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-06790

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 8 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish National Investment Bank’s gender equality strategy has incorporated comments from (a) Close the Gap and (b) Engender.

Question reference: S6W-06794

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 8 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the Scottish National Investment Bank will undertake its first equal pay review, as set out in the requirements in the Scottish National Investment Bank Act 2020.

Timing of the Equal Pay Review is set out in the Shareholder Relationship Framework Document between the Scottish Government, as sole shareholder, and the Scottish National Investment Bank.

It states that the Bank is required to complete an equal pay review and report on it to Scottish Ministers at least every 5 years. The first review must therefore take place by 23 November 2025 and the Shareholder will agree the exact timing with the Bank.

Question reference: S6W-06731

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 8 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to encourage (a) farmers and (b) landowners to plant more mixed woodland through government-funded schemes.

Scottish Government, and its agency Scottish Forestry (SF), has established a Trees on Farms sub group in support of its Customer Representatives Group, with the aim of working collaboratively across the farming / landowner and forestry sector to develop improved understanding and awareness of the benefits of planting more woodlands on farms and to promote opportunities for more mixed woodland through enhanced grant rates.

Question reference: S6W-06734

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 8 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many gamekeeping courses there currently are at colleges in Scotland, and how many there have been in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S6W-06558

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it can do to ensure that any economic benefits resulting from electric buses being built in Scotland remain in the local community.

The Scottish Government is investing £62 million, through the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB), to support 276 new battery-electric buses and charging infrastructure. 137 of the buses will be built in Falkirk, bringing the total number of buses being built in Scotland with Government support to 344. ScotZEB Phase 1 included a “community benefit” criteria that all bids were scored against. Guidance encouraged bidders to be creative and innovative in finding ways that their bid would deliver wider benefits, giving the example of creating jobs or enhancing economic development, including in the local area. The review of Phase 1 of ScotZEB will consider how this criterion might be strengthened in the future.

We are fortunate that one of the world’s leading manufacturers of zero-emission buses, Alexander Dennis, is headquartered in Scotland. Alexander Dennis’s order book is typically comprised of about 25% of orders from Scottish operators, with the remainder coming from other parts of the UK or beyond, while the highly skilled, green jobs benefit the local community. Through the Falkirk Growth Deal, including £1 million from Scottish Government, ADL will lead on the creation of a Public Transport Net Zero Tech Cluster to focus on cost effective decarbonisation of public transport. This will include the creation of a campus with an R&D centre of excellence, a high-tech incubator and a dedicated flexible carbon neutral manufacturing space.

Question reference: S6W-06557

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce is considered a public or a private body, and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

The Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce is a short life group comprised of leaders from the bus operating, bus manufacturing, finance, energy and public sectors. Its remit is to explore the hurdles and opportunities in transitioning to a zero emission bus fleet. It is not a decision making body, it does not exercise any statutory functions nor handle any funds and its role includes helping to shape and inform relevant Scottish Government policy commitments.

Question reference: S6W-06708

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05360 by Graeme Dey on 21 January 2022, on what date it expects to issue a draft of the Islands Connectivity Plan for consultation.

Question reference: S6W-06743

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 8 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of (a) how and (b) when the £3 million funding for city centre recovery will be spent, as announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy on 10 February 2022.

In addition to the £3m announced on 10 February 2022, the First Minister announced a further £3m for the City Centre Recovery Fund on 22 February, bringing the total to £6m. Funding is awarded directly to local authorities to take forward local recovery priorities and allocated based on city size. The Scottish Government is working at pace with the seven cities to deliver this fund to support economic recovery, attract visitors and increase footfall back into our city centres in line with priority aims identified City Centre Recovery Task Force.

Question reference: S6W-06800

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 8 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed the Scottish National Investment Bank’s gender equality strategy with the Bank.

Question reference: S6W-06730

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 8 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide support to increase the number of small mobile abattoirs in Scotland, in order to increase capacity for processing game and venison.

Scottish Government considers there to be sufficient abattoir capacity in Scotland for farmed venison and flexibility to increase that capacity if required. For wild venison, £80,000 has been made available through the Covid Recovery Opportunities Fund to create new local chill and processing units. These will be demonstration projects and will support delivery of the Scottish Venison Strategy action to invest in area-based facilities to maintain wild carcass quality and build supply of local product. Contracts have recently been offered and details of the projects will be announced in due course.