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-17472

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 9 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by the former Minister for Transport, during the members’ business debate on motion S6M-06478 on 21 March 2023, that she would "ask Transport Scotland officials to speak to Argyll and Bute Council" in relation to reported road traffic accidents on the A815, whether it will provide an update on this.

Transport Scotland officials have liaised with Argyll and Bute council and Police Scotland regarding the road safety performance of the A815.

As a Police investigation into a recent road traffic collision is ongoing, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this time.

Argyll and Bute council are responsible for local roads in their council area. For any further information about road casualties on the council’s local roads please contact: Hugh.O'[email protected] or [email protected] who will be able to help you further.

Question reference: S6W-17096

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 9 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the total number of students is that attended a Scottish further education college, in each year since 2007.

Information on the number of students attending a college in Scotland is published by the Scottish Funding Council. The latest publication contains a 10 year timeseries.

College Statistics 2021-22 (sfc.ac.uk)

Due to a recent methodology change, a timeseries isn’t available back to 2007. The below table provides a consistent timeseries of student headcount, enrolments and full-time equivalent figures back to 2007.

Academic Year	Headcount	Enrolments	Full-time Equivalent
2006-07	354,152	468,155	129,378
2007-08	368,717	489,610	131,423
2008-09	364,998	483,472	133,374
2009-10	338,223	438,522	134,918
2010-11	298,578	383,005	134,547
2011-12	252,132	320,646	133,199
2012-13	238,758	297,586	131,421
2013-14	238,371	299,828	132,942
2014-15	226,898	297,011	131,619
2015-16	226,795	281,051	129,500
2016-17	235,187	291,849	132,493
2017-18	242,488	303,115	131,953
2018-19	264,858	328,889	129,821
2019-20	239,004	302,092	127,683
2020-21	213,135	277,620	128,559
2021-22	236,730	322,332	129,175

Source: Scottish Funding Council

Question reference: S6W-17469

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 9 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when updated figures will be available on the number of employee-owned businesses that are (a) based and (b) operating in Scotland.

Figures on employee owned businesses in Scotland are collated every two years in a census exercise commissioned by Co-operative Development Scotland and published shortly thereafter. The last census was undertaken in February and March 2022

At that time there were 146 Scottish-registered employee-owned businesses and worker co-operatives and 49 non-Scottish registered employee-owned businesses. The census revealed that the Scottish registered EOB's and worker co-operatives have a combined turnover of £691m and employ 5,350 people.

Question reference: S6W-17088

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 9 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much revenue was raised under each income tax band, and what proportion each amount represents of the total income tax take, broken down by each financial year since the introduction of the Scottish Rate of Income Tax to 2022-23.

Control over the rates and bands of non-savings non-dividends income tax has been devolved to the Scottish Parliament since 2017-18.

His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publish Outturn statistics annually, showing the revenue raised from Scottish Income Tax for the tax year prior. These statistics show revenue raised from taxpayers at their highest marginal rate, that is, the Income Tax band that a taxpayer would pay their next pound of Income Tax into.

Outturn statistics from 2016-17 to 2020-21 are available on the UK Government website, with the most recently available publication being found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/scottish-income-tax-outturn-statistics-2020-to-2021/scottish-income-tax-outturn-statistics-2020-to-2021.

For figures relating to 2021-22 and 2022-23, the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) are responsible for forecasting Scottish Income Tax revenue. The SFC do not currently publish a breakdown of this forecast in terms of revenue raised by taxpayers at their highest marginal rate.

The next Outturn publication is expected to be in July 2023, and will outline the revenue raised by marginal rate by band for the tax year 2021-22. Figures for 2022-23 will be available in Summer 2024.

Question reference: S6W-17342

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether Social Security Scotland accepts constituency casework by email, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Social Security Scotland offers a range of secure communication channels for clients. These do not include email, as unencrypted email is not secure and could place clients’ sensitive personal information at risk or expose the agency’s network and data to malware.

