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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: S5W-31602

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the estimated cost per carcass of killing red and roe deer calves that are too small for game dealers to collect.

Question reference: S5W-31604

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether consideration was given to targeting the culling of female deer in September 2020 in the most affected areas rather than adopting a nationwide blanket approach.

Deer are present across the whole of Scotland’s national forests and land, and, being mobile animals, can damage a wide range of tree crops and habitats. Deer impacts can have a significant and negative effect on Forestry and Land Scotland’s (FLS), core objectives including climate change mitigation measures and biodiversity targets as well as timber production and operating costs.

In order to deliver proactive and effective deer management on Scotland’s national forests and land, FLS annually applies to NatureScot for authorisation to shoot deer out of season across the whole landholding.

Out of season shooting is however evidence-led, prioritised and targeted at the most vulnerable areas of woodland or open habitat currently at risk of, or subject to, deer damage impacts. Evidence and relevant data to inform the targeting of culling of deer is sourced from the FLS Wildlife Management System database and formal damage assessment of crops carried out by independent surveyors. Additional localised culling may also be necessary for human safety or deer welfare reasons.

Question reference: S5O-04591

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the scrutiny provisions proposed for the Scottish Parliament in relation to the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Bill are adequate.

Question reference: S5W-31416

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 August 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 8 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to the Scottish venison sector to ensure that the market for it can recover from the impact of COVID-19.

Support for the venison sector is being considered as part of wider recovery planning for Scotland’s farming, fishing, food and drink sector in response to Covid and Brexit. The Scottish Government continues to support our national venison strategy and we have provided project funding towards a better understanding of the market for Scottish venison. We have also, along with Food Standards Scotland, funded research into wild deer health which is due to be published in the next few months.

I was pleased to support Scottish Venison Day on 4 September, an initiative designed to promote, strengthen and celebrate the importance of Scottish venison as a local food product.

Question reference: S5O-04540

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent an increase in homelessness as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Question reference: S5W-29925

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 1 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many former, trained teachers responded to the call from the General Teaching Council for Scotland to assist with school learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, and, of those, how many had (a) primary and (b) secondary school experience.

The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) contacted individuals whose GTCS registration has recently lapsed, including recently retired teachers to ensure records were up to date to facilitate any contact with employers to establish their willingness and availability to return to teaching, should this be required based on local need. There has been no formal call as yet.

We are currently working with local authorities to establish what additional staff are needed. Once we know that, we will work with local authorities to meet that demand.

Question reference: S5F-04140

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 May 2020

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that all answers to written parliamentary questions about COVID-19 are being processed as quickly as possible.

Question reference: S5W-27388

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 28 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement in the UK Government Spending Round of an additional £700 million to provide support for children and young people with special educational needs, what Barnett consequentials it expects to receive for special educational needs, and how much of this funding will be allocated to spending on additional support needs in schools in its Budget for 2020-21.

The Minister for Public Finance set out the Scottish Government’s spending plans for 2020-21 in the Scottish Budget on 6 February, which included an additional £15 million in the coming year to further improve the experiences of children and young people with additional support needs. This investment will further enhance capacity in education authorities and schools to respond effectively to the individual needs of children and young people.

Barnett consequentials accrue to the Scottish Government as a whole and it is for Scottish Ministers to decide how they should be allocated.

Question reference: S5O-04131

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the introduction of transdermal alcohol monitoring tags.

Question reference: S5W-27015

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 3 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to help meet the UK-wide target of 2.4% of GDP being invested in research and development.

Over the last year of available data, Scotland’s GERD as a share of GDP has increased 0.1 percentage points, which is five times the growth of the UK as a whole which is 0.02 percentage points. If this trend continues, Scotland will exceed the UK 2027 target of increasing investment in R&D to 2.4% of GDP.

In terms of business R&D funding, we have made available an additional £15m per year between financial years 2018/19 and 2020/21. In addition, the Scottish Government has organised cross-sectoral engagements with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to highlight our science, research and innovation landscape and activities. These have informed the on-going development of the BEIS UK roadmap.