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: S6F-03376

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2024

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the decision by Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park regarding the Flamingo Land Lomond Banks planning application.

Question reference: S6F-03358

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2024

To ask the First Minister what the implications are for public health in Scotland of the UK Government’s announcement that it plans to ban junk food advertising before 9.00 pm.

Question reference: S6W-29590

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that environmental impact assessments take into account seasonal variations in the surveyed environment.

Where an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required, this must include a description of the relevant aspects of the current state of the environment and an outline of the likely evolution thereof without implementation of the project, as far as natural changes from the baseline scenario can be assessed with reasonable effort, on the basis of the availability of environmental information and scientific knowledge. Where an EIA Report is considered to contain insufficient information it is open to the decision-maker to request further environmental information.

Question reference: S6W-29164

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what alternative financial support is available to young people under 17 who wish to continue their education but are not eligible for the Education Maintenance Allowance.

Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is available at school and college for eligible 16-19 year olds supporting them to remain and progress in learning. For those at school, and under 17 who are not eligible for EMA, they may receive Free School Meals and/or the School Clothing Grant depending on their individual circumstances.

Similarly, for those young people studying a further education course at college, they may be eligible for discretionary funding, study costs and childcare funding. This support is assessed and administered directly by individual colleges.

In the instances where a young person under 17 opts to study a higher education course, they may be eligible to apply for tuition fee support, bursary and living cost grants to support them throughout their studies. Students over the age of 16 are also eligible to apply for a student loan. This support is assessed and administered by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS).

All young people and children living in Scotland aged 5-21 can apply for a card to access the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-29455

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what projection it has made of the impact on resource levels in the private rented sector against future planned or proposed legislative requirements, such as those relating to net zero.

The First Minister confirmed the Scottish Government’s intention to bring forward a Heat in Buildings Bill in the recent Programme for Government. We will continue to work with businesses, including the private rented sector to understand the impacts and benefits of our proposals. The Bill and any subsequent regulations will each be accompanied by a full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment.

Question reference: S6W-29538

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many hours of civil servants' time was spent (a) preparing the Fairer Workplaces Fund to open and (b) processing applications prior to the fund being cancelled.

Question reference: S6W-29539

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses and organisations applied for funding from the Fairer Workplaces Fund prior to it being closed on 21 August 2024.

Question reference: S6W-29550

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will detail how its International Strategy aligns with its commitment to reducing carbon emissions.

Scotland's International Strategy - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) was launched in January 2024, building on the work of the Scottish Government’s Scotland's Global Affairs Framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The International Strategy demonstrates the outcomes Scottish Government will achieve through international engagement for the remainder of this parliamentary term, within the current constitutional context. It acknowledges the need for the Scottish Government to deepen ties with key partners and increase economic opportunities to advance domestic policy including our commitment to reduce carbon emissions.

This includes showcasing Scotland’s high ambition and expertise on net zero and continuing to promote Scotland’s climate and environment work internationally, as climate change, biodiversity and renewable energy is one of the three priority areas identified in the Strategy. Our International Trade and Investment Plans, alongside our recently published Green Industrial Strategy, have a clear focus on net zero and are delivering renewable export opportunities and attracting high quality inward investment projects to support and strengthen our expertise and associated renewable supply chains. In addition, we will focus on the Just Transition and Scotland’s strengths and expertise in areas such as onshore and offshore wind, Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) and hydrogen and be ambitious in our commitment to decarbonise heat and transport.

The Scottish Government will report on its progress towards these objectives in the 2024-25 International Strategy Annual Report.

Question reference: S6W-29364

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 September 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has given any consideration to establishing a publicly available real-time map of (a) proposed, (b) ongoing and (c) completed energy infrastructure projects.

The Scottish Parliament publishes a renewable energy map of Scotland which is available here Renewable energy map of Scotland – SPICe Spotlight | Solas air SPICe (spice-spotlight.scot) This makes available details of operational and planned renewable energy generation projects.

The data that the map is based on comes from the Renewable Energy Planning Database: quarterly extract, which is maintained by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The Electricity System Operator (ESO) provides a map which provides a view of the current and what the potential future electricity transmission system could look like out to 2040. Note this is for illustrative purposes only. The map can be viewed here - Web map | ESO (nationalgrideso.com)

The Scottish Government is not, at this time, considering to establish anything further to this already publicly available information.

Question reference: S6W-29326

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish National Investment Bank has been approached for low-interest finance by local authorities as part of their drive towards net zero buildings.

As noted in the answer to question S6W-29325 on 16 September 2024, the Bank cannot invest in local authorities and it does not make sub-commercial investments or provide grant funding.

As the Bank has operational independence it can work with local authorities and create joint venture structures, as long as the Bank is not investing in the local authority.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.