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-07160

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many miles of dual carriageway were opened on the A9 trunk road between Perth and Inverness in (a) May 1979 to May 1997, (b) May 1997 to May 1999, (c) May 1999 to May 2007 and (d) since May 2007.

The available records of published Road Orders details our understanding of when the following sections of A9 dual carriageways were opened:

(a) May 1979 to May 1997

Location	Approximate Length (m)	Date
Between Dalnarcardoch and Dalnaspidal	6.2	Circa 1979 / 1981
Moy south of Inverness to Bogbain	5.7	April 1979
Bogbain to Inshes	1	October 1979
Northwards from Ballinluig	4	May 1981 and April 1983
Charlestown to Tore Roundabout	3.7	October 1981
Faskally	0.3	May 1981
Longman to Charlestown (Kessock Br)	2.3	July 1982
Killiecrankie	1.2	August 1986
Crubenmore south of Etteridge	0.9	December 1979

(b) May 1997 to May 1999

nil

(d) since May 2007.


Crubenmore north of Etteridge	2	September 2011
Kincraig to Dalraddy	4.6	September 2017
Luncarty to Pass of Birnam	5.9	August 2021

In addition, procurement of a further 6 miles of dual carriageway between Tomatin and Moy is in progress at present.

This Scottish Government is the only administration to have committed to dualling the A9, bringing benefits to business and local communities throughout Scotland.

No previous administration started preparatory work to enable full dualling to be undertaken.

Question reference: S6W-07097

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the proposed Deposit Return Scheme may contravene the provisions on non-discrimination of goods, which are included in the UK Internal Market Act 2020.

Question reference: S6W-07145

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether Circularity Scotland has entered into signed contracts with partners to deliver the Deposit Return Scheme's logistics, operations and IT systems, in line with the timescale that it set out in December 2021.

Question reference: S6W-07113

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comments, regarding potential benefits for industry from its Deposit Return Scheme, by the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity at the meeting of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on 25 January 2022, that the scheme "will generate about £600 million a year" and that "there is a lot of money to be made", whether it will provide a detailed breakdown of this figure in terms of any potential benefits to industry, and how precisely any such benefits will arise.

The figure is based on Circularity Scotland Ltd’s assessment of its expected annual turnover as scheme administrator once it is in steady state.

We anticipate that implementation and operation of DRS will generate a range of business and employment opportunities in the extensive infrastructure and logistics required for the scheme, for example in the construction and operating of sorting and bulking centres.

Question reference: S6W-07092

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses in the SME sector it anticipates will cease doing business in Scotland as a result of any additional costs of compliance with the proposed Deposit Return Scheme, such as the bar code and labelling requirements.

Participation of small producers is vital to the success of the scheme and we believe we have taken their needs into consideration in designing DRS.

We have consulted extensively with businesses of all sizes that will be affected by the implementation of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme. We are not aware that any producers have decided to cease doing business in Scotland, although we are aware that some have expressed concerns about whether they will continue to sell their products in Scotland.

This is one of the reasons why we have applied a de minimis for the SEPA registration fee. This will remove a cost for businesses operating below the current VAT threshold, benefiting around 1,600 of the more than 4,000 anticipated producers selling into the Scottish market

Question reference: S6W-07098

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its plans to include glass packaging in a Deposit Return Scheme, whether it has considered the impact on overall glass recycling rates of splitting glass into two waste streams for material collected manually and using reverse vending machines.

Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires those handling waste to ensure that it is handled in a fashion that promotes high-value recycling.

Return points, producers and Circularity Scotland, when handling returned scheme packaging, including glass, will therefore have an obligation to promote high-value recycling regardless of whether the glass is collected manually or by the use of reverse vending machines.

Question reference: S6W-07294

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what companies are providing the laptops, Chromebooks, and tablets that are currently being given to schoolchildren.

Question reference: S6W-07295

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what companies are providing the free internet connections for schoolchildren.

Question reference: S6W-07290

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many people registered as homeless have undergone cancer screening in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-07175

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address any lack of awareness among health professionals and GPs of the reported potential impact of Essure contraceptive implants on women's health.