skills Fund.

The North East Economic Recovery and Skills Fund (NEERSF) launched in August 2021. Projects will continue to September 2022 and following this, we will provide a report on the full period.

The first interim performance reporting from the delivery partnership was received in December 2021. These reports covered progress from 7th October to 30th November, when delivery remained in early stages. In that initial two month period 490 individuals and over 40 businesses were supported.

Question reference: S6W-05867

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 9 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the ministerial statement on strengthened fire alarm standards on 19 January 2022, what estimates it has made of the number of homes that will (a) comply and (b) not comply with the new legislation on interlinked fire alarms by 1 February 2022.

Once the new standard comes into force, the Scottish Government will collect data on fire alarms in Scottish homes in future iterations of the Scottish House Condition Survey. Following the Scottish Government’s mass media awareness campaign in 2021, we know there are high levels of awareness and home-owners will have taken steps to fit the necessary alarms.

Information on the number of homes that have interlinked fire alarms is not currently collected as part of the Scottish House Condition Survey. This standard has already applied to private rented homes and new build homes for over a decade. Social landlords also have a programme of works underway to ensure their tenants have the necessary alarms fitted.

Question reference: S6W-05923

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 9 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the Home Energy Scotland loan scheme that provides up to £15,000 for energy efficiency improvements in homes.

The Scottish Government’s Home Energy Scotland (HES) loan scheme provides up to £15,000 for energy efficiency improvements plus up to £17,500 for zero emissions heating and micro-renewables and up to £6,000 for battery storage. Cashback grants are available with the loans of up to £7,500 on zero emissions heating systems plus up to £6,000 for energy efficiency measures.

We have committed to replacing the cashback offer in 2022-23 with a grant scheme to support energy efficiency and zero emissions heat improvements.

Question reference: S6W-05932

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 9 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government with which external organisations (not including Zero Waste Scotland) did the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity meet, including virtually and in person, to discuss the deposit return scheme, broken down by (a) the number of meetings that were held with each organisation and (b) when the meetings took place, between 1 September 2021 and 14 December 2021.