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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-35769

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is regarding ScotRail trains entering service without a functioning accessible toilet.

Question reference: S6W-35767

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for each period since April 2022 how many ScotRail train services were (a) planned, (b) operated with at least one non-functioning toilet, (c) operated with no functioning toilet and (d) operated with no functioning accessible toilet.

Question reference: S6W-36005

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 1 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is proposing to take, in light of the work of its short-life working group on the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

The Scottish Government keeps all dog control legislation under review and that includes the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (“the 1991 Act”).

A Scottish Government led Short Life Working Group was established in 2022 to assist with taking forward our commitment to review the 1991 Act.

The focus of the review was on the criminal offence in the 1991 Act of a dog being dangerously out of control.

The working group has undertaken this review, and the Scottish Government is continuing to consider the wide range of views offered to determine what may be appropriate as next steps. The Minutes of the group meetings can be found on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/groups/dangerous-dogs-act-short-life-working-group/

In the meantime the Scottish Government has taken action to introduce new safeguards in relation to XL Bully dogs. The XL Bully dog has now been added to the list of prohibited dog breeds under the 1991 Act.

The Scottish Government also hosted a ‘Responsible Dog Ownership’ Summit on 20 September 2024. The summit brought together attendees from a range of organisations, including the police, local authorities, veterinary bodies, public health, third sector organisations and the Communication Workers Union to consider how dog control and dog welfare can be improved upon.

Question reference: S6W-35768

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is regarding ScotRail trains entering service without a functioning toilet onboard.

Question reference: S6W-35770

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government under what circumstances a ScotRail train could enter service without a functioning accessible toilet.

Question reference: S6O-04530

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on staffing at ScotRail ticket offices.

Question reference: S6W-35958

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses have been referred to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service each year under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 for making underpayments to migrant workers, also broken down by how many were subsequently (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted.

Question reference: S6W-35414

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding what proportion of an agricultural officer’s time is dedicated to (a) agricultural wages inspection and (b) rural payments.

Agricultural Officers do not all carry out the same duties and the type of work is not evenly distributed across Scotland. This means a single reply applicable to every Agricultural Officer is not possible.

Resource planning information shows that agricultural wages inspections currently take between 5% to 20% of time for those officers who carry out this duty. Rural payments take between 5% to 60% of an Agricultural Officers time for those officers who carry out this duty.

Question reference: S6W-35413

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what training is provided to agricultural officers regarding their inspection duties, and whether this includes modules on (a) trauma-informed interviews and (b) working with interpreters.

Question reference: S6W-35181

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much resource budget funding has been provided to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service in each of the last five financial years.