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-30983

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its timeline for developing a framework to support shared ownership of renewables, as proposed within the onshore wind sector deal, and whether there will be opportunities for the community sector to meaningfully engage with this process.

We are committed to working with the community sector and other stakeholders to ensure the delivery of renewable energy comes with benefits for people in Scotland. This includes shared ownership, which has a vital role to play in a just transition by giving communities the chance to make an investment in a commercially owned renewable energy project.

Through our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) we provide online guidance, resources, and support to access funding and contractors to enable communities to engage with shared ownership opportunities. Building on the progress we have made to date, the Scottish Government is progressing work on the commitment in the Onshore Wind Sector Deal to develop a framework of practical approaches to support and encourage community shared ownership models, to assist communities, and developers and funders to engage in shared ownership opportunities. There will be opportunities for the community sector to engage with this process as work progresses.

Question reference: S6W-30972

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made an assessment of the capacity reduction on Caithness–Orkney routes (a) in absolute terms and (b) per capita resulting from the chartering of the MV Alfred.

Question reference: S6W-30971

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made an assessment of the capacity increase on Arran ferry routes (a) in absolute terms and (b) per capita resulting from the chartering of the MV Alfred.

Question reference: S6W-30969

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that bodies delivering public services are protecting employees from violence.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of reducing violence against employees of bodies delivering public services. In addition to work undertaken by public bodies themselves, we are currently working on a range of targeted initiatives including:

Invested over £4 million in the delivery and implementation of the Violence Prevention Framework, including supporting the Mentors in Violence Prevention school-based programme.
Published a joint action plan with COSLA to tackle violence towards staff in educational establishments.
Co-chairing Your Safety Matters (YSM) External Partners Group (EPG).
Promoting the Equally Safe at Work (ESAW) employer accreditation programme.

Question reference: S6W-30973

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government which community radio stations it has asked to run public information adverts in each of the last five years, broken down by the amount received by each community radio station from the Scottish Government.

Below is a list of the community radio stations that the Scottish Government has run public information advertisements on over the last five years, alongside the total annual spend for each year. Spend per individual community station is classed as commercially sensitive and as such we are unable to provide this level of detail.

April 2020 - March 2021 - Total spend: £214,731

Argyll Radio
Awaz FM
Caithness FM
Cuillin FM/Skye
Heartland FM
Isles FM
K107FM
Lochbroom/ Two Lochs
Nevis Radio
Oban FM
Panjab Radio
Pulse 98.4
Radio Ramadan
Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company
Waves Radio 101.2FM

April 2021 - March 2022 – Total spend: £405,912

Alive FM
Argyll Radio
Awaz FM
Caithness FM
Cuillin FM/Skye
Heartland FM
Isles FM
K107FM
Lochbroom/ Two Lochs
Mearns FM
Nevis Radio
Oban FM
Panjab Radio
Pulse 98.4
Radio Ramadan
Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company
Waves Radio 101.2FM

April 2022- March 2023 – Total spend: £74,008

Argyll Radio
Awaz FM
Caithness FM
Cuillin FM/Skye
Heartland FM
Isles FM
Jambo Radio
Lochbroom/ Two Lochs
Nevis Radio
Oban FM
Panjab Radio
Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company
Waves Radio 101.2FM

April 2023 - March 2024 – Total spend: £69,029

Argyll Radio
Awaz FM
Caithness FM
Cuillin FM/Skye
Heartland FM
Isles FM
Jambo Radio
K107FM
Lochbroom/ Two Lochs
Nevis Radio
Oban FM
Panjab Radio
Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company

April 2024 – October 2024 spend to date Total spend: £14,438

Argyll Radio
Awaz FM
Caithness FM
Cuillin FM/Skye
Heartland FM
Isles FM
Jambo Radio
Lochbroom/ Two Lochs
Nevis Radio
Oban FM
Panjab Radio
Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company

Question reference: S6W-30970

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that bodies delivering public services record incidents of violence against staff, including with a breakdown by sex.

It is the responsibility of individual public bodies to ensure they have procedures in place for the recording of violent incidents and policies for staff welfare. The Scottish Government would strongly encourage staff to report all instances of violent and aggressive behaviour through their local reporting systems. If it is a serious incident, we expect employers to fully support staff in escalating issues to Police Scotland as quickly as possible.

It is important for public bodies to capture data on protected characteristics when staff report instances of violence. This kind of data will help inform targeted interventions on a national and local level.

Question reference: S6W-29852

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what mandated minimum percentage of uniforms must be produced by supported businesses in the provisions of the NHS Scotland uniform contract.

Question reference: S6W-29853

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of all uniforms supplied to NHS Scotland have been manufactured by supported businesses in each of the last three years.

Question reference: S6W-30922

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the capacity is of the new HMP Glasgow, and whether each cell will accommodate one prisoner only.

Question reference: S6W-30900

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-30385 by Fiona Hyslop on 25 October 2024, what its response is to reports that the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) originally aimed to increase service frequency to six trains per hour, but that Transport Scotland commissioned Jacobs to examine the project for potential savings and it identified that a similar capacity increase could be achieved by increasing train length while maintaining a four-train-per-hour frequency, and what its position is on whether further reducing that frequency to a two-train-per-hour off peak service undermines the (a) EGIP project investment benefits and (b) convenience of a "turn up and go" frequency for passengers.

The decision was made to choose four longer trains per hour rather than six shorter trains per hour between Edinburgh and Glasgow because this was the better value for money option to deliver the necessary peak capacity for passengers.

ScotRail adjusts its services to reflect changing travel patterns over time. The emission free electric train peak capacity delivered by the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvements Project is being used today to the benefit of passengers.