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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-23787

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 December 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 12 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its proposed Land Reform Bill.

The Scottish Government remains committed to introducing Land Reform legislation to further improve transparency of land ownership, help ensure large scale land holdings deliver in the public interest, and empower communities by providing more opportunities to own land and have more say in how land in their area is used.

It is important that the proposals in the Bill are robust to address the problems identified and to ensure this we are giving further consideration to measures in the Bill. Land reform is complex, and we are taking time to ensure that we have fully considered all responses to the consultation and subsequent comments from stakeholders.

To allow time for this further consideration and ensure we get the proposals right for introduction, we are planning a slight delay to the introduction of the Bill but it remains a Programme for Government commitment for 2023-24.

The Scottish Government also remains fully committed to ensuring that tenant farmers and small landholders are given equality of opportunity to access the new agricultural support framework. We will ensure that the future four tier agricultural support framework is able to work for all types of land tenure.

Question reference: S6W-23737

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 8 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the delivery of the National Transport Strategy.

Today the Scottish Government published the third Delivery Plan for the National Transport Strategy , which outlines the actions it has taken to deliver the vision and priorities in 2023 and what actions will be undertaken in the coming year.

The first Report to Parliament was also published today, setting out the steps the Scottish Government has taken in delivering the Strategy since its launch in February 2020. The publication of the Report fulfils our commitment in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019.

Transport and travel data has been routinely collected through our annual official statistical publications, however it has not been possible to accurately report on the performance of the Strategy on an annual basis. This is primarily due to our data collection methods being affected by the pandemic and comparisons between the baseline position and travel in 2020 and 2021 not being robust due to the profound impact that the pandemic had on travel behaviour over this period.

The first monitoring and evaluation report setting out what progress has been made will be produced in 2024. The update will primarily provide analysis on the performance of the Strategy against headline indicators, utilising data gathered in 2020, 2021 and 2022, qualitative case studies from our stakeholder groups and transport partners and data from additional sources.

Question reference: S6O-02879

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 December 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting Aberdeen's journey to net zero through investment in bus infrastructure.

Question reference: S6O-02819

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent correspondence it has had with the UK Government regarding any impact on its housing policies in Scotland of Local Housing Allowance rates.

Question reference: S6W-22328

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 17 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the new transport study to explore the reinstatement of the rail network north of Aberdeen, to Peterhead and Fraserburgh.

The Just Transition Fund has provided up to £250,000 to the Campaign for North East Rail (CNER) to produce a study examining possible travel interventions in Dyce, Ellon, Peterhead, and Fraserburgh which will accelerate the region’s transition to net zero.

The early stages of the project are underway. Project consultants have been appointed and the first monthly progress meeting was held in September. The project team continue to work across a range of tasks crucial to meeting the study’s overall objectives and the project remains on track to conclude in March 2024.

Question reference: S6W-22326

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government, following its decision not to continue with the HS2 link to Manchester, regarding any impact that this may have on any related Barnett consequential funding for the Scottish Government.

Funding for the HS2 programme has been provided by the UK Government to the Department for Transport (DfT) who manage the project, at UK Spending Reviews.

The Scottish Government receives Barnett funding based on the movements in DfT’s total budget.

As the UK Government have indicated that all funding for HS2 will be retained by the DfT for other projects, there should be no loss of Barnett funding.

However, this funding falls partly into the next UK Government Spending Review period and confirmation of funding levels will only be confirmed once the Spending Review has concluded.

Question reference: S6W-22327

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will receive any Barnett consequential funding as a result of the additional £8.55 billion of funding announced by the UK Government for City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements 2 (CRSTS2) in England.

The additional £8.55 billion of UK Government funding for CRSTS2 relates to financial years 2027-28 to 2031-32.

This funding will form part of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) future budget allocation. The Scottish Government will receive additional Barnett funding as part of its block grant based on any increase in the DfT’s total budget for the relevant financial years in accordance with the Statement of Funding Policy.

This funding announcement falls into the next UK Government Spending Review period and confirmation of funding levels for the Scottish Government will only be confirmed once the Spending Review has concluded.

Question reference: S6O-02735

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the provision of electronic devices to all school pupils to support their studies.

Question reference: S6W-22325

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on rail infrastructure in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years.

Network Rail is a wholly owned subsidiary company of the UK Government. The responsibility for determining and monitoring its operation, maintenance and renewal expenditure rests with the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

Transport Scotland funds Network Rail in accordance with the ORR’s determination. Therefore, Scottish Government does not hold the full investment information broken down by local authority within Scotland.

Therefore, I recommend that the member contacts Network Rail or the ORR for the detailed information requested for how much has been spent on rail infrastructure in each local authority area in each of the last ten years.

Question reference: S6W-22775

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 November 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making with the UK Government on climate policy, and whether there it will provide an update on the timing of its draft Climate Change Plan.

The unprecedented changes by the UK Government reneging on their net zero commitments, including the rolling back of policies already announced and accounted for, have repercussions on our ability to produce a draft Climate Change Plan that is just and fair by the end of November. I am meeting with the UK Government again on 15 November to urge them to reconsider their position, and to stop putting party politics ahead of planetary health.

This, tied with the uncertain economic outlook for the UK as a whole and the constraints of devolution placed upon us, make this challenging task ever more difficult.

The Scottish Government are continuing to develop climate policies and are fully committed to bringing forward a draft of the next Climate Change Plan, covering the period 2025 to 2040, which is fair and just for everyone. It is regrettably not possible to do this by our own November deadline, but will progress in line with statutory deadlines.