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-29187

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what policy development was undertaken by (a) Marine Scotland and (b) Crown Estate Scotland in the months leading up to the 2024 General Election in preparation for the prospect of Great British Energy being created and any strategic relationship and role that the Crown Estate in Scotland could have with Great British Energy in delivering accelerated growth in renewable energy production within Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-29178

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what fines or punishments are available for it to impose in the event that energy companies fail to deliver their share of the £16 billion worth of manufacturing and fabrication of turbines and offshore infrastructure in Scotland, which was pledged by companies who won offshore contracts through the ScotWind auction in 2022.

The Scottish Government is determined to maximise the economic opportunity for the Scottish supply chain from our offshore wind potential. We expect developers to honour their commitments set out in the Supply Chain Development Statements (SCDS). The SCDS process has been carefully designed and is managed by Crown Estate Scotland (CES). Failure by developers to deliver on their commitments can trigger remedies ranging from financial penalties to an inability to progress to a seabed lease.

Question reference: S6W-29183

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether any minister will be removed from office in the event that the £16 billion to fund manufacturing and fabrication of turbines and offshore infrastructure in Scotland, as pledged by the energy companies who won offshore contracts through the ScotWind auction in 2022, is not delivered.

The Scottish Government is determined to maximise the economic opportunity for the Scottish supply chain from our offshore wind potential.

We expect developers to honour their commitments set out in the Supply Chain Development Statements (SCDS) and a process has been carefully designed and is managed by Crown Estate Scotland (CES) to hold developers to account. Failure by developers to deliver on their commitments can trigger remedies ranging from financial penalties to an inability to progress to a seabed lease.

Question reference: S6W-29198

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the longest time between a pipe leak being reported to Scottish Water and it being repaired has been in each year since 2021.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold the information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

Question	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
Average customer leak duration (days)	4.2	4.2	4.2
Longest customer reported leak duration* (days)	100+	100+	100+
Total customer leaks reported	7771	5942	5718
Total customer leaks repaired	7752	5956	5639

*The table shows the average time to repair a leak from being reported to being fixed. However, due to issues with locating leaks and access issues there are occasional outliers that will be 100 plus days in duration.

Question reference: S6W-28680

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much it spent on (a) internal and (b) external legal costs in pursuing or defending any court action involving former First Minister, Alex Salmond.

Internal legal costs are not available because in line with usual practice, details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on them, are not routinely recorded because there is no business need to do this.

The legal costs in defending and settling the Judicial Review brought by Mr Salmond in 2018 are published on the Scottish Government website.

The costs of legal services regarding the former First Minister’s judicial review are published at: Costs of legal services regarding former First Minister's judicial review: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The costs of the settlement in respect of the former First Minister’s legal fees in the Judicial Review are published at: Former First Minister Legal fees: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

As the action brought by Mr Salmond against the Scottish Government is live litigation, we are not able to publish the Scottish Government’s legal costs at this stage. We will publish this information in due course.

Question reference: S6O-03710

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the most recent Recorded Crime in Scotland statistics, which showed a 22% rise in crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 in a single year.

Question reference: S6O-03711

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the renewables economy in the north east of Scotland, including through the retraining of energy workers and enhancing supply chain development.

Question reference: S6O-03712

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the latest achievement rates for Modern Apprenticeships across all frameworks.

Question reference: S6O-03709

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it plans to achieve its net zero and just transition goals.

Question reference: S6O-03715

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to strengthen its Fair Work First Guidance to support and promote the good practice example, referenced in the guidance, of providing a private, healthy and safe environment for breastfeeding mothers to express and store milk.