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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-23262

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 6 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of all the stakeholder groups that it engaged with when producing its paper, Our marine sector in an independent Scotland.

The Scottish Government engages with a wide range of stakeholders on the future of the marine sector on a very regular basis. This has included, for example, detailed engagement with Scottish seafood stakeholders on Brexit and the new costs and barriers it has created for exporting to the EU, and our shared concerns about post-Brexit UK immigration policy, and how these can be mitigated or overcome.

“Our marine sector in an independent Scotland” is informed by our continuous engagement with the marine sector.

Question reference: S6W-23086

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has spoken to any farmers whose crops or livestock have been affected by Storm Babet as part of its Storm Babet recovery taskforce, as of 16 November 2023.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials have been in frequent contact with farmers and farming representatives regarding the impacts of the extreme weather and severe flooding in October, including Storm Babet. I held a roundtable with NFUS and other agricultural representatives following the flooding in early October to gain an overview of the impacts at that stage, and visited an affected farm in Perthshire to meet a range of agricultural representatives. Officials have also been in regular contact with farmers, including through our area officer networks, to understand the impacts of the severe flooding in early October and from Storm Babet across the country.

In the aftermath of Storm Babet, I spoke at the NFUS Autumn Conference on 26th October and confirmed there that we would work with the agricultural sector to bring forward support for the repair of the floodbanks damaged by the extreme rainfall during October that protect our vitally productive farmland. I then spoke with farmers at the AgriScot conference on 22nd November and confirmed that following that engagement with the sector the Scottish Government has now established and funded a scheme for agricultural flood bank repair, with a budget of £1.8 million set aside.

Question reference: S6W-23083

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 4 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands has received a request under rule 9 of the Inquiry Rules 2006 for evidence regarding any WhatsApp messages and informal communications with cabinet secretaries, ministers, senior civil servants or advisers, on Scottish Government-issued or personal devices, in relation to matters for which she had responsibility in her former role as (a) Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment between January and December 2020, (b) Minister for Public Health and Sport between December 2020 and May 2021 and (c) Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands between May 2021 and January 2022; whether the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands has provided any such messages to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry, and, if so, how many.

The Scottish Government has received a number of requests from the UK Covid-19 Inquiry under Rule 9 of the Inquiry Rules Act 2006 and has been asked not to disclose the evidence that has been requested or provided, as have all core participants.

As a result, the Scottish Government is unable to confirm or comment on the details of any Rule 9 requests to individuals.

The Scottish Government remains fully committed in its cooperation with both the UK and Scottish Covid-19 Inquiries in their independent work to explore the handling of the pandemic and to identify the vital lessons we all need to learn.

Question reference: S6W-22179

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether Scottish Prison Service guidelines on the management of trans prisoners are compliant with its policy of gender self-identification that is open to every person over the age of 16 with a Scottish birth register entry or who is ordinarily resident in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-02766

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the just transition secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding whether a national strategy for battery energy storage system sites could form part of Scotland’s plans for a just transition.

Question reference: S6W-22182

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is currently running any marketing or recruitment campaigns to encourage more GPs to work in NHS boards in predominantly rural areas such as the Scottish Borders and the Highlands.

We launched a GP recruitment campaign in June 2022, as part of our commitment to increase the number of GPs in Scotland. The campaign seeks to encourage GPs from the rest of the UK to relocate to Scotland, highlighting the flexible, supportive, collaborative, and multi-disciplinary working environment.

We also fund ScotGEM, a four-year graduate-entry medical degree with a focus on remote and rural medicine. The programme is delivered through a collaborative partnership between the universities of St Andrew and Dundee, in collaboration with NHS Fife, NHS Tayside, NHS Highland, NHS Dumfries and Galloway and the University of Highlands and Islands.

The first Cohort of 52 students form the University of Dundee graduated on 17 June 2022. Places have now increased to 70 per cohort.

The Scottish Government will develop a Remote and Rural workforce recruitment strategy by the end of 2024. This will support employers (either Boards or General Practices) to ensure that the Health and Social Care needs of people who live in remote and rural communities are met.

Question reference: S6W-22295

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 13 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to update the Mobile Homes Act 1983.

Following the necessary consultation , the Scottish Government confirmed in June 2023 that it intends to update the Mobile Homes Act 1983 to change the presumed basis of pitch fee uprating from the Retail Prices Index to the Consumer Prices Index, for both existing and future contracts. We also propose to make a further change so that the statistical basis for uprating pitch fees can be amended by secondary rather than primary legislation in the future.

Question reference: S6W-22186

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its most recent estimate is of the cost to the Scottish economy of endometriosis in (a) treatment, (b) healthcare costs and (c) loss of work.

Question reference: S6W-22185

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its most recent estimate is of the number of women in Scotland with endometriosis.

Question reference: S6W-22187

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown by age group of the number of women in Scotland with endometriosis.