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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-01904

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the steps that it is taking to improve the management of inshore fisheries, in light of the reported increasing pressures on fishers and fish stocks in Scotland's coastal regions.

Question reference: S6O-01906

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the potential impact of the Deposit Return Scheme on small-scale drinks producers.

Question reference: S6O-01911

Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the "waiting well" agenda, in light of the recent roundtable event on supporting patients that was hosted by Scotland Versus Arthritis.

Question reference: S6O-01913

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in light of January's Prostate Cancer UK data on regional inequalities in prostate cancer diagnoses.

Question reference: S6O-01907

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support local, independent food and drink businesses in rural areas.

Question reference: S6O-01902

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the potential impact on the drink industry supply chain of the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6O-01917

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what discussions it has had with COSLA about the delivery of local services over the next financial year.

Question reference: S6W-13325

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12504 by Jenny Gilruth on 9 December 2022, in relation to the adjustable car ramp (mezzanine deck) on the MV Hebrides, on what percentage of sailings (a) was the ramp operational during spring and summer 2022 and (b) will the ramp be operational during spring and summer 2023.

Matters about when and whether to deploy the adjustable car ramp are operational ones which CalMac are best placed to respond to, not least in terms of future plans.

The adjustable car ramp allows Cal Mac to increase capacity when the need arises on certain sailings at certain times of the year. CalMac have advised that there has been less need for it to be deployed, as evidenced by the usage during the period of the Summer Timetable 2022 (25 March 22 until 23 October 2022), when MV deployed the Mezzanine Deck on 19.8% of sailings.

Footfall figures for the Tarbert – Lochmaddy – Uig route from March to October 2022 were 134,072, compared to 174,376 for the same period in 2019, an approximate 26% reduction in footfall.

During the spring/summer period of 2023 we will expect CalMac to deploy the ramp as necessary.

Question reference: S6W-14584

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 15 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with COSLA about ensuring resilience within local authorities to continue delivering externally-commissioned statutory services in the event of provider failure.

I regularly meet with representatives of COSLA including through a monthly relationship meeting with their Presidential Team. Those discussions provide the opportunity for COSLA to raise areas of priority for local government with me and we jointly consider what support the Scottish Government can potentially provide - discussion on this specific issue have not taken place to date.

It is for individual councils to plan for the operation of services, including contingency planning, particularly where these are needed to fulfil their statutory duties. The Scottish Government does engage with and involve COSLA on behalf of local authorities on what they might need to support those responsibilities, including funding but also guidance and other materials.

Question reference: S6W-14577

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 15 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the anticipated impact on (a) public health, particularly in relation to cases of Lyme disease and (b) biodiversity and the wider environment, of its decision to cease funding for chemical or mechanised control of bracken through the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme.

To maximise the benefits of the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) in mitigating climate change, the 2023 round will target support for agri-environment, organics and slurry storage applications. This approach will focus on enabling options within the scheme, offering support to as wide a number of beneficiaries as possible. As a result, some elements have been suspended including public funding for the mechanised and chemical control of bracken.

Manual bracken control continues to be offered, and this is often the preferred treatment method on species rich grassland and other habitats offering high biodiversity value.

Those with existing AECS contracts or new contracts, following the 2022 AECS awards announced on 19 January 2023, which contain bracken control through chemical and mechanical means will continue to be supported.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that Lyme disease remains a focus for our work. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders and clinicians through both the Awareness Raising and Health Professionals Education Sub-Groups.