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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-13968

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the SFA about the future of the national football stadium.

Question reference: S6W-13757

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service will publish its annual report on the Victims’ Right to Review scheme for 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-13776

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the analysis of responses to the consultation, Scotland's social security system: Enhanced Administration and Compensation Recovery.

The consultation, Scotland's social security system: Enhanced Administration and Compensation Recovery, sought views on proposals to effect ongoing improvement of the Scottish social security system across a range of topics. Taken together, the proposals reflect the Scottish social security principles, unanimously endorsed by the Parliament, on seeking opportunities for continuous improvement in ways which put the needs of clients first, and delivering efficient systems and value for money.

The Scottish Government intends to publish the analysis of responses to the consultation before the Parliament’s Spring Recess.

Question reference: S6W-13730

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what sanctions are applied, and to whom, as a result of it failing, for three consecutive years between 2017 and 2019, to meet its annual legal emissions targets, as set out in the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019.

The extremely stretching statutory emissions targets framework, set in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 (“the 2009 Act”) by the Scottish Parliament, places specific duties on Scottish Ministers in the case that emissions reduction targets are missed. In particular, a missed emissions target triggers a duty on Ministers to bring forward – as soon as reasonably practicable after such a target outcome has been reported - additional policies and proposals to compensate in future years for the excess emissions arising from the missed target.

Under section 36 of the 2009 Act, a statutory catch-up report in relation to the 2019 annual emissions target was laid in Parliament in October 2021 (supplementing the ambitious and transformational commitments in the updated Climate Change Plan, finalised in March 2021)which included measures to make up for the shortfall from the previously missed 2017 and 2018 annual targets.

This approach ensures that the total amount of Scottish emissions over the lifetime of the targets in the Act will remain no greater than would have been the case if all of the annual targets had been exactly met.

Question reference: S6W-13792

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support, other than bursaries provided by the Scottish Social Services Council, is available to any postgraduate social work students who are completing full-time unpaid placements without access to Student Awards Agency Scotland support or student loans.

The Scottish Government understands the challenges faced by students who are required to balance study with other commitments, and the additional costs incurred during their time spent studying.

Postgraduate Social Work students who are undertaking full-time placements as part of their course, and are experiencing financial hardship, can apply to their institutions for hardship funds. The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) also administer a hardship fund. This is in addition to the bursary available to postgraduate Social Work students provided by the SSSC.

Question reference: S6W-13789

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many reports of a pipe leak have been submitted to Scottish Water in each year since 2007 in the South Scotland region.

Scottish Water does not maintain this information by parliamentary region and is only able to provide information for the closest equivalent operational area (South Region Water Operational Area). The following figures include both leaks reported by customers as well as those identified separately by Scottish Water as part of their active leakage management. This data is only readily available from 2016-17 financial year.

Year	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Number of leaks	3630	3671	3360	3725	3510	3141

South Region Water Operational Area includes: Dumfries & Galloway, Scottish Borders, East Lothian, Midlothian, City of Edinburgh, West Lothian, South Lanarkshire and North Lanarkshire.

Question reference: S6W-13899

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05156 by Maree Todd on 10 January 2022, on what date the National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain last met.

Question reference: S6W-13906

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the amount of Chinese investment in the whisky industry in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-13933

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the contract with CEMRE to build two ferries, to serve the Islay route, in Turkey, whether there are any clauses stipulating that Scottish, UK, EU or other European businesses should form part of the supply chain where possible.

Question reference: S6W-13765

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment of the economic impact of the reforms to the Small Business Bonus Scheme relief thresholds was carried out in advance of the publication of the draft Scottish Budget 2023-24.

The reforms of the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) relief announced in the Scottish Budget ensure that it remains the most generous in the UK, and will continue to take 100,000 properties out of rates altogether.

We are expanding the upper eligibility threshold for the Small Business Bonus Scheme to £20,000 and making the relief more progressive by introducing a taper. To ensure that properties that lose some or all of their eligibility for SBBS or Rural rates relief do so in a phased manner we are also offering a Small Business Transitional Relief which will protect an estimated 19,000 properties in 2023-24.

Forecasted costs of SBBS over the next five years, including changes to SBBS thresholds and rates, can be found in the Scottish Fiscal Commission Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts – December 2022 .