Emails from MSPs/MPs present less risk as it is easier to verify the sender’s identity, so Social Security Scotland does accept constituency casework via email. However, because such emails are unencrypted, client data may still be vulnerable, and Social Security Scotland accordingly recommends that MSPs/MPs use the Social Security Scotland Parliamentarian Enquiry Line as their primary channel for assisting constituents.

Question reference: S6W-16927

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 9 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) it and (b) Circularity Scotland will receive a share of the packaging recovery note value of any packaging waste collected by Biffa under the proposed Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-17315

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 9 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when a public awareness campaign will be launched to inform consumers of the forthcoming Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-17132

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of the Child Disability Payment assessment and award process, whether any issues have been identified, including in relation to (a) process (i) delays and (ii) consistency and (b) the implementation of the Special Rules, and how it plans to address any such issues.

Social Security Scotland undertakes a broad and continuous programme of analysis of all aspects of the delivery of benefits, focussed on the live running performance of the system, client experience and evaluation of delivery.

Research on Early Experiences of Child Disability Payment was published in September 2022 and Client Survey research on Child Disability Payment on 8 March 2023. The next publication of Client Survey research on Child Disability Payment is scheduled for early summer.

The evaluation strategy for the benefit is in place and the first output will be published later this year. Analysis will focus on the impact of policy changes to supporting information.

This work informs Social Security Scotland’s approach to continuous improvement and the agency has used it to plan the action currently underway to improve processing times.

Question reference: S6W-17404

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what statute or regulation defines responsibilities towards (a) maintaining, (b) enhancing and (c) preventing the deterioration of the quality of water in the environment; to which statutory body or bodies any responsibility for this falls; who (i) measures and (ii) reports on the quality of water in the environment; whether the quality has been improving or declining; what the explicit and enforceable targets are for enhancing the quality of water in the environment, and (A) to what levels and (B) within what timescales, and what budget it provides for supporting enhancements in water quality.

The River Basin Management Plans are the key tools for implementing the European Community (EC)’s Water Framework Directive (WFD) .The regulations cover rivers, lochs, transitional waters (estuaries), coastal waters groundwater, and groundwater dependant wetlands. This legislation became law in Scotland as the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 (WEWS Act) and covers activities such as discharges to the water environment, abstractions, and physical works in rivers and lochs that can threaten the water environment and the animals and people that rely on it.

The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 – more commonly known as the Controlled Activity Regulations (CAR) – and their further amendments of 2013 and 2017 apply regulatory controls over activities which may affect Scotland’s water environment.

Scotland’s third River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) set statutory objectives to protect and improve Scotland’s water environment by 2027. These objectives are based on ecological assessments and economic judgments. The regulations cover all types of water body, e.g. rivers, lochs, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and groundwater.

This RBMP builds on previous RBMPs published in 2009 and 2015, setting revised objectives for the period from 2021 to the end of 2027 and providing a programme of actions for achieving the objectives. While, 66% of Scotland’s overall water environment meets ‘good’ ecological status, the RBMP objectives for the 2021-27 period, and the associated work programme aims to ensure that 81% of Scotland’s water bodies achieve a ‘good’ or better classification by 2027 and continue to improve as natural conditions recover beyond that date.

This RBMP sets out a framework for protecting and improving the water environment across Scotland. The Scottish Government, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), responsible authorities and all of Scotland’s other public bodies are responsible for developing and implementing the RBMP. Detailed information about the RBMP can be found in the water environment hub . It provides information on each waterbody, pressures, measures and the objectives (targets) that we have set.

SEPA is responsible for monitoring, assessing and classifying Scotland’s water environment including coastal waters and Shellfish Water Protected Areas. The classification data is available to the public online at the water classification hub . The Scottish Budget has allocated nearly £3 million to improvement of the water environment in 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-17401

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 9 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to make it easier to store bicycles on buses.

The provision of local bus services is a matter for individual bus operators who use their own commercial judgement on conditions of carriage in the open de-regulated market, as established by the Transport Act 1985.

A number of operators of bus and coach services allow the carriage of folding bikes or standard bikes being stored in a box or bag, in a luggage compartment. The recently published cycling framework for active travel recognises the importance of supporting cycling journeys to and from public transport hubs and working with operators to support multi-modal journeys.