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-26379

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 2 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Scotland is reportedly the last of the four UK nations to confirm its involvement in the UK Government’s Project Gigabit programme.

The first Project Gigabit funding to be deployed anywhere in the United Kingdom was secured by the Scottish Government in 2021.

A total of £31.2 million of Project Gigabit funding has already been committed for investment in Scotland through the Scottish Government’s own £600 million Reaching 100% (R100) programme to enhance and extend the R100 contract coverage footprint. The R100 contracts are now predominantly full fibre, delivering gigabit capable infrastructure across rural Scotland at pace.

The Scottish Government and Building Digital UK (BDUK) have been working closely to prepare the next phase of Project Gigabit activity in Scotland, with the first local and regional procurements outside of England expected to launch in Scotland imminently.

Question reference: S6W-26201

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 2 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the discretionary funding that it reportedly promised to Aberdeenshire Council on the eve of the local authority's budget setting, which is reported to be in the vicinity of £3 million, will be delivered, and whether it will confirm the exact amount that the local authority will receive.

The Deputy First Minister has confirmed in a letter on 6 March to COSLA that £62.7 million of additional funding will be provided in 2024-25 and local authorities will have full autonomy to allocate the funding based on local needs and priorities. While all new funding has to be discussed and agreed through the formal financial governance process including the Settlement and Distribution Group (SDG) and COSLA Leaders, Aberdeenshire Council's provisional share of the additional £62.7 million is estimated to be around £2.9 million.

In addition, Aberdeenshire Council will receive around £8 million following the Council’s decision to freeze Council Tax and all Councils will receive their fair share of the currently undistributed sum of £201.1 million following agreement with COSLA.

Question reference: S6W-26479

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the size is of any backlog of cases that the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) has, and what the SPSO is doing to reduce any such backlog.

Question reference: S6W-26478

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the current waiting time is for a complaint to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) to be allocated to a complaints reviewer, and what the average length of time is for the conclusion of such a review.

Question reference: S6W-24403

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 28 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12674 by Mairi McAllan on 14 December 2022, whether it will provide an update on which of the 42 formal flood protection schemes or engineering works are (a) under construction and (b) at the planning or other stage of development, broken down by (i) the expected completion date, including the reason for any date being beyond the 2021 timeframe, (ii) the number of properties that will be protected and (iii) the (A) initial forecast and (B) final expected cost of each.

Question reference: S6W-26166

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 March 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 28 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to extending Home Energy Scotland support to include houses with a floor area of greater than 230 square metres, which meet the other criteria for energy efficiency support.

Question reference: S6W-26167

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 March 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 28 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of applications submitted to Home Energy Scotland for energy efficiency support regarding houses with a floor area of greater than 230 square metres have been successful.

Question reference: S6W-26435

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many domestic abuse cases have gone to trial in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-26433

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many domestic abuse cases resulted in the accused receiving an absolute discharge in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-26030

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 15 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-25840 by Siobhian Brown on 5 March 2024, how many Scottish Fire and Rescue Service officers in the North East Scotland region have received training for operational competence on lithium-ion batteries and battery storage unit sites.