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-04749

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Network Rail about the arrangements for the nationalisation of ScotRail.

A series of Transport Scotland led workshops has been held from June 2021 with Network Rail and ScotRail. The purpose of these workshops has been to develop the policies and strategies for the new ScotRail Trains Limited arrangements.

Transport Scotland is also engaging in bi-weekly joint steering group meetings with both Network Rail and ScotRail at senior level to ensure the coordination of mobilisation arrangements between the parties.

Question reference: S6W-04754

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what formal discussions have been held with ScotRail employees about the arrangements for the nationalisation of ScotRail.

Question reference: S6W-04755

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Office of Rail and Road about the arrangements for the nationalisation of ScotRail.

Question reference: S6W-04764

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it plans to confirm rail fares for 2022; whether rail fares will increase, and, if so, what the increase will be.

Question reference: S6W-04569

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02681 by Richard Lochhead on 22 September 2021, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding the budget stream(s) from which the 10-year £500 million Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray will be drawn.

Question reference: S6W-04897

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33611 by Mairi Gougeon on 4 December 2020, whether it will provide the information for (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22 to date regarding the number of offences recorded by Police Scotland under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953.

Information on the number of offences recorded by Police Scotland under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 is provided in the following table.

Table 1. Offences of Protection of livestock from dogs, by local authority, 2012-13 to November 2021.

	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	April-Nov 2021*
Aberdeen City	0	1	2	6	6	3	1	0	2	2
Aberdeenshire	24	9	10	15	16	21	20	14	11	6
Angus	3	1	2	6	1	2	2	0	1	6
Argyll & Bute	11	3	5	8	11	7	11	11	18	8
Clackmannanshire	1	2	0	4	2	2	0	0	2	2
Dumfries & Galloway	5	6	6	12	7	21	13	9	16	16
Dundee	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
East Ayrshire	1	2	1	8	3	9	5	6	3	5
East Dunbartonshire	1	3	0	4	0	3	1	1	2	0
East Lothian	0	3	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
East Renfrewshire	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	2	1	0
Edinburgh City	2	3	3	2	7	4	5	2	3	8
Falkirk	8	0	3	4	3	2	4	0	2	0
Fife	9	6	7	4	8	6	7	5	12	2
Glasgow City	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Highland	15	10	15	23	23	20	19	14	16	8
Inverclyde	1	0	0	1	2	1	2	1	1	0
Midlothian	6	5	5	4	10	8	7	10	17	2
Moray	2	3	5	4	5	3	4	8	5	2
Na h-Eileanan Siar	7	3	8	5	8	6	7	1	3	3
North Ayrshire	1	2	3	4	0	2	3	3	7	2
North Lanarkshire	0	1	4	6	11	3	9	9	5	2
Orkney Islands	4	1	2	7	2	3	1	0	0	1
Perth & Kinross	2	2	3	7	14	11	6	7	6	3
Renfrewshire	2	1	0	4	4	2	2	1	0	1
Scottish Borders	4	8	10	7	7	4	8	19	13	9
Shetland Islands	2	0	0	3	0	0	1	0	0	1
South Ayrshire	0	3	0	1	1	3	2	3	5	1
South Lanarkshire	2	2	2	8	12	13	10	9	7	2
Stirling	8	8	8	7	8	4	12	7	3	8
West Dunbartonshire	1	3	1	2	1	1	1	2	0	1
West Lothian	3	7	2	7	2	4	4	7	2	2
Scotland	125	98	109	174	175	170	168	151	163	103

Note:

* Data for 2012-13 to 2020-21 inclusive is sourced from the annual Recorded Crime in Scotland National Statistics. Data for April to November 2021 does not cover a full year and is sourced from monthly Recorded Crime in Scotland Official Statistics, and is therefore not directly comparable. The full 2021-22 reporting year will be published in 2022.

Question reference: S6W-05194

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its response to Scotland’s Climate Assembly’s recommendations.

I am pleased to inform Parliament that the Scottish Government has today laid its response to Scotland’s Climate Assembly.

The Assembly has been a truly historic process resulting in recommendations which are already guiding the future of our country. Our response has been a cross-Government effort and we have set out the actions that we are taking in response to each recommendation.

These actions include the roll-out of support for a new network of sharing libraries across Scotland, work with Scottish landowners to increase woodland creation and peatland restoration, and integrating emissions and emission reduction topics into education programmes across the country, ensuring people of all ages are supported to learn about and act on climate change.

We have been clear where action is already underway, and where we need to explore the feasibility of proposals or consult further. As we work towards net zero, we will ensure the Assembly's recommendations continue to guide decision-making. We will also take relevant recommendations to the UK Government to urge them to act in areas that would enable Scotland to reach its full emissions reduction potential.

As you will know, the Climate Assembly worked closely with the Children’s Parliament, ensuring that for the first time, children have directly been involved in such a process. The responses to their calls to action have been integrated into our main response. Additionally, we will respond directly to the Children’s Parliament.

I look forward to hearing the outcome of the eighth and final meeting of the Assembly and will make a statement to Parliament following this.

Scotland’s Climate Assembly, as representatives of our nation, told us what they want to see to meet net zero, and I am delighted to support this package of recommendations.

Question reference: S6W-05191

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Keith Brown on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide an update on the progress of implementation of recommendations from Dame Elish Angiolini’s review of complaints handling, investigations and misconduct in relation to policing in Scotland.

I am pleased to confirm the publication today of the Scottish Government’s second thematic report on implementation progress following Dame Elish Angiolini’s Final Report.

The thematic progress report showcases the significant steps partners have taken to implement Dame Elish Angiolini’s recommendations, as well as highlighting our commitment to consult next year on legislative proposals in advance of bringing forward primary legislation.

I commend Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland for the collaborative working and progress to date. As set out in the last report, this second report features updates from all partners, with tables to record progress against every recommendation grouped under the following themes:

Rights & ethics
Jurisdiction & powers
Governance & accountability
Transparency & accessibility
Equality, diversity & inclusion
Conduct & standards
Training & HR
Efficiency & effectiveness
Audit & review

The report can be accessed here: http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781802017168

Question reference: S6W-04809

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 December 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many applicants have been required to withdraw and resubmit applications for grant assistance to deliver affordable housing above Affordable Housing Investment Benchmark level due to (a) contract offers having expired and (b) costs having increased since the initial application was submitted, in each quarter since Q1 2016.

Question reference: S6W-04979

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 December 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for grant assistance to deliver affordable housing above Affordable Housing Investment Benchmark level have been required to be withdrawn and resubmitted due to (a) contract offers having expired and (b) costs having increased since the initial application was submitted, in each quarter since Q1 2016.