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 48928 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-08354

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of ScotRail’s current rolling stock by (a) age and (b) the year that the trains will reach the end of their working life.

The following table represents a breakdown of the current ScotRail rolling stock by class of train, year built and approximate age. There is no single lifespan for a train: any decision to replace a train fleet is based on multiple evaluation criteria. While there are no expiry dates attached to the current train fleet, the Rail Passenger Services Decarbonisation Action Plan commits to all diesel trains (both multiple unit types and High Speed Trains (HSTs)) being replaced by 2035.

Class	Year of Build	Approx. age
318	1986	36
320	1990	32
334	2001	21
280	2010	12
385	2018	4
153	1987	35
156	1989	33
158	1992	30
170	1999 to 2005	23 to 17
HST MK3 Coach	1976 to 1984	46 to 30
HST Class 43	1975 to 1982	47 to 40

Question reference: S6W-07963

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 08 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for the future of the NHS 24/7 staff helpline.

Question reference: S6W-08461

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 26 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported findings of the recent report by the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership, with Cancer Research UK, that in 38.5% of cases, patients in Scotland were diagnosed with cancer only after emergency admittance to hospital.

The Scottish Government has committed a further £20 million over the parliamentary term to our Detect Cancer Early Programme, which aims to provide greater public awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer to improve earlier diagnosis rates.

Significant funding has also been targeted at increasing diagnostic capacity across NHS Scotland. This includes our Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal plan to specifically support scope based diagnostics backed by £70 million and our £1bn NHS Recovery Plan which sets out our plans and ambitions for the next five years.

The NHS remains under sustained pressure as a result of COVID-19, with the number of people awaiting diagnostic tests now at the highest level since 2018. Patients continue to be seen based on their clinical urgency, for example those referred with an urgent suspicion of cancer continue to be prioritised for key diagnostic tests.

Question reference: S6W-08543

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to improve recreational sea angling across Scotland.

Scottish Government maintains good relations with the angling community through its interaction with Angling Scotland. This helps in ensuring that any issues and opportunities for recreational sea angling in Scotland are brought to our attention and can be appropriately considered alongside other priorities.

Between 2016 and 2021 the Scottish Government supported the UK-wide Sea Angling Diary, which saw anglers as ‘volunteer diarists’ contributing data on recreational catches. Scottish Government, taking into account limited feedback from stakeholders, considered that the Scottish data collection was not providing good value for taxpayers’ money due to the limitations of the output, and will no longer contribute to the UK survey.

Instead, it will review its approach to sea angling data collection and examine other means by which they can be obtained in the future. Data specifically tailored towards the Scottish situation can then be made available to inform measures to promote sea angling, whilst monitoring any impacts on commercial fish stocks.

Question reference: S6W-08557

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to launch a marketing campaign to increase bus use before removing the Network Support Grant Plus.

Question reference: S6W-08554

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to bus operators to upgrade depots with the necessary infrastructure needed for zero-emission buses.

The Scottish Government provided support for the acquisition of zero emission buses, and the associated charging infrastructure, through the Scottish Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme (SULEBS) and its successor, the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB). SULEBS provided 75% of the cost of infrastructure, and ScotZEB Phase 1 offered up to 75% of the cost of battery-electric infrastructure or 85% of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.

In total to date, through SULEBS and ScotZEB, the Scottish Government has awarded £30.4 million to bus operators to upgrade depots with the necessary infrastructure for zero emission buses.

Question reference: S6W-08811

Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 26 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to provide an update on the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education and Training Strategy for Scotland.

A report on the STEM Education and Training Strategy will be published on the Scottish Government website today - www.gov.scot/isbn/9781804353592

The report highlights progress made on a range of STEM-related education and training initiatives; including those areas where progress has been more challenging. Among other things the report notes recent work on responding to the Logan Review of the Scottish Technology Ecosystem, progress on the Young STEM Leader awards initiative and a new round of STEM education grants.

The report also sets out our intention to continue to operate under the current STEM strategy until 2025, and we will continue to publish annual reports until then.

Question reference: S6O-01176

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Central Scotland have been helped onto the property ladder through government schemes since 2016-17.

Question reference: S6O-01174

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy for Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-01177

Asked by: Marie McNair, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to protect communities from excessive aircraft noise.