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

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 43237 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6O-00263

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Swedish national system of collective rent bargaining through a national union of tenants would help to address any housing issues in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-00262

Asked by: Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to publish the James Hutton Institute report on the impact on human health and the environment arising from the spreading of sewage sludge on land.

Question reference: S6O-00261

Asked by: Karen Adam, MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the problem of gulls in urban areas in the north east and Moray.

Question reference: S6O-00264

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent comments from Cancer Research UK regarding cancer survival rates in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-00260

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the latest estimate is of the public cost of procuring the ferries MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802.

Question reference: S6W-03163

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 29 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that football clubs enforce the wearing of face coverings inside their grounds, and what action will be taken if clubs fail to enforce the regulations.

Face coverings are required in indoor spaces. As stadiums are a mixture of both inside and outside, face coverings are required in internal areas such as entering and exiting as well as accessing kiosks or toilet facilities. Local Authorities engage with the Football Clubs through the event capacity limit exemption and Sports Advisory Group process to ensure Covid baseline measures are in in place in football stadiums.

We expect football clubs to use stewards and messaging to fans to encourage supporters to wear facemasks while inside at grounds. While police officers may be present at matches, their primary role is public safety, and while they have the powers to enforce the wearing of face coverings, as in any other setting, Officers would engage, explain and encourage before enforcing.

Question reference: S6W-03093

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates its proposed National Towns of Culture scheme will be launched.

We will start work this year on designing an open scheme for National Towns of Culture, which will be launched over the course of this Parliament.

Officials will provide the me with delivery options and recommendations by the end of this year, and we will offer a further update at that point.

This builds on our strong track record of taking place-based approaches to our cultural programmes, such as our innovative Culture Collective scheme, launched earlier this year, which is working to increasing cultural engagement in some of our most deprived communities.

Question reference: S6W-03095

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it plans to commit to its proposed National Towns of Culture scheme.

As referenced in the answers to S6W-03093 and S6W-03094 on‎ 29 September 2021, officials will provide me with delivery options and recommendations – including on funding – by the end of this year, and we will offer a further update at that point.

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-03096

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 29 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to expand on its work with Scottish diaspora networks in the coming year.

In the Programme for Government 2021-22, we committed to “engage with our Scottish Connections international community and expand on our work with Scottish diaspora networks across the world.”

Across the Scottish Government, we already have a wide range of activity to engage with our diaspora groups and those with a connection with or affinity to Scotland.

Our external network of international offices work directly with our diaspora communities in key locations around the world, and two new overseas offices in Copenhagen and Warsaw will expand this network further. GlobalScot, Scotland’s network for international business, reached its 20th anniversary and its 1000th network member this year. Our engagement with the Higher Education sector, including our substantial global alumni network and programmes such as the Saltire Scholarships, plays a key role in building Scotland’s connections internationally.

We are currently undertaking research to advise on our future approach to diaspora engagement to expand our international impact. The report from the first phase of this project will be published in due course. We are also planning a programme of international activity for Scotland’s Winter Festivals, with St Andrew’s Day and Burns Night in particular providing key opportunities to support and connect with our existing diaspora networks around the world.

Question reference: S6W-02980

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Scotland’s high-rise threshold being reduced from over 18m to over 11m in 2018, for what reason option 3 in its consultation, Building standards (fire safety) - external wall systems, considers introducing a ban on combustible cladding and insulation on the external façades of certain residential and high-risk buildings using the previous 18m-plus threshold.

England introduced a ban on combustible materials used in the construction of external walls for all new residential buildings over 18m in December 2018. The 11m threshold introduced from 1 October 2019 is contained in regulatory guidance, with the alternative route of a large scale fire test being retained on the advice of the fire safety review panel. Since that time a number of stakeholders have made clear their views that the Scottish regulations should align with those in the rest of the UK, and we have therefore sought to include this as an option within the consultation.