Chamber and committees

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-16177

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15482 by Humza Yousaf on 16 March 2023, what correspondence it has had with Scottish Water regarding The Baird Family Hospital and The ANCHOR Centre; what observations were made, and how these were addressed.

Question reference: S6W-16262

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what impact assessments are required to be undertaken in relation to pupils affected by mothballed schools.

Question reference: S6W-16190

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what conclusions it has drawn from the recent Health and Wellbeing Census.

Conclusions drawn from the Health and Wellbeing Census are available on the Scottish Government's website at https://www.gov.scot/publications/health-and-wellbeing-census-scotland-2021-22/ .

It is essential that public services have a robust understanding of the issues affecting children and young people, so that appropriate support is put in place for them and their families. The Census data provides schools, education authorities, health and social care partners, as well as national Government, with the best source of evidence on children and young people’s health and wellbeing. The data collected in this first Census will provide a robust benchmark to measure future Census data collections against.

We will now work with local authorities to learn from their experiences of having undertaken the Census both to understand fully the benefit to them, and whether there are areas for improvement in the process.

Question reference: S6W-16188

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when the revised guidance for the Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) curriculum for 2023-24 will be published.

The Scottish Government does not provide annual guidance on relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education. The experiences and outcomes for relationships, sexual health and parenthood are set within the health and wellbeing organiser of curriculum for excellence. Information is available from https://education.gov.scot/education-scotland/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5/experiences-and-outcomes/#hwb .

For the current guidance on RSHP education, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16187 on 17 April 2023. 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 .

Question reference: S6W-16261

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance exists regarding mothballed schools.

Question reference: S6W-16179

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15479 by Humza Yousaf on 16 March 2023, for what reason client changes are being introduced for The Baird Family Hospital and The ANCHOR Centre at this stage in the build process and were not introduced at an earlier stage.

Question reference: S6W-16668

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 14 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to introduce a three-mile fishing limit around the coast of Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-16707

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 14 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm what guidance is in place for NHS boards regarding Freedom of Information requests.

NHS Boards are each distinct Scottish public authorities for the purposes of FOI legislation and each one is responsible for its own compliance with its statutory obligations under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

The Section 60 Code of Practice, produced by the Scottish Ministers, provides guidance for all Scottish public authorities on discharging their functions under the legislation. Additionally, as the independent public official responsible for promoting and enforcing FOI law, the Scottish Information Commissioner encourages Scottish public authorities to develop good FOI practice, providing guidance and support materials on his website: https://www.itspublicknowledge.info/law-and-guidance .

Question reference: S6O-02118

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of households that have received the Winter Heating Payment in Aberdeenshire.

Question reference: S6W-16264

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 12 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what review it has undertaken of Mowi Scotland's continuation of its current open-net farming operations in Scotland, in light of Mowi’s decision to end open-net farming in Canada and Norway due to the impact on wild fish.

The Scottish Government is not aware of a decision by Mowi to end open-net farming in Canada and Norway due to impacts on wild fish.

The Scottish Government is committed to a programme of work to protect and restore wild Atlantic salmon populations. The Wild Salmon Strategy and accompanying Implementation Plan, published in February this year, set out a suite of actions to be taken to mitigate against the wide range of pressures which impact wild fish populations.

There is a presumption against open cage fish farming development on the North and East costs of Scotland in the National Marine Plan and National Planning Framework to protect wild migratory species.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is preparing for a further consultation on a new sea lice risk assessment framework to protect wild fish for implementation in the aquaculture zone.