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-02816

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 22 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-00480 by Jamie Hepburn on 14 June 2021, when it last met the Scottish Funding Council to discuss the (a) International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) working definition and (b) low uptake of universities adopting this.

The Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council meet regularly to discuss a range of matters, including equalities issues.

Universities, as autonomous institutions, are aware of the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Many are actively and presently consulting within their diverse communities and stakeholder interests on the definition, with three (University of Glasgow, University of Edinburgh and Abertay University) having adopted it to date. Universities UK is working with the Union of Jewish Students to raise awareness and understanding of antisemitism and to share best practice in tackling and eliminating it.

The Scottish Government continues to work with universities and the Scottish Funding Council to tackle racism and antisemitism.

Question reference: S6W-02766

Asked by: Evelyn Tweed, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 22 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking, including what resources are available, to raise awareness of the (a) Scottish Outdoor Access Code and (b) dangers of visiting some rural locations, in light of recent water deaths.

Under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, it is the duty of NatureScot and local authorities and National Park Authorities to publicise the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. The Scottish Government’s public agencies are running promotional campaigns, such as the Sustainable and Responsible Tourism in Scotland initiative (VisitScotland) or the Responsible Access campaign (Cairngorms National Park). These campaigns promote responsible enjoyment of the countryside, as part of the wider national visitor management strategy co-ordinated by VisitScotland.

Figures show there has been widespread public engagement with these campaigns over the spring and summer period. For example, 12.8 million impressions across social media have been received by NatureScot since March 2021.

£2.75 million has been allocated by Scottish Ministers this year for the Better Places Green Recovery Fund, administered by NatureScot, which partly provides for additional seasonal rangers to promote responsible behaviour in line with the access code. We are also providing our National Parks with an extra £3.6 million in 2021 which will also include additional support for seasonal rangers.

With specific regard to water safety, which is an important issue in urban as well as rural areas, the Scottish Government works closely with Water Safety Scotland and other key partners to implement and support initiatives that can help raise awareness of the hazards around water and reduce deaths from accidental drowning. They run a series of campaigns annually, including ‘Drowning Prevention Week’, ‘Don’t Drink and Drown’ and ‘Inflatable Safety’. The Scottish Government also provides annual grant funding to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents to deliver its annual home and water safety programme, which includes providing a secretariat to Water Safety Scotland.

Messaging is performed by a number of public agencies in a number of formats, and cumulative figures on spend are not available.

Question reference: S6W-02742

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 22 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent reports that a significant proportion of publicly-available electric vehicle charging points are not working.

CPS has transitioned to a new charge point network operator (CPNO), with all charge points and members being migrated from BP Pulse to SWARCO on the 27 th July. This was the outcome of a rigorous tender exercise to find a new operator to manage CPS on behalf of the Scottish Government.

Migrating over 2000 charge points and 32,000 driver accounts is a significant undertaking which required months of planning and preparation by a range of technical and operational specialists.

The process of bringing the entire ChargePlace Scotland estate online for the first time under one operator has been a huge undertaking. And while some interruptions had been expected, the level of disruption many drivers have faced was regrettably on a scale we did not foresee. Transport Scotland officials understand how critical it is for EV drivers to have access to a comprehensive and reliable network and we fully appreciate the service levels members expect from CPS.

I am pleased to update you that the network has now been stabilised and significant progress has been made in resolving some of the key issues which initially affected drivers, including RFID card access, customer account set-up and, above all, charge point availability. The network now has over 1800 publically available charge points connected and in working order. We are now in a second phase of the CPS migration programme, with the team endeavouring to resolve outstanding charge point repairs as a matter of urgency.

Question reference: S6W-02720

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 22 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to decarbonise the North Berwick-Edinburgh railway line.

Question reference: S6W-02346

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 22 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government which cabinet secretary or minister has responsibility for climate justice.

Question reference: S6W-03203

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-02832

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to use its Carbon Neutral Islands project to reduce instances of depopulation.

Question reference: S6W-02828

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to conduct an Island Communities Impact Assessment for its Carbon Neutral Islands project.

Question reference: S6W-02831

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what level of funding it estimates it will commit to its Carbon Neutral Islands project.

Question reference: S6W-02658

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether the new resources, Promoting race equality and anti-racist education, from Education Scotland will include materials on the experiences of Irish people, and people of Irish descent, living in Scotland, and any discrimination they have experienced.

The definition of race underpinning the Education Scotland resource Promoting and Developing Race Equality and Anti-Racist Education: An Overview is the definition present in the Equality Act 2010. This definition encompasses white ethnic groups, including white Irish. The experience of Irish people is also referenced in the Changing the Race Equality Paradigm in Education Scotland’s Understanding race and racism wakelet for practitioners. An Education Scotland website to support the publication of their resource, to go live by the end of September, will be regularly updated to include resources for practitioners relating to different minority ethnic groups who experience discrimination.