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-01168

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to ensure that the time chartering of ferries for publicly subsidised routes is consistent with the commitment made in the Fair Work: action plan to increase the number of workers covered by collective bargaining.

Question reference: S6W-01395

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 16 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00041 by Mairi Gougeon on 24 May 2021, what progress has been made on bringing an end to caged-animal farming, following reports that the EU is working on legislation to phase out the practice by 2027.

Question reference: S6W-01280

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many of CalMac’s 34 ferries are more than 25 years old.

Question reference: S6W-01235

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date universal free meals in primary schools will be fully implemented, and what progress has been made to date regarding the delivery of this.

Free school meals are a vital support to thousands of children and young people across the country - ensuring that children have access to a free, healthy and nutritious meal on every day they are in school and are ready to engage in learning.

The Scottish Government and our local authority partners have reached agreement to introduce universal free school lunches, during school term-time, for children in primaries 4 and 5 during the course of the current financial year. Universal provision for all children in primary 4 will begin in August 2021, whilst universal provision for all children in primary 5 will begin in January 2022.

We are providing local authorities with £28 million in this financial year to deliver this commitment, which will see around 90,000 additional children become newly entitled to receive free school lunches during the course of the forthcoming school year.

We will continue to work with our partners in local authorities over the coming months to ensure that our commitment to expanding the universal provision of free school lunches to include all primary school children, during term-time, is delivered by August 2022.

Question reference: S6W-01188

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 02 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00865, what the estimated additional workload in hours was for teachers who supported the delivery of the Alternative Certification Model (ACM).

The Alternative Certification Model (ACM) for national qualifications in 2020-21 has been designed to give schools the flexibility to assess learners at times and in ways that are appropriate to their specific needs. This has been enhanced by a programme of support provided by the wider education sector.

As a result, the additional workload will vary and be subject to decisions at a local school level, in terms of their approach to delivering the Alternative Certification Model.

The Alternative Certification Model required teachers to ensure learners receive their national qualifications, based on their professional judgement of demonstrated attainment. We have recognised this unprecedented responsibility through the payment of up to £400 for each teacher involved in supporting the delivery of the ACM, and providing two days set aside during the school year for teachers to work on the assessments.

Question reference: S6W-01171

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 02 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the owner of Pentland Ferries, regarding the Fair Work Framework.

Question reference: S6W-01209

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 July 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support procurement in the construction industry, in light of reports that there are shortages of bagged cement, given that some businesses are sourcing the product from England.

We have been working to address supply chain issues in the construction industry since the launch of our Construction Recovery Plan in October last year, working with industry and the UK Government to fully understand the current supply chain issues, which we recognise are due to a number of factors including the coronavirus pandemic and the impact of EU Exit.

I have also established a working group to consider immediate supply issues in more detail and I meet with the group on a weekly basis in order to work with Scottish manufacturers to increase output to meet the shortage challenges. I am meeting suppliers to discuss the opportunities available for increasing production, and sourcing more supplies from Scottish manufacturers.

The Scottish Government will continue to work hard to address the problems and blockages faced by companies, where it is in our power to do so.

Question reference: S6W-01139

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to discussions with the (a) Maritime and Coastguard Agency and (b) vessel’s owner, whether it will provide an update on the safety of the MV Pentalina for operation on Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service routes.

Question reference: S6W-01008

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 16 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the decision of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales on 23 April 2021 to overturn the convictions of sub-postmasters and postmistresses convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting on the basis of flawed evidence from the Post Office’s Horizon system, what steps are being taken by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to (a) identify Scottish sub-postmasters and postmistresses and their staff who were potentially wrongly prosecuted for fraud or embezzlement in Scotland on the basis of similarly flawed information supplied by the Post Office and (b) determine whether, in respect of prosecutions in Scotland, the Post Office was misleading during the court processes about the flaws of the Horizon system described by the Court of Appeal, or failed to disclose those flaws.

On 23 April 2021 the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) for England and Wales issued a judgement in Josephine Hamilton & Others v Post Office Limited [2021] EWCA Crim 577 relating to cases referred to it by the Criminal Cases Review Commission for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The case involved a total of 42 applicants who were formerly sub-postmasters or sub-postmistresses for the Post Office Limited who had been convicted of offences including theft, fraud and false accounting.

The Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of 39 of the applicants on the basis that evidence from the Horizon computer system, operated by the Post Office Limited, could not be relied upon.

Post Office Limited have identified persons known to have been convicted in Scotland on the basis of evidence that may relate to the Horizon computer system. This information has been provided to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC). A number of cases are under review by the SCCRC. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is assisting the SCCRC with its review. Any decision to refer the cases to the High Court is a matter for the SCCRC.

Question reference: S6W-01137

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 July 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 16 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Scottish National Party's manifesto commitment to deliver an Islands Connectivity Plan, what discussions it has had with the union, Prospect, regarding this; what the outcome of these discussions were, and, if discussions have not taken place, what the reasons are for this.