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-03040

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 30 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support it has provided in relation to the Scottish Maritime Cluster’s participation in London International Shipping Week 2021.

Question reference: S6W-02999

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 30 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government under what circumstances it would consider exploring municipal ownership of Ardrossan Harbour with North Ayrshire Council.

Question reference: S6W-02976

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 30 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made implementing a student mental health action plan that embeds mental health and wellbeing into the curriculum.

We are well on our way to achieving our commitment to introduce more than 80 additional counsellors in colleges and universities. Funding for the 2021-22 Academic Year, set at £4.23 million, an increase of almost £0.6 million on last year’s budget, will help address the issue of equity of access, a key commitment in our Student Mental Health Action Plan.

Over the coming months, the Scottish Government will work closely with sector and wider stakeholders, to further ensure equity of access to counsellors and to take forward our commitments to embed mental health and wellbeing into the curriculum, through the development of a Student Mental Health Action Plan.

Question reference: S6O-00233

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 30 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that young people's views on climate change are listened to in the run up to COP26.

On 13 September, we announced £300,000 of support for the 16th conference of youth—COY16—the UN’s official youth event for COP26. For the first time, five young people from Scotland will join participants from around the world and will help to shape the conference’s statement. We also support the Young Scot-led Scottish youth climate programme, which enables Scottish children and young people to host a climate youth summit ahead of COP26 to design the legacy that they want from the conference and to act as local champions across the country.

Question reference: S6O-00232

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 30 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the scale of unemployment among qualified teachers.

The recruitment and retention of teachers is a matter for local authorities.

However, I am determined that teachers have strong job opportunities. We have provided significant additional funds for the recruitment of additional teachers and I have committed to increasing teachers numbers by 3,500 during the course of this parliamentary term.

We have provided £240 million of additional investment to local authorities to support the recruitment of additional education staff to support education recovery. We have also allocated £145.5 million annually to the local government settlement which will support councils to employ additional staff on permanent contracts.

Question reference: S6O-00234

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 30 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK and Danish governments on the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance.

Currently, there has been no discussion with the UK and Danish Governments on the newly announced Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance. However, Scottish Ministers expect to meet with the Danish Government ahead of COP26 to discuss climate change and other areas of mutual interest.

In line with the Scottish Government’s evidence based approach to policy development, we have committed to undertaking a programme of work and analysis to better understand Scotland’s energy requirements as we transition to net zero and how this aligns with our climate change targets.

Question reference: S6O-00256

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional Qualified Teachers of Children and Young People with Vision Impairment will be recruited as part of its commitment to recruit 1,000 new teachers and 500 pupil support assistants in the next academic year.

Question reference: S6O-00241

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it supports veterans, and what official statistics it records to monitor this.

Question reference: S6O-00248

Asked by: Gillian Martin, MSP for Aberdeenshire East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it will support the north east economy, in light of the impact of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Question reference: S6O-00245

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to promote sustainable public procurement.