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-20179

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 14 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the average value has been of vouchers issued through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS).

Question reference: S6W-20175

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 14 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons there are no high secure healthcare beds for women in Scotland.

There has been no female high secure provision in Scotland since 2009. The decision to stop providing treatment was because the majority of women at the time did not in fact require high security and the development of medium secure services provided an opportunity to address that.

In the small number of cases where a female does require high security, an arrangement was put in place whereby a woman who requires treatment in a high secure facility can be referred to Rampton Hospital, Nottinghamshire, and transferred via the statutory cross-border transfer process.

Question reference: S6W-20166

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for children and young people with a nicotine addiction caused by using (a) nicotine vapour products and (b) tobacco.

We urge anyone with a nicotine addiction caused by using tobacco or nicotine vapour products to contact the free NHS Quit Your Way Scotland' helpline on 0800 84 84 84 to speak to an advisor, who will be able to provide advice and support and can direct individuals to local support services.

Alternatively, local pharmacies can also offer a range of therapies and interventions to help reduce addiction.

Question reference: S6W-20191

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 14 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, as outlined in its suicide prevention action plan for 2023 to 2024, how it plans to develop an online portal, which hosts information and advice on suicide, to help people who may be suicidal and anyone worried for someone, as well as professionals.

Question reference: S6W-20184

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 14 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, as outlined in its suicide prevention action plan for 2023 to 2024, how it plans to activate the whole of government and society policy package, so that a wide range of government policies and their delivery on the ground are working to prevent suicide.

Question reference: S6W-20604

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-20123

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 11 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6O-02399 by Gillian Martin on 21 June 2023, whether it plans to consider reforms that devolve the decisions of Grazings Committees to the local level.

The legal function of a grazing committee is to maintain the common grazing for the benefit of the crofters who share in it, and to manage the interests of those crofters.

The management and control of common grazing land, where there are many inter-acting rights, including those of crofters, landowners and grazings committees, requires safeguarding. The purpose of legislation is to ensure that these rights are kept in balance and that everyone’s rights are protected.

We will consult on the Bill proposals in due course and will consider all views as part of Bill development.

Question reference: S6W-20020

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many new schools are currently planned to be built, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S6W-20011

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 17 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of spending on the Road Equivalent Tariff, by (a) route and (b) carrier, in each year since it was introduced.

The spending on RET is not recorded separately. Since the start of new Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Service contract in 2016, Transport Scotland pays CalMac Ferries Limited, as the operator, a monthly grant payment which covers costs to operate the network as a whole. This is not broken down by individual routes. Previous evaluations have suggested that RET fares save users around £25m per year compared to pre-RET fares.

Question reference: S6W-20145

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 11 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its commitment in the Bute House Agreement to "consult as soon as practicable on proposals to apply a cap to fishing activity in inshore waters", when it expects to deliver any such consultation.

The Bute House Agreement builds on the actions in our Fisheries Management Strategy which sets out our approach to managing Scottish sea fisheries in partnership with our stakeholders, to deliver the best results for the future of our marine environment, our fishing industry and the communities that rely on them.

Observing our co-management approach, policies relating to inshore fishing will be progressed further through our Regional Inshore Fisheries Group network and Fisheries Management and Conservation group, prior to full consultation.