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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: S6O-01247

Asked by: Natalie Don-Innes, MSP for Renfrewshire North and West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide an update on the reopening of the Scottish Parliament crèche.

Question reference: S6O-01214

Asked by: Jim Fairlie, MSP for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what steps it is taking to ensure the availability of Scottish produce on the menu in the Scottish Parliament.

Question reference: S6O-01249

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when it last reviewed the requirements for members to access legal services funded through the Members Expenses Scheme in order to ascertain whether the current criteria are fit for purpose.

Question reference: S6O-01248

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, as an employer located in the zone, how it will help to meet the objectives of the Edinburgh Low Emission Zone.

Question reference: S6O-01213

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what efforts it is making to assist those who work in the nuclear energy sector to transition to suitable alternative employment.

The decommissioning of nuclear sites requires the retention of a highly skilled workforce over many years and their transferable skills could be utilised by the renewables sector as part of our transition to net zero.

Our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan will be published in Autumn 2022 and will provide a road map for the future of Scotland’s energy system. The development process will include engagement, offering the opportunity for those within or associated with the nuclear energy industry to contribute to this dialogue.

In December 2020 the Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland published the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP) setting out the actions required to ensure Scotland’s labour market is able to effectively support the transition to net zero.

Question reference: S6W-08808

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what role (a) ministers and (b) Crown Estate Scotland will have in finalising the scoring criteria and weighting for Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leases for floating offshore wind projects.

Crown Estate Scotland have designed and are responsible for the leasing arrangements for the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) process, this includes development of the weighting and evaluation criteria for applications. Crown Estate Scotland outlined the proposals for evaluation criteria in the Leasing Information Document (LID) released on 22 February 2022. The purpose of the LID is to provide developers with a clear understanding of the application process and contractual structure of the leasing round.

Question reference: S6W-08809

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason no maximum bidding price has been stipulated within the awards process for floating offshore wind projects looking to progress through the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) process, in light of a maximum bidding price being stipulated in the commercial-scale ScotWind leasing round.

It is for Crown Estate Scotland, As managers of Crown assets in Scotland, to set seabed leasing fees.

The INTOG leasing round, due to be launched summer 2022, is a ‘first of its kind’ and there is no direct precedent to consider when finalising the design of the leasing arrangements. The objectives for INTOG (stimulating innovation and decarbonising oil & gas) are different from those of other offshore leasing rounds and as a result some key features of INTOG, including pricing, are also different.

Due to the specific nature of the projects, the novel commercial models, and the potential risks relating to such a new type of project, Crown Estate Scotland want to give the opportunity for the market to set the appropriate price given that this is a new and untested landscape.

The ScotWind price cap was designed to ensure that projects competing for limited Plan Options were viable in the long-term, would maximise supply chain opportunities and incentivise floating wind projects, that are ideal for Scotland's deeper waters but comparatively more expensive.

Question reference: S6W-08736

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 9 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what funding is being provided for mental health support in colleges through the Scottish Funding Council.

In this Academic Year (21-22) the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has provided £2.423 million to the college sector to provide additional counsellors in colleges in support of our Programme for Government commitment to provide more than 80 additional counsellors in Further and Higher Education and £4.4 million for the college sector to help colleges to further support student and staff mental health and wellbeing. These funds were allocated to the SFC by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-08608

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 9 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost was of building any imitation funnels and painting false windows on the MV Glen Sannox for the launch event in November 2017.

Question reference: S6W-08639

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 9 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent research into poverty at the end of life by Marie Curie and Loughborough University, which estimates that, in 2019, 218 people in East Ayrshire experienced poverty while in the last year of life.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing a national strategy for palliative and end of life care in partnership with key stakeholders including Marie Curie. It is envisioned that this will be a whole system, public health approach to help ensure that everyone who needs care or assistance can access it.

In the meantime, we are taking a number of actions within the social security powers devolved to the Scottish Government to ensure that people throughout Scotland can access financial support at this difficult time. These include:

Fast tracking disability assistance applications and removing fixed periods of life expectancy from our terminal illness definition, so that individuals are supported more quickly and for longer.

Prioritising the rollout of Scottish Child Payment to children aged 6 to 15 to support low income families. This currently provides £20 a week per child, but will be increased to £25 when we rollout to older children.
Guaranteeing an annual £50 payment to around 400,000 low income households each winter through our new non age dependent Low Income Winter Heating Assistance.
Committing to increasing the amount of time Scottish Carer’s Assistance is paid after the death of a cared person, from 8 to 12 weeks following it’s transfer from DWP.