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: S6F-00950

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 March 2022

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the Spring Statement.

Question reference: S6F-00947

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 March 2022

To ask the First Minister what work is being done to extend the "warm Scots welcome" to Ukrainians arriving in the UK.

Question reference: S6F-00929

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 March 2022

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that people are able to register with NHS dental practices and receive NHS dental treatments in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question reference: S6F-00925

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 March 2022

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-00924

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 March 2022

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-07284

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many disabled people have been on waiting lists for social housing in each local authority in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-07138

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 21 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason raising the 100MW threshold to 300MW for innovation projects within the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas Decarbonisation (INTOG) planning process will create additional regional cumulative impacts, while allowing decarbonisation of oil and gas projects to progress with no individual project thresholds in place and without the same concern regarding cumulative impacts, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

It is not the case that one category of project, under INTOG, may create additional cumulative impact while another may not. All offshore wind projects have the potential to contribute to cumulative impact on our natural environment and other sea users. The INTOG planning process has outlined spatial limitations for the entire INTOG planning process. This includes limitations on where Targeted Oil and Gas projects can be located, and where Innovation projects will be considered. It also includes areas of exclusion to help manage, at the plan level, the potential for negative impact.

Question reference: S6W-07163

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 21 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much time it will take to carry out the physical works to retro-fit and decarbonise all buildings in Scotland in order to meet the 2030 targets under its Heat in Buildings Strategy.

The amount of time spent on the physical works for each building retrofit can vary and depends on a range of factors. Some of the factors which influence the time taken are: the building type; the types of work needed to improve the energy efficiency of the building; and the type of zero emissions heating installed.

Our workforce assessment, currently underway, will give insight into the drivers of the range of retrofit times and related workforce and skills needs across relevant sectors. In addition, working with industry, we will co-produce a Heat in Buildings supply chain action plan focussed on ensuring industry can deliver at the pace and scale needed.

Question reference: S6W-07186

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 21 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much peat has been burned in Scotland in the process of making whisky, in order to flavour malting barley, in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-06984

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the number of people living in town centres.

Increasing the number of people living in town centres was one of the themes in the Scottish Government's Town Centre Action Plan (TCAP) and is also one of the recommendations made by the independent review of TCAP 'A New future for Scotland's Town Centres', which was published in February 2021. We are working with COSLA and partners to respond to the review with a revised action plan which will be published later in the spring.

The Draft national Planning Framework 4 contains a new policy, dedicated to town centre living, calling on planning authorities to proactively encourage and support opportunities for town centre living.

Our Housing to 2040 strategy puts ambitions for place at its core, investing in town centres and making it easier for homes to be at the heart of thriving communities by: investing in a rolling programme of demonstrator locations, providing expertise, resources and matched funding to help illustrate what future Town Centre Living and 20 minute neighbourhood models can look like. We will also continue to support partners through our Affordable Housing Supply Programme to deliver affordable housing in town centres where this has been identified as a strategic priority.