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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-01662

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-12524

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Angus Robertson on 23 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Supreme Court judgement on the reference by the Lord Advocate to the Supreme Court on whether the Scottish Parliament has the power to legislate for an independence referendum.

Question reference: S6O-01579

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recently reported warnings by the Bank of England that the UK is about to enter the longest recession since the 1930s, what assessment it has made of the impact that this could have on its Covid Recovery Strategy.

Question reference: S6O-01462

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to tackle skills shortages.

Question reference: S6W-11314

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 September 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by George Adam on 3 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to increase transparency regarding the Crown consent process and how bills apply to the Crown.

Question reference: S6W-10567

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 August 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 24 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when details will be made available regarding year six of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund, and when it will commence.

Year Six of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund is ready to commence in line with the new 2022-23 academic year.

An evaluation of FWDF is near completion and we expect to publish the report in the coming weeks. In advance of this, minor changes are being made to standardise the offer to organisations this year, with further changes to be considered on completion of the evaluation process. We will consult stakeholders and align any further changes with the strategic lifetime skills commitments outlined in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

In Year Four changes were made to FWDF which made support available to non-UK Apprenticeship Levy paying small and medium enterprises via colleges or the Open University in Scotland (OUiS). At the same time, Levy paying organisations only were able for the first time to access non-college based skills support from other training providers via a Skills Development Scotland grant scheme, but they did not have access to the OUiS option.

In Year Six, all companies will, for the first time, be able to access upskilling support via Scotland’s colleges, OUiS, and the Skills Development Scotland grant offer on a first come, first served basis.

Levy payers will continue to be able to access support up to a value of £15,000 and non-Levy paying SMEs up to £5,000.

Question reference: S6O-01303

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recently reported views of Professor Catherine Barnard regarding the impact on Scotland’s food and drink exports of a potential trade war between the UK and the EU.

Question reference: S6W-08994

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 May 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its rail decarbonisation programme and the rolling programme of rail electrification schemes.

The first phase of a rail decarbonisation scheme to electrify the Fife route (Haymarket to Dalmeny section), is moving to construction.

Work on this estimated £55 million scheme will begin in June 2022 with the section between Haymarket and Dalmeny. It is due for completion by December 2024.

This scheme forms part of a rolling programme that is expected to see electrification extended to Dundee and Aberdeen.

Beyond this, further development work on the business cases for decarbonising the Borders Line has been approved to progress to the next design phase for partial electrification of the route using battery electric multiple units.

This continues the Scottish Government’s rolling programme of railway electrification, with work already in delivery on the East Kilbride and Barrhead routes.

Approval has also been given for a procurement competition to identify a preferred manufacturer and financier for new trains to operate decarbonised rail passenger services on the Fife and Borders routes .

Question reference: S6W-08976

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 May 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has acted on the recommendations of the Information Commissioner’s Office, following the reprimand issued on 25 February 2022.

Following receipt of the reprimand letter, the Scottish Government and NHS National Services Scotland immediately began addressing the recommendations set out by the ICO. Action was taken against every recommendation and the Permanent Secretary wrote to the ICO on behalf of both organisations on 28 March, inviting the ICO to review the improvements made.

The ICO Director of Regulatory Assurance has now concluded that no further investigation or action from the ICO is required following the ICO investigation of the NHS Scotland Covid Status app and the resultant actions taken by the Scottish Government and NHS National Services Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with the ICO to ensure we uphold information rights and data privacy of individuals.

Question reference: S6O-01094

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are available to stakeholders seeking to manage invasive species and mitigate their impact.