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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Displaying 2712 questions Show Answers
Question reference: S6W-25079
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
- Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide full details of the
timetable leading up to the redacted version of the Hamilton Report being
issued to the public on 22 March 2021, including (a) when the report was
delivered to it by James Hamilton, (b) when information was redacted from the
report and (c) whether there was more than one process of redaction.
Answer
Question reference: S6W-25080
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
- Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government under whose ministerial direction the redactions to the Hamilton Report were made; whether it will provide the name of the lead official in charge of such redactions; how many civil servants were involved in the process of redaction; whether it will provide, where possible, the (a) names and (b) job titles of those civil servants; whether any special advisers were involved in the redaction process and, if so, whether it will provide their (i) names and (ii) job titles.
Answer
Question reference: S6W-25078
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
- Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Decision 004/2023 of the Scottish
Information Commissioner, whether it will list the (a) name and (b) job title
of each of its civil servants that were appointed to the secretariat that
assisted James Hamilton in his investigation into whether the former First
Minister had complied with the Scottish Ministerial Code, as described in the
Commissioner's decision; whether any of the civil servants appointed to this
secretariat were special advisers, and, if so, and in the event that any
special advisers were involved in the process of deciding what parts of the
Hamilton Report to redact, whether it will propose the scheduling of time
for a ministerial statement on this matter.
Answer
Question reference: S6W-25081
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
- Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish any record of
correspondence, notes, emails, text or WhatsApp messages, as well as the
documents themselves, in the month of March 2021, between or on behalf of James
Hamilton and civil servants or Scottish Government ministers, regarding the
redactions made to the version of the Hamilton Report that was published on 22
March 2021.
Answer
Question reference: S6F-02848
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2024
- Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 February 2024
To ask the First Minister, regarding the delivery of the Scottish Government's recently published depopulation action plan, what will be different about this approach, which is described as "local by default, national by agreement", particularly towards the approval of new developments supported by local communities.
Answer
Question reference: S6W-25020
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
- Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the proposed introduction of a non-domestic rates public health supplement on retailers, as set out in its Budget for 2024-25, whether it has estimated the level of additional retail sales that would be required each year by retailers to offset the cost of the surtax.
Answer
Question reference: S6W-25018
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
- Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the proposed introduction of a non-domestic rates public health supplement on retailers, as set out in its Budget for 2024-25, whether it will provide further details of what its position is on whether the introduction of such a levy is consistent with the New Deal for Business Group’s Implementation Plan recommendation to maintain a competitive and less complex rates regime.
Answer
Question reference: S6W-25019
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
- Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the proposed introduction of a non-domestic rates public health supplement on retailers, as set out in its Budget for 2024-25, whether it has published any reports or analysis on the effectiveness of the previous iteration of the surtax, which was in place from 2012 to 2015.
Answer
Question reference: S6W-25022
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
- Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the proposed introduction of a non-domestic rates public health supplement on retailers, as set out in its Budget for 2024-25, whether the surtax would only be liable on those parts of a store that sell alcohol.
Answer
Question reference: S6W-25021
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
- Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the proposed introduction of a non-domestic rates public health supplement on retailers, as set out in its Budget for 2024-25, whether firms that are liable for the surtax would be subject to the highest non-domestic rates of any properties levied in the UK.