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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 43117 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-20456

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 16 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its report, Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group: Final Report and Recommendations, what specific additional interventions it will make as part of its urgent action to reduce the number of void properties in the social sector.

As set out in our response to the Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group recommendations, there are a number of reasons a property can become void. We will therefore work with each local authority, starting with the areas facing the greatest temporary accommodation pressures, on the solutions to accelerate void processing that are right for them.

We are in discussions with the Scottish Housing Regulator, the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, the Glasgow West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations, COSLA and Shelter to agree what changes could be made in the next two to three years that would reduce the turnaround time for vacant social homes. We will confirm specific actions in due course, once agreed.

Question reference: S6W-20458

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 16 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its report, Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group: Final Report and Recommendations, what specific actions it will take with (a) local authorities and (b) registered social landlords to help increase the number of allocations to homeless households.

We are in discussions with the Scottish Housing Regulator, the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, the Glasgow West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations, COSLA and Shelter Scotland to agree how to increase the number of allocations to homeless households in the next two to three years to support our commitment to reduce the number of households living in temporary accommodation. We welcome this positive engagement and we will report on the outcomes in due course.

Question reference: S6W-20378

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 August 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 16 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its response to the report of the Task and Finish Group on Temporary Accommodation, how many Scottish Government civil servants will be working on the management and delivery of the proposed national acquisition programme.

As outlined in the answer to S6W-20375 on 16 August 2023, the national acquisition programme is part of the wider Affordable Housing Supply Programme. No civil servants will be assigned solely to work on the national acquisition programme.

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

Question reference: S6W-20374

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 August 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 16 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its response to the report of the Task and Finish Group on Temporary Accommodation, how it will decide where to target the proposed £60 million of funding for the national acquisition programme.

Question reference: S6W-20375

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 August 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 16 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its response to the report of the Task and Finish Group on Temporary Accommodation, what role the Scottish Government will play in co-ordinating the proposed national acquisition programme.

Question reference: S6W-20372

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 August 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 16 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the key performance indicators (KPIs) will be for the national acquisition programme.

Question reference: S6W-20140

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 16 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much targeted funding for sustainable textiles projects it has budgeted (a) for 2023-24 and (b) beyond 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-20016

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 16 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Circularity Scotland going in to administration, whether it has met with any former (a) suppliers and (b) contractors of the firm.

Biffa, a former contractor of Circularity Scotland, attended a Deposit Return Scheme Four Nations Interoperability Workshop in Edinburgh on 27 June 2023 following Circularity Scotland going into administration to provide insight into their experience in Scotland. Throughout the period Scottish Government has continued to work closely with staff acting for Circularity Scotland, administrators and partners.

Question reference: S6W-20325

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 16 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of any influence that farmed salmon escapes may have on the genetic integrity of wild Scottish Atlantic salmon populations.

The Marine Directorate’s Science, Evidence, Data and Digital Portfolio published its first assessment of genetic introgression in wild salmon in 2021: A national assessment of the influence of farmed salmon escapes on the genetic integrity of wild Scottish Atlantic salmon populations | Marine Scotland Data Publications .

The research found evidence of introgression at 23% of the sites examined. Further, the patterns of introgression detected were not uniform across the country. Rather, signs of introgression were concentrated in areas of marine aquaculture production and freshwater smolt rearing. Outside these areas, little to no genetic changes were detected. The results highlighted how important it is to prevent farmed fish escapes, to protect the integrity of wild salmon populations in areas of aquaculture production.

This was the first report of the National Introgression Programme for Scotland (NIPS), sampling took place between 2018 and 2019. NIPS is an ongoing nationwide project that is researching the link between fish farm escapes and introgression in wild salmon populations. In 2021 a second NIPS survey was conducted across the country with samples and data from this currently being analysed. A further NIPS survey was also initiated in 2023 and sample collection is now underway. Analysis of the NIPS surveys from multiple sampling years will provide a picture of temporal changes in levels of introgression.

Question reference: S6W-20379

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 August 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 16 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether its national acquisition programme will be subject to the Scottish Government’s Principles for Programme and Project Management, and what the programme's relationship will be with the affordable housing supply programme.

As stated in the answer to S6W-20375 on 16 August 2023, the national acquisition programme will be run as part of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme which aligns with the Scottish Government’s Principles for Programme and Project Management.