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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-13578

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 25 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12170 by Shirley Anne-Somerville on 20 December 2022, whether it will provide a list of the (a) members and (b) leaders of each of the groups and sub-groups named.

Question reference: S6O-01810

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to curb the recently reported outbreak of squirrelpox.

Question reference: S6W-13116

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates it will reduce class sizes in line with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills' announcement on 8 December 2022.

As Mr Marra is now aware, there was no announcement on class sizes in my statement to Parliament on 8 December. Mr Marra has now confirmed that his question is about the reduction in class contact time.

We are continuing to discuss the Programme for Government commitment to reduce class contact time by one-and-a-half hours per week for teachers through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT). The SNCT is responsible for teachers’ terms and conditions, and as such it will be for the SNCT to agree the implementation of this change.

Question reference: S6O-01741

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with representatives of Sistema Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-12170

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a full list of active groups and sub-groups within the Education and Skills portfolio.

Question reference: S6W-12682

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 14 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it will receive as a result of the UK Government’s announcement on 21 November 2022 regarding an additional £484 million for research and innovation, and whether it will confirm whether this funding will be passed on in full to universities in Scotland.

Scotland will receive £24.6 million from within the £484 million package of support announced by the UK Government. This will be distributed to the sector via the Scottish Funding Council. Universities and research institutions may be eligible for other aspects of the package announced by the UK Government.

This allocation is intended to address the shortfall in research funding caused by delays in negotiating association to the Horizon Europe Research programme. The funding awarded reflects Scotland’s previous track record of success and influential position in this prestigious and highly competitive research programme.

We highly value European partnerships and collaborations, built through initiatives like Horizon, which help drive Scotland’s strength and excellence in research. The impact of Brexit has risked our ability to continue to access funding and compete as a world leading research nation. Therefore, the Scottish Government’s position remains that maximising participation in Horizon Europe is the best outcome for Scotland.

We urge the UK Government to work together with the European Commission to limit the damage caused by their ideological pursuit of a ‘hard’ Brexit. Finding a mutually beneficial solution for our research and innovation communities remains of pressing importance.

Question reference: S6W-12230

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Education Leaders' Forum, whether the group is still active and, if so, what its composition is; when the group last meet; how it measures the performance and outcomes of the group, and what (a) financial and (b) staffing resources it has allocated to the group.

The Education Leaders’ Forum was paused in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It last met in April 2019. The Scottish Government decided not to re-establish the Education Leaders’ Forum due to the expanded membership of the re-established Scottish Education Council and on the basis that wider stakeholders can continue to engage with Ministers and Scottish Government officials on specific issues, as and when required.

Question reference: S6O-01673

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the reported delays to the development of the Swallow Roundabout in Dundee.

Question reference: S6F-01601

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 December 2022

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will provide an urgent update on its discussions with the EIS after the announcement of new strike dates.

Question reference: S6W-12075

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported data showing that rural areas in the North East Scotland region continue to experience significantly worse broadband access than the Scotland and UK averages.

Despite the area of telecommunications being wholly reserved to the UK Parliament under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998, the Scottish Government has already stepped in and taken the lead in addressing poor broadband coverage, given its economic importance to Scotland.

Through initiatives such as the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) and Reaching 100% (R100) programmes, we have connected almost one million properties to faster broadband right across Scotland.

Our R100 programme ensures that all homes and businesses can access a superfast broadband connection delivered through the £600 million R100 contracts, the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme or commercial coverage.