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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: S6W-10134

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what role it plays in monitoring whether best practice is followed by Scottish universities, regarding the moderation and cross-marking of student assessments.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has a statutory obligation under section 13 of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 to secure that provision is made for assessing and enhancing the quality of higher education provided by fundable bodies in Scotland.

On our behalf, to meet this obligation the SFC, supported by the Quality Assurance Agency, works with institutions so that they meet an agreed set of expectations for academic standards and quality, as measured against agreed sector reference points such as the UK Quality Code, to ensure that best practice is followed regarding moderation and marking of assessments, including the use of external expertise and examiners.

Question reference: S6W-10199

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09252 by Shona Robison on 21 July 2022, whether these sums of money are included in the Single Building Assessment programme: spending information, which was released on 12 May 2022, and how much has been spent on contractors (a) prior to July 2021 and (b) in July and August 2022.

Question reference: S6W-10196

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 19 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has contracted consultancy firm Bain & Co to undertake any work in the last five years and what its position is on whether the company should be barred from tendering for any Scottish Government contracts in the future, in light of the the UK Government's reported decision to impose a three-year ban on it tendering for UK Government contracts.

Question reference: S6W-10256

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 19 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement by the UK Government on 19 July 2022 that it will issue around 50% of overall Basic Payment Scheme payments to farmers from July 2022, with the remaining 50% expected in December 2022, whether it will bring forward the initial payment date to August 2022, and if this is not the case, what the reasons are for its position on the matter.

The Scottish Government has already been taking action to improve business cash flow and annual farm payment dates are to be brought forward to September. Subject to the approval of the Scottish Parliament, farmers and crofters will receive their advance payment for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Greening around a month earlier than originally planned, and we remain committed to delivering over 70% of payments by the end of December and over 95.24% of payments by the end of February 2023.

Question reference: S6W-10032

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Just Transition Fund it plans to allocate to the training and upskilling of installers of renewable technologies.

The Just Transition Fund was established to support and accelerate the transition of the region and support the role of Aberdeen and the wider North East as one of Scotland’s centres of excellence for the transition to a net zero economy. The call for year one projects closed on 15 July 2022 and expressions of interest are currently being assessed against the published Fund criteria. It will not be possible to indicate what portion of the Fund will be allocated specifically to upskilling activity until final decisions on awards have concluded. An announcement of successful bids will be made in due course.

Question reference: S6W-10027

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it and its agencies are doing to encourage private investment in the Just Transition in the north east region; how much private investment it has targeted to be spent, and by what date.

The Scottish Government recognises the private sector action required to deliver a just transition to net zero. Our Global Capital Investment Plan outlines these opportunities and we are expanding our Green Investment Portfolio to bring together market-ready projects worth £3 billion as well as establishing an investor panel to attract investment to a pipeline of projects.

In the North East, we engaged extensively over Spring 2022 on the design of the £500 million Just Transition Fund to understand how it can have maximum impact in the region. We are also a full partner in the Aberdeen City Region Deal, which is stimulating private investment through partnership with Opportunity North East and has already seen £59 million of private investment committed to the region for digital infrastructure.

Question reference: S6W-10036

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to build manufacturing capacity in order to enable infrastructure for the ScotWind projects to be manufactured in Scotland; what proportion, if any, of the Just Transition Fund it will use to assist this development, and whether it plans for manufacturing capability to be situated in the north east region, or throughout Scotland.

The ScotWind projects committed to investment of up to £25 billion across the Scottish supply chain across the 17 ScotWind offshore wind projects as set out in their Supply Chain Development Statements. This work is further complemented by the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council’s (SOWEC) Collaborative Framework as a practical way for developers and Scottish ports to work together, helping to build a long-term pipeline of work, creating certainty that ports need to prioritise investment in higher value activities like fabrication. By working together developers can identify joint opportunities, mitigating risks in bringing together the infrastructure needed to build out the full pipeline of ScotWind projects. The call for year one projects of the Just Transition Fund closed on 15 July 2022 and expressions of interest are currently being assessed against the published Fund criteria. It will not be possible to indicate what portion of the Fund will be allocated specifically to manufacturing capability until final decisions on awards have concluded.

Question reference: S6W-10021

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to maintain the gross value added (GVA) of the north east throughout and following a fair and managed Just Transition.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting and accelerating the transition of the North East as a centre of excellence for the transition to a net zero economy, as evidenced by our £500 million Just Transition Fund. The Scottish Government is also a full partner in the Aberdeen City Region Deal, contributing £125 million over 10 years alongside an additional £254 million, which will help ensure economic transformation for the North East with inclusive growth, increased wellbeing and a just transition to net zero. We are investing a separate £32.5 million through the Moray Growth Deal to support a number of projects that will grow the region’s economy.

Question reference: S6W-10099

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 01 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 18 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the type and level of resources that have been allocated over the last decade to the Police Scotland and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service's investigation into the alleged use of Scottish airports by CIA rendition flights.

Question reference: S6W-09867

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of reports of people that are referred by their GP for mesh removal and treatment experiencing repeated postponements of their appointments, and, if this is the case, what action it is taking to address this, and by when does it anticipate the matter will be resolved.

Over the last two years our NHS has suffered the biggest shock of its 74 year existence. Caring for large numbers of patients seriously unwell with COVID-19 has inevitably meant that planned care procedures have had to be delayed, and while we are working hard to recover and remobilise our NHS, this will not be done in a few weeks or even months. Addressing the backlog of care, while continuing to meet the ongoing urgent health and care needs of the country, remains a priority for this Government.

We know that excessively long waits have grown as a result of the pandemic, which is why we now need to focus on treating people that are waiting too long for treatment. On 6 July 2022, I introduced a new set of targets for NHS Scotland to address the backlog of planned care.

We will continue to work with the National Complex Pelvic Mesh Removal Service in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to improve the waits that people are currently experiencing.

In the first instance where patients have concerns regarding their appointments these are best addressed by contacting their local Health Board who can advise on rescheduling in a timely manner. The patient feedback team within the Health Board may also be able to advise or support if required.