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-16306

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has held with housing developers regarding the implementation of the fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4).

Officials have met with housing developers throughout the preparation of NPF4. Most recently, Planning, Housing and Analytical officials met with members of the industry to discuss matters relating to Housing Need and Demand Assessment (HNDA) on 6 February 2023. This followed the Local Government and Housing Committee’s consideration of NPF4. We will continue to work with Homes for Scotland and their members as we move to deliver NPF4.

Question reference: S6W-16307

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has held with Heads of Planning Scotland regarding the implementation of the fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4).

Officials meet on a frequent basis with Heads of Planning Scotland (HOPS), including through a monthly catch up between the Chief Planner and the HOPS Chair and Vice Chairs to discuss key issues, and by officials attending the HOPS sub-committees on development planning and development management, where NPF4 is a regular agenda item.

The HOPS annual conference is attended by Scottish Government officials and the Minister with responsibility for planning, most recently on 31 st March 2023. HOPS is also part of the High Level Group on planning performance, co-chaired by Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.

We are committed to continuing a collaborative approach with a range of key stakeholders in the delivery of NPF4, including HOPS.

Question reference: S6W-16352

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to colleges to help make them wind and watertight.

The Scottish Government, through the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), provides colleges with capital funding for the purpose of college lifecycle costs and backlog maintenance. The 2023-24 budget has increased the college capital budget by over 10%.

SFC’s College Infrastructure Strategy: The Approach to Delivering Scotland’s College Infrastructure recognises that investment in college infrastructure is needed. It describes the principles and approach to determining future investment needs in Scotland’s college estate and other college infrastructure and the need to explore new and existing funding arrangements to address the breadth of investment needed and this will be investigated as part of the work to develop the Infrastructure Investment Plan.

Question reference: S6W-16296

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many individual pieces of guidance have been issued to local authorities since May 2021.

Question reference: S6W-16470

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) since May 2021, and what the agreed outcomes were of any such meetings.

Question reference: S6W-16343

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 5 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to Keep Scotland Beautiful in each year since 2016.

Keep Scotland Beautiful has delivered a range of initiatives on the Scottish Government's behalf and has been allocated the following funding since 2016 to enable it to do so:

2016-17: £11,147,463

2017-18: £11,152,455

2018-19: £11,131,472

2019-20: £8,642,939

2020-21: £10,054,598

2021-22: £1,227,428

2022-23: £609,000

The reduction in funding to KSB from 2021 is due to the Climate Challenge Fund coming to an end. KSB delivered the fund on the Scottish Government’s behalf until their contract ended in June 2021. The previously reported funding for 21-22 of £1,555,145 reduced due to underspend linked to the CCF being returned to the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-16011

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the impact in Scotland of the implementation of a UK-wide Deposit Return Scheme.

Scottish Government Ministers meet monthly with their counterparts in the other UK administrations via the Intra-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs to discuss a number of issues, including DRS. Officials also engage regularly with representatives of the other UK administrations to ensure that, when their own deposit return schemes launch, there is as high a degree of alignment as possible with the Scottish DRS. However, this will not be at the cost of reducing the aims and ambitions of our scheme.

Question reference: S6W-16003

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much money it has given to Circularity Scotland since 1 January 2020.

Question reference: S6W-16008

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the current annual salary is of the CEO of Circularity Scotland.

Circularity Scotland is a not-for-profit company, delivered and funded by industry, in line with the polluter pays principle. This structure is based on successful schemes seen elsewhere in Europe, and was approved by the Scottish Parliament in 2020.

Circularity Scotland is therefore separate from government and we have no role in the recruitment of staff or their pay levels. Decisions on pay are made by the Circularity Scotland board, which is made up of members who bring a range of experience from across a range of sectors, which is appropriate for a private company that is delivering an industry-led scheme. As a private company Circularity Scotland will publish annual accounts which will include relevant salary information. Any additional information on salaries should be sought directly from Circularity Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-02071

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure value for money in government projects.