Chamber and committees

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-16470

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) since May 2021, and what the agreed outcomes were of any such meetings.

Question reference: S6W-16343

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 5 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to Keep Scotland Beautiful in each year since 2016.

Keep Scotland Beautiful has delivered a range of initiatives on the Scottish Government's behalf and has been allocated the following funding since 2016 to enable it to do so:

2016-17: £11,147,463

2017-18: £11,152,455

2018-19: £11,131,472

2019-20: £8,642,939

2020-21: £10,054,598

2021-22: £1,227,428

2022-23: £609,000

The reduction in funding to KSB from 2021 is due to the Climate Challenge Fund coming to an end. KSB delivered the fund on the Scottish Government’s behalf until their contract ended in June 2021. The previously reported funding for 21-22 of £1,555,145 reduced due to underspend linked to the CCF being returned to the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-16011

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the impact in Scotland of the implementation of a UK-wide Deposit Return Scheme.

Scottish Government Ministers meet monthly with their counterparts in the other UK administrations via the Intra-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs to discuss a number of issues, including DRS. Officials also engage regularly with representatives of the other UK administrations to ensure that, when their own deposit return schemes launch, there is as high a degree of alignment as possible with the Scottish DRS. However, this will not be at the cost of reducing the aims and ambitions of our scheme.

Question reference: S6W-16008

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the current annual salary is of the CEO of Circularity Scotland.

Circularity Scotland is a not-for-profit company, delivered and funded by industry, in line with the polluter pays principle. This structure is based on successful schemes seen elsewhere in Europe, and was approved by the Scottish Parliament in 2020.

Circularity Scotland is therefore separate from government and we have no role in the recruitment of staff or their pay levels. Decisions on pay are made by the Circularity Scotland board, which is made up of members who bring a range of experience from across a range of sectors, which is appropriate for a private company that is delivering an industry-led scheme. As a private company Circularity Scotland will publish annual accounts which will include relevant salary information. Any additional information on salaries should be sought directly from Circularity Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-16003

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much money it has given to Circularity Scotland since 1 January 2020.

Question reference: S6O-02071

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure value for money in government projects.

Question reference: S6F-01940

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 March 2023

To ask the First Minister what the outcomes have been of the Scottish Government's "defining mission" to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap.

Question reference: S6O-02059

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the status of NHS Forth Valley since its escalation to Stage 4 of NHS Scotland's National Performance Framework.

Question reference: S6W-15389

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 13 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many free bicycles had been distributed by the end of the pilot scheme; what the total cost of this was, and what progress has been made to provide free bicycles to school-aged children who cannot afford them by 2026.

The pilot period for the commitment concluded on 31 August 2022, and a final evaluation report has been published on the Transport Scotland website . Support has been provided to delivery organisations to continue activities until 31 March 2023.

The total number of bikes issued during the pilot period was 2600 and the total figure to date is 3650.

The total cost of the pilot period was £2,922,704.15, which was made up of £1,912,135.12 Capital and £1,010,569.03 Resource funding. The total cost to date is £4,498,149.19, which is made up of £3,090,887.49 Capital funding and £1,407,261.70 Resource funding. The resource element of the budget is not used to procure bikes, but to fund activity such as training sessions and staffing to support the objectives of the pilot programme.

We are currently considering how best to continue delivery from April 2023.

Question reference: S6W-15201

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 6 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has sought on any potential difficulties of linked SMEs successfully applying for the SME Loan Scheme, in light of reports that some linked SMEs that have considered decoupling in order to secure a loan have been warned that, if they do so, HMRC may suspect tax fraud and open investigations.

The Scottish Government eligibility criteria prevent SMEs that are more than 25% owned or have more than a 25% stake in another business to access funding through the SME Loan. This is to protect public finance, make certain that the economic benefit from investment is realised by the intended party and ensure that there is a clear route for loan repayments to be made.

Although some businesses have expressed their disappointment at not being able to access funding we consider that this protection is necessary and proportionate. Advisors will ask about the current ownership structure of businesses in order to assess their eligibility for the SME loan scheme. However, Business Energy Scotland do not provide advice to businesses about ownership or their organisational structure.