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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-28056

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting small businesses to meet any potential costs associated with compliance with the requirements of Low Emission Zones.

Financial support has been provided to smaller businesses since 2019 in preparation for Low Emission Zones, through scrappage grants and retrofitting grants. Over £6.3 million has been paid out to small businesses with cars, taxis and vans whilst over 1,100 non-compliant business vehicles have been scrapped with the owner receiving a £2000 cash scrappage grant. Over 450 taxis have retrofitted using the grant funding available. A further £5 million has been allocated to the LEZ Support Fund in this financial year to help both smaller businesses and lower income households scrap or retrofit their vehicles to adapt to LEZs.

Question reference: S6O-03470

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what work it has undertaken to prepare for the introduction of low emission zones in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.

Question reference: S6O-03424

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it can ensure that the public has confidence in the arts and culture sector.

Question reference: S6F-03103

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 May 2024

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that Scotland has the highest suicide rate in the UK, with young men being three times more likely to die than women.

Question reference: S6O-03403

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure good dental care provision for older people in care settings.

Question reference: S6W-26916

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 1 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) regarding how it makes use of section 16 of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002, in order to keep the Scottish Parliament informed of cases where public organisations have failed to comply with the SPSO's recommendations as directed and/or by the due date, which may result in a continued impact on a complainant; what measures it can put in place to support the SPSO with this, and what information it has on any redress or recourse mechanisms that local authorities may be subject to in the event that they do not meet any standards or comply with any recommendations set out by the SPSO.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) is a Scottish parliamentary supported organisation, and the Scottish Parliament is ultimately responsible for their resourcing and for holding their performance to account.

The SPSO publishes information in their annual report regarding compliance with their recommendations ( https://www.spso.org.uk/annual-report/2022-23.html - see section entitled Performance Analysis, under heading Learning from complaints).

The SPSO's Redress Policy is available online ( https://www.spso.org.uk/sites/spso/files/communications_material/RedressPolicy.pdf ). This policy relates only to redress in relation to direct loss or harm. The SPSO can also make recommendations to listed authorities in relation to service improvement or complaints handling.

The SPSO also has a Support and Intervention policy which sets out its statutory powers and how the SPSO will use them. The policy and policy guide for Scottish public bodies on support and intervention action are both available on the SPSO's website ( https://www.spso.org.uk/support-and-intervention-policy ). The Support and Intervention policy outlines a clear escalation route where issues are not resolved, with the section 16 powers of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002 sitting at Level 6 (on a scale of Level 1 to Level 6). The policy also sets out the measures in place and actions the SPSO can take to resolve any compliances issues.

Question reference: S6O-03362

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what impact it anticipates its recent announcement on changes to its net zero targets will have on the development of a green economy.

Question reference: S6O-03303

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent reports that one in 10 planned operations in the NHS were cancelled this January, what steps it is taking to reduce the rate of cancelled operations.

Question reference: S6W-26114

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 21 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the costs associated with the production and publication of the paper, An independent Scotland’s place in the world.

Question reference: S6O-03241

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to spend the £295 million in Barnett consequential funding arising from the UK Government’s 2024 Spring Budget.