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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: S6O-04004

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland’s latest report on road policing.

Question reference: S6W-30403

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 28 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendation within the Scottish Land Commission's report, Land Reform and Taxation: Advice to Scottish Ministers, to (a) establish "a programme to bring all land onto the valuation roll" and (b) commit to "the development and use of a consistent and comprehensive cadastral approach which would enable the integration of information on land ownership, use and value, building on the current work of Registers of Scotland".

The Scottish Government is committed to land reform and improving transparency of those who own and control land in Scotland is at the heart of our land reform objectives.

The Scottish Government will continue to review any evidence – including that arising from the Scottish Land Commission’s report on land and property taxation – and assess this as part of our wider approach to tax policy

Registers of Scotland are currently working to deliver the benefits of a completed land register through their Unlocking Sasines project. This uses spatial data to help ‘unlock’ the historic information in the Sasine register, which means that they can link Sasine property search sheets to a map for the first time, making it visually more helpful and accessible. Additionally, the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will improve transparency and help ensure that large scale land holdings deliver in the public interest. The Bill will place legal responsibilities on the owners of the very largest landholdings to set out – through Land Management Plans - how they use their land and how that contributes to key public policy priorities, like addressing climate change and protecting and restoring nature.

Question reference: S6O-03863

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is supporting local transport authorities to franchise bus services.

Question reference: S6W-30300

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 15 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether a local authority that introduces a workplace parking levy under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 could set different levels of licence charge for workers (a) with incomes below a certain level, (b) who work particular hours, for example early or late shifts, and (c) with an electric vehicle.

Question reference: S6W-30299

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 15 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether a local authority that introduces a workplace parking levy under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 could set local exemptions for workers (a) with incomes below a certain level, (b) who work particular hours, for example early or late shifts, and (c) with an electric vehicle.

The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 provides local authorities with a discretionary power to set up workplace parking licensing (WPL) schemes. Section 71 of the 2019 Act defines what constitutes a workplace parking place.

The liability for licences and associated charges is the responsibility of the occupier of the premises providing workplace parking spaces, and not employees or workers. There is no licence charge payable by workers and therefore no scope to vary such charges.

Local authorities do, however, have the discretion to make local exemptions beyond the fixed national exemptions to support their local objectives and circumstances. For example, a local authority could apply WPL to only certain parts of the local authority boundary, exempt premises with fewer than a specified number of parking places, exempt parking places for use by certain types of vehicles or for specified uses, or specific premises or premises of a specified description. A WPL scheme may also provide for descriptions of persons or motor vehicles to be exempt from the scheme or from paying charges under the scheme.

In addition to providing for exemptions, a WPL scheme may make provision for different charges (or no charge) to apply in different cases. This can include provision for different charges to apply on different days, at different times of day, to different part of a licensing area and to different descriptions of persons. Different charges could also be applied to different descriptions of premises and to different classes of motor vehicles.

Question reference: S6W-30058

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 2 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the announced £1 million of savings from its Nature Restoration budget will have on any projects in the Mid Scotland and Fife region funded by the Edinburgh Process strand of the Nature Restoration Fund.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-29617 on 17 September 2024. 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.

In the period 2021-22 to 2023-24, individual Local Authorities across the Mid Scotland and Fife region have received around £2.89 million from the Nature Restoration Fund Edinburgh Process strand, to support a range of nature restoration projects. The competitive strand of the NRF, which is unaffected by this funding announcement, continues to support projects across Scotland, including in the Mid Scotland and Fife Region. Further details can be found at https://www.nature.scot/funding-and-projects/nature-restoration-fund/nature-restoration-fund-supported-projects.

Question reference: S6W-30061

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 30 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a list of any Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 (CAFS2) actions that may be impacted by the announced £0.1 million reduction in its Air quality public engagement strategy budget line.

Work is underway to deliver the 84 actions in the Scottish Government’s Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 Strategy which runs until 2026, with 65 actions delivered to date. Updates on delivery will be reported in the next annual progress report due to be published in 2025.

Consideration is underway on the impact of the £0.1 million reduction in the Air Quality budget which formed part of a recent savings exercise.

Question reference: S6W-29893

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 30 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is encouraging NHS boards to provide plant-based meal options for patients.

Question reference: S6W-28026

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 26 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what powers it has over mineral mining activity in Scotland, in light of written answer HL3093 in the House of Lords on 20 March 2024, in which the Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade states that “mineral planning policy is also a devolved matter”.

The Scottish Government is responsible for overseeing Scotland’s statutory planning system which manages the development and use of land in the long-term public interest. Applications for planning permission for the extraction of minerals in Scotland must be made to the relevant local planning authority and Scottish Ministers only rarely intervene. Our Fourth National Planning Framework, published and adopted by Scottish Ministers in 2023 guides spatial development, sets out national planning policies, designates national developments and highlights regional spatial priorities. It is part of the development plan, and so influences planning decisions across Scotland.

Where any mineral extraction takes place, relevant environmental authorisation requirements will apply ensuring continuing environmental protection.

Question reference: S6W-28027

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 26 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact on communities in Scotland of the (a) UK Critical Mineral Strategy and (b) findings of the report, Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK by the British Geographical Survey (BGS) for the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC).

Access to Critical Raw Materials and Technologies is a vitally important issue for our economy, energy security and Net Zero ambitions.

Where areas of potential prospectivity are identified, this does not mean that critical minerals are guaranteed to be found and there are a range of factors which will influence whether or not extraction will take place. This includes the requirement that where new development proposals come forward, applications for planning permission must be made to the relevant local planning authority. Policy 33 of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) sets out that development proposals for the sustainable extraction of minerals will only be supported by that policy where certain criteria are met, this includes demonstrating that there are no significant adverse impacts (including cumulative impact) on any nearby homes and local communities. NPF4 should be read as a whole, alongside local development plans, in applying balanced planning judgement in planning decisions.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any assessment of impacts on communities from these reports at this stage.