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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.

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Question reference: S6W-35114

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 25 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the survival rate of farmed salmon on marine farms was in 2024.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on fish survival by calendar year. Each October, Scottish Government publishes a Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey which presents data on survival to harvest within a year class; that is, the fish grown to harvest within a production cycle.

The member may be interested to know that industry trade body Salmon Scotland publishes monthly mortality data. In recent correspondence to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee dated 3 February 2025, Salmon Scotland noted that their data indicated survival across all marine farms was 82.3% in 2024, up 10 percentage points from 72.3% in 2023.

Question reference: S6O-04366

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-34501

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 14 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its response to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee report, Follow-up inquiry into salmon farming in Scotland, which was published on 17 January 2025.

Question reference: S6O-04297

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Accounts Commission report, Local government in Scotland: Financial bulletin 2023/24, which was published on 28 January 2025.

Question reference: S6W-29735

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 13 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government by what percentage the block grant from the UK Government has increased (a) each year and (b) cumulatively since 2007, and by how much the local government budget has increased (i) each year and (ii) cumulatively over the same period.

The total Resource (RDEL) Block Grant funding received by the Scottish Government (SG) each year since 2007/08, along with calculations of the year-on-year percentage change and the cumulative change over the specified timeframe is as follows:

Year	Basis	£'m	Percentage Change Year on Year	Cumulative increase since 2007-08
2007-08	Outturn	22,905	-	-
2008-09	Outturn	23,552	2.82%	2.82%
2009-10	Outturn	24,486	3.97%	6.90%
2010-11	Outturn	25,211	2.96%	10.07%
2011-12	Outturn	24,814	-1.57%	8.33%
2012-13	Outturn	24,968	0.62%	9.01%
2013-14	Outturn	25,466	1.99%	11.18%
2014-15	Outturn	25,660	0.76%	12.03%
2015-16	Outturn	25,563	-0.38%	11.60%
2016-17	Outturn	26,098	2.09%	13.94%
2017-18	Outturn	26,716	2.36%	16.64%
2018-19	Outturn	27,255	2.02%	18.99%
2019-20	Outturn	28,621	5.01%	24.95%
2020-21	Outturn	38,852	35.75%	69.62%
2021-22	Outturn	36,939	-4.93%	61.27%
2022-23	Outturn	35,993	-2.56%	57.14%
2023-24	Outturn	37,609	4.49%	64.19%
2024-25	Plans	39,814	5.86%	73.82%
2025-26	Plans	41,141	3.33%	79.62%

The Total Local Government resource settlement each year since 2007-08, along with calculations of the year-on-year percentage change and the cumulative change over the specified timeframes is set out below. This is split into 2 parts, 2007-08 to 2012-13 and 2013-14 to 2025-26. Extended time series comparisons of the Local Government Settlement are inappropriate and misleading due to the impact of the Concordat and machinery of government changes such as the transfer of police and fire services out of local government which create discontinuities in the time series data. The data presented for the Local Government Settlement is taken from the relevant Local Government Circular published following the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order in each year. It is important to note that additional funding is often allocated to local authorities in-year and processed through a retrospective redetermination in the subsequent year’s Local Government Finance Order. By extension such funding is not reflected in this time series data but is published in the relevant Local Government Finance Circular and is available at Local government finance circulars - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Year	£'m	Percentage Change Year on Year	Cumulative increase since 2007-08
2007-08	8,717	-	-
2008-09	10,062	15.43%	15.43%
2009-10	10,603	5.37%	21.63%
2010-11	10,688	0.81%	22.62%
2011-12	10,432	-2.4%	19.67%
2012-13	10,487	0.53%	20.30%

Year	£'m	Percentage Change Year on Year	Cumulative increase since 2013-14
2013-14	9,583	0.00%	0.00%
2014-15	9,666	0.87%	0.87%
2015-16	9,871	2.12%	3.00%
2016-17	9,560	-3.15%	-0.24%
2017-18	9,527	-0.35%	-0.59%
2018-19	9,724	2.07%	1.47%
2019-20	10,016	3.00%	4.52%
2020-21	10,616	5.99%	10.78%
2021-22	10,928	2.94%	14.04%
2022-23	12,156	11.24%	26.85%
2023-24	12,374	1.79%	29.12%
2024-25	13,056	5.51%	36.24%
2025-26	13,803	5.72%	44.03%

Question reference: S6W-31658

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) ScotRail and other train operators and (b) rail stakeholders regarding improving train drivers' access to safe, clean and dignified toilet facilities, with adequate time to use these, during the course of their working day of up to eight hours.

Question reference: S6W-31657

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has allocated to improve toilet facilities across the rail network.

Question reference: S6W-31652

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report by the trade union, ASLEF, Dignity for Drivers, including the claim that train drivers do not always have access to safe, clean and dignified toilet facilities, or adequate time to use them, during the course of their working day of up to eight hours; what its position is on whether a lack of such facilities could establish a barrier to recruiting a more diverse workforce by having a disproportionate impact on people who (a) have chronic health conditions, (b) are female, (c) are older and (d) have protected characteristics, and whether it will undertake an urgent review of toilet facilities for drivers across the rail network.

Question reference: S6W-31656

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that free sanitary products are available across the rail network.

Question reference: S6O-04062

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what it can do to support access to library services in rural areas.