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-12941

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress in recruiting CalMac (a) Officers and (b) Ratings to work on the MV Glen Sannox when it is scheduled to enter service between Troon and Arran from May 2023.

Question reference: S6W-12992

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to introduce guidelines to safeguard people’s health from microplastic pollution as a result of wind turbine erosion.

Emerging contaminants of concern, including microplastics and Bisphenol A, are continuously being risk assessed by the EU under the Water Framework Directive for inclusion as priority substances. The EU Commission has recently proposed a revised list of priority substances, including Bisphenol A, for further consideration by the Council and the European Parliament. The Scottish Government has made clear its commitment to maintain or exceed environmental standards in place upon EU exit, and to maintain alignment with developing EU standards, as far as possible.

When applications for wind farm developments are submitted to the Scottish Ministers under the Electricity Act 1989, the impact on the water environment is assessed within the Environmental Impact Assessment Report submitted with the application. The Scottish Ministers take into account the impacts on the water environment and on granting consent for wind farm development conditions can be attached to the deemed planning permission in relation to water quality and monitoring as required.

Question reference: S6W-12939

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 22 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reasons why the intervention by the Scottish Information Commissioner into its performance regarding Freedom of Information requests is still ongoing after five years.

The Scottish Government’s response to the Commissioner’s intervention is documented by the three progress reports which the Commissioner has produced during the intervention. These set out the progress which has been made and the areas in which the Scottish Government still requires to make further improvement. The Scottish Government published its Improvement Plan 2022-23 in July setting out its action plan to address these areas of improvement.

As the member is aware, the Government pivoted to respond to the Covid pandemic in early 2020, and the subsequent redeployment of staff to critical areas, has affected the delivery of improvements. As the Civil Service itself recovers from the pandemic, we are taking the time to ensure that we embed continuous improvement in the structures which facilitate and deliver information access to ensure sustained improvement.

The Government’s ‘on time’ response rate over several months remains comparable with the wider public sector in Scotland. This performance has been sustained despite higher year on year request volumes (as at the end of October 2022, requests are up 48% on the previous three years), and increasing complexity of cases. The Government is committed to achieving the 95% target set by the Information Commissioner.

Question reference: S6W-13016

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 22 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12330 by John Swinney on 5 December 2022, whether it will provide the current budget allocations for the groups and sub-groups named.

The groups and sub-groups named in response to S6W-12330 that have an allocated budget are:

Scottish Cities Alliance Leadership Group - £196,000 per annum (this is the Scottish Government’s portion of the funding for the Scottish Cities Alliance)
Scottish City Region and Growth Deal Delivery Board - £261m for 2022-23
Scottish Taskforce for Green and Sustainable Financial Services - £300,000 per annum for three years (2021-24)

Further to this, as indicated in the response to S6W-13018 on 22 December 2022, some further groups have been identified following the response to S6W-12330. Of these additional groups, one has an allocated budget:

Fair Work Convention - £500,000 per annum (the Fair Work Convention are independent, but secretariat support is provided by the Scottish Government)

The other groups and sub-groups named in the previous response do not have allocated budgets. Any incidental costs associated with the running of these groups are covered by the relevant departments’ budgets.

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-12988

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to conduct a study on the impact of microplastic pollution and toxic compounds from wind turbines.

The Water Framework Directive does not currently include the requirement for the monitoring and assessment of microplastic pollution and specifically Bisphenol A in the water environment.

However, the Scottish Government continues to support active research under the current RESAS Strategic Research Programme 2022-2027 , and the Centre of Expertise on Water. Current plans include work which will further develop the understanding of sources and levels of emerging contaminants, including microplastics, in Scotland’s freshwaters and river sediments and recommend priorities and strategic approaches for future monitoring in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-12909

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 22 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet will next meet in the South Scotland region.

Question reference: S6O-01764

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect primary care services, in light of reports showing the workforce and demand pressures on general practice.

Question reference: S6O-01767

Asked by: Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to reduce bladder cancer deaths.

Question reference: S6O-01769

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-01768

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what it is doing to support young people’s mental health services, including in colleges and universities.