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

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Question reference: S6F-02027

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2023

To ask the First Minister, in light of his recent visit to the Port of Aberdeen, what engagement he has had with the business community since taking office.

Question reference: S6F-02014

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2023

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on what recent engagement the Scottish Government has had with the UK Government regarding the proposed development of the Rosebank oil and gas field, in light of the Scottish Government's draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.

Question reference: S6F-02017

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2023

To ask the First Minister what urgent action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that everyone who is eligible for any cancer testing and screening programme is receiving their invitation on time, in light of recent reports that 13,000 women who were mistakenly removed from the national database are being offered an appointment for a cervical smear.

Question reference: S6F-01997

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-02011

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2023

To ask the First Minister what immediate action the Scottish Government will take to improve the situation regarding ferry services across the Highlands and Islands, in light of recent reports of unprecedented disruption.

Question reference: S6F-02002

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2023

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on the Scottish Government's plans for Highly Protected Marine Areas, following the end of its public consultation.

Question reference: S6F-01998

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-16558

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 17 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15852 by Jenny Gilruth on 27 March 2023, whether it is the case that Transport Scotland has not reviewed or increased the Network Support Grant base rate since 2012, and, if it is the case, what the reason is for this.

The Network Support Grant was introduced in April 2022 and is intended to keep bus services more extensive, and fares more affordable than would otherwise be the case. The return to pre-Covid levels of bus subsidy was agreed with the bus sector as part of the Network Support Grant Plus extension until 31 March 2023.

Transport Scotland will review this grant in 2023 – 2024 to ensure it continues to provide value for money whilst we also progress other opportunities in collaboration with the bus sector to improve bus services.

Question reference: S6W-16553

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 17 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason a proposal to fully dual the A1 between Edinburgh and the border with England was not included in the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2).

A range of potential improvements to the trunk road and motorway network, including the A1, were considered and appraised in STPR2. Full dualling was not included in the final 45 recommendations because the transport appraisal concluded that, in line with the sustainable travel and investment hierarchies, the priorities for investment in Scotland’s trunk road network lie elsewhere. These are on improving road safety, reliability and resilience, and adapting the network to deal with challenge of climate change, rather than any large scale interventions on the A1 between Edinburgh and the border.

Question reference: S6W-16359

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 17 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken to determine whether its changes to tax rates have increased or decreased tax revenue.

From the analysis available, evidence shows our reforms have been effective in raising additional revenue for the Scottish Budget. In December 2021 we published a policy evaluation of the Income Tax reforms implemented in 2018-19, showing the policy raised £239m that year.

The Scottish Government actively works with stakeholders, such as HMRC on Income Tax, to continually improve the evidence base to help inform policy development and evaluation.