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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: S6O-01386

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how the work of the Covid Business Resilience and Support Directorate is supporting its Covid Recovery Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-10187

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to make regulations under section 4 of the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2020 to enable marriages to become civil partnerships.

Question reference: S6W-09106

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 29 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the information contained in the hardcopy paper responses to Scotland's Census 2022 will have been digitally recorded.

Question reference: S6W-09102

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 29 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether all hardcopy paper responses to Scotland's Census 2022 will be digitally recorded in their entirety.

Question reference: S6W-09105

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 29 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what will happen to hardcopy paper responses to Scotland's Census 2022 after the information has been extracted.

Question reference: S6W-09101

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 29 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it takes to ensure that hardcopy paper responses to Scotland's Census 2022 are recorded accurately and that errors in recording can be corrected.

A rigorous approach is taken to ensure accurate census paper questionnaire data.

Paper questionnaires are scanned and the answers are captured digitally using character recognition software. During scanning, the system looks to automatically allocate a numeric code to each answer, which allows the data to be easily analysed. Trained Quality Control operators perform daily checks on a sample of cases to ensure the quality of data captured from scanned questionnaires meets expectations.

It is not always possible to automatically allocate valid codes during scanning as some answers provided are not always on lists the system matches to. To ensure complete information is recorded, National Records of Scotland (NRS) set up a manual coding service where trained coding operatives visually inspect census questionnaires and make a decision on the most accurate code to assign.

Further manual inspections of the paper forms are made by NRS staff to check allocated categories and codes.

Question reference: S6W-09104

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 29 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how the information contained in hardcopy paper responses to Scotland's Census 2022 will be recorded.

Question reference: S6W-09103

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 29 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how treatment of hardcopy paper responses to Scotland's Census 2022 differs from the treatment of hardcopy paper responses to the (a) 2011 census and (b) 2021 census in England and Wales.

Scanning of paper questionnaires for Scotland’s Census 2022 is in line with the 2011 census and the 2021 census in England Wales.

Full information on the coding and data processing methods employed on Scotland’s Census 2022 is published on the NRS website. Comparisons to 2011 and the 2021 census in England and Wales are made where appropriate.

Statistical methodology | Scotland's Census (scotlandscensus.gov.uk)

Question reference: S6W-08802

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 14 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking and what plans it has to address the reported arrival and spread of invasive non-native species and their impact on the country's ecosystems.

The Scottish Government and its agencies collaborate closely with their counterparts in Wales and England on the control of INNS. Scottish Government officials have played an active role with their counterparts in drafting the 2022-2030 Great Britain Invasive Non- Native Species Strategy. This key document sets out our agreed, collaborative approach to preventing invasive non-native species reaching our shores, through surveillance, early detection and rapid response provisions and long terms management and control of species already established. The provisions in the Strategy will be implemented in Scotland through the Non-native Species Action Group, and similar partnerships, which has representatives from the public and voluntary sectors.

Question reference: S6W-08801

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 14 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the establishment of an invasive non-native species inspectorate in the Animal and Plant Health Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and whether it plans to establish a similar body.

Following approval by the UK Non-Native Species Programme Board, a four-countries collaborative group which directs action to implement the Invasive Alien Species Regulation across Great Britain, the GB Non-Native Species Secretariat which is located in APHA but provides specialist support to all four devolved nations, led the establishment of an Invasive Non-native Inspectorate as a pilot for 2021-22 across all of Great Britain. Following a successful initial year for the Inspectorate, resourcing has been continued for 2022 to extend the pilot for an additional year. During this time the Scottish Government will be reviewing whether to provide continued support for the GB Inspectorate.