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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: S6O-01680

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it considers to be reasonable grounds to postpone the passage of legislation through Parliament.

Question reference: S6W-12582

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it became aware of the letter of 18 November 2022 from the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls regarding the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Question reference: S6O-01660

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that teaching staff across all local authority areas receive additional training on neurodiversity including autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADD.

Question reference: S6W-11735

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is regarding the impact in Scotland of the Charity Commission’s investigation of the Mermaids charity.

Charity law is a devolved matter. Charities registered in Scotland are subject to the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 overseen by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). Charities registered in England and Wales are regulated by the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Charities can be registered with both OSCR and the Charity Commission.

Mermaids are a charity registered in England and Wales only, the Scottish Government has no relationship with and does not fund Mermaids. There is no regulatory impact in Scotland of the Charity Commission investigation into the charity.

Question reference: S6W-11800

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 10 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) retriever, (b) cocker spaniel, (c) pointer and setter, (d) hunt, point and retrieve and (e) any other spaniel trials are exempt from the provisions of the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill as introduced.

The Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill is concerned with the use of dogs to hunt wild mammals. The Bill does not differentiate between breeds of dogs. Field trials which only involve the hunting of birds are not covered by the provisions of this Bill.

For field trials that involve the use of dogs to hunt wild mammals the participants will have to abide by the provisions of the Bill.

These provisions set out that any person who uses a dog to, for example, search for and flush a wild rabbit from cover, may continue to do so provided that the conditions set out in section 6(2) of the Bill are met, including:

The activity does not involve the use of more than two dogs
Any dog used in the activity is under control
Reasonable steps are taken to ensure that any dog used in the activity does not join with others to form a pack of more than two dogs

Question reference: S6W-11736

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of the Scottish Agritourism Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-11822

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of deer management licences that NatureScot has issued since 1 January 2021.

NatureScot has provided the information below on the number of Deer Authorisations issued between 1 January 2021 to 31 October 2022:

Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 Section	Purpose	No. of Authorisations
10(2) and 10(4)	Emergency measures out of season authorisations	54
18(2)	Night shooting Authorisations	1088
5(6)	Out of season authorisations	721
5(6)	Out of season female authorisations	16
5(7)	Scientific research authorisations	1

Question reference: S6W-11823

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any plans it has to introduce legislation in relation to deer management.

We are progressing the recommendations made in the independent Deer Working Group (DWG) report , published in December 2020. The Scottish Government response to the DWG report is at the following link: https://www.gov.scot/news/deer-working-group-response/

The recommendations that require legislative changes are being taken forward via the legislative workstream of the Deer Management Strategic Board which has been established under the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Programme. The legislative recommendations will be implemented in this parliamentary session, as we set out in our 2021-22 Programme for Government. We will provide more detail on the timing of changes to legislation in due course. We expect to consult on any proposed changes to primary legislation in the normal way.

Regular updates on all of the work from the Deer Management Strategic Board can be found at the following website: https://www.gov.scot/groups/strategic-deer-management-board/

Question reference: S6T-00951

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to mitigate the threat of avian influenza outbreaks among domestic poultry populations, in light of its impact on wild bird populations in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-11652

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what funding is available for flood defences for individual homes, in particular for homes susceptible to flooding.

Grants towards the cost of flood resilient repairs and/or protection measures for individual homes are available from some local authorities. For example, the Scottish Borders Council make flood protection products available through a discount scheme. Further details are available through the attached link FINAL_Subsidised_Flood_Protection_Products_June_2021 (1).pdf or from the Council.

The Scottish Flood Forum, a charity funded by the Scottish Government, can provide households with informed impartial help and guidance in making the best choice of property flood protection. They can arrange a community Property Flood Protection Exhibition to show householders what options are available to help them reduce flood risks at homes and can arrange to carry out assessments of individual homes on request.

In recognition of the importance of reducing flood risk the Scottish Government has provided, since 2008, a total of £42 million a year through the General Capital Grant to local authorities to allow them to invest in flood protection measures. In addition the 2020 Programme for Government committed an additional £150 million over the course of this Parliament for flood risk management actions.