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: S6O-01543

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the removal of funding for the Scotland’s Winter Festivals Fund.

Question reference: S6W-11791

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 9 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many conversations it has had with local authorities since May 2022 regarding the promotion of active travel.

Since May 2022, the Sustainable and Active Travel Team has held 104 strategic conversations with local authorities on the promotion of active travel. These were primarily in relation to their Cycling, Walking and Safer Routes active travel infrastructure grant funding, and engagement with the Transformation Programme, and were mostly scheduled in advance.

The team has also had a further 12 discussions on infrastructure, behaviour change and free bikes with CoSLA and the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS). Other Transport Scotland teams including Rail, Bus Partnership Fund, and Canals have held additional project specific discussions, although we have been unable to quantify these.

Question reference: S6W-11676

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10790 by Neil Gray on 3 October 2022, whether it will provide the information requested regarding how many nights' accommodation have been booked for Ukrainian refugees under the Super Sponsor scheme with Hotels.com since 1 March 2022, and for any such bookings, what the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost per night is, and what the (i) shortest, (ii) longest and (iii) average length of a stay in a hotel is.

Question reference: S6W-11674

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10788 by Neil Gray on 3 October 2022, whether it will provide the information requested regarding how many nights' accommodation have been booked for Ukrainian refugees under the Super Sponsor scheme with LateRooms.com since 1 March 2022, and for any such bookings, what the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost per night is, and what the (i) shortest, (ii) longest and (iii) average length of a stay in a hotel is.

Question reference: S6W-11677

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10791 by Neil Gray on 3 October 2022, whether it will provide the information requested regarding how many nights' accommodation have been booked for Ukrainian refugees under the Super Sponsor scheme with eboooking.com since 1 March 2022, and for any such bookings, what the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost per night is, and what the (i) shortest, (ii) longest and (iii) average length of a stay in a hotel is.

Question reference: S6W-11673

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10787 by Neil Gray on 3 October 2022, whether it will provide the information requested regarding how many nights' accommodation have been booked for Ukrainian refugees under the Super Sponsor scheme with Trivago.co.uk since 1 March 2022, and for any such bookings, what the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost per night is, and what the (i) shortest, (ii) longest and (iii) average length of a stay in a hotel is.

Question reference: S6W-11675

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10789 by Neil Gray on 3 October 2022, whether it will provide the information requested regarding how many nights' accommodation have been booked for Ukrainian refugees under the Super Sponsor scheme with Expedia.co.uk since 1 March 2022, and for any such bookings, what the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost per night is, and what the (i) shortest, (ii) longest and (iii) average length of a stay in a hotel is.

Corporate Travel Management (CTM) source and provide the majority of our travel-related services for displaced people from Ukraine, including accommodation in hotels. However, due to the popularity of the Super Sponsor Scheme, the Scottish Government also booked some temporary accommodation for a short period of time in June and July to meet demand.

Obtaining the detailed information requested would require significant time and resource, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Question reference: S6W-11678

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10792 by Neil Gray on 3 October 2022, whether it will provide the information requested regarding how many nights' accommodation have been booked for Ukrainian refugees under the Super Sponsor scheme with Booking.com since 1 March 2022, and for any such bookings, what the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost per night is, and what the (i) shortest, (ii) longest and (iii) average length of a stay in a hotel is.

Question reference: S6W-11798

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its response to the FOI request FOI/202200316022, for what reason three independent schools could be inspected in the last two years while no primary, secondary or special schools were inspected during the same period.

The inspection of independent schools as outlined in the question were carried out for the following reasons:

"special inspections" which are generally in response to concerns being raised over the quality of provision for children and young people or safeguarding concerns being identified. HM Inspectors carried out inspections in independent schools in response to requests from Scottish Ministers.

"post registration inspections" which, in line with Scottish Government guidance, should be carried out by HM Inspectors within nine months of opening. Post registration inspections continued to be carried out as soon as was practicable taking account of the impact of the pandemic. HM Inspectors carried out inspections in independent schools for post-registration purposes.

Since March 2020 HM Inspectors have focused on engaging with schools, colleges, and services throughout Scotland to provide support and contribute to the overall recovery of the education system. In academic year 2021-22, HM Inspectors engaged with over 400 schools and settings. This included visits to 112 schools, settings and services that were identified, pre-pandemic, as requiring a further inspection. It also included recovery visits to 148 schools and settings to learn about their own current priorities as they responded to the impact of the current pandemic, what was working well, and the challenges education practitioners faced. HM Inspectors carried out four national thematic inspections involving engagement with 148 schools, settings and services.

Question reference: S6W-11443

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it made the decision to terminate the contract with Serco to run the Caledonian Sleeper service.

Serco Caledonian Sleepers Limited (SCSL) chose to submit a rebasing proposal in accordance with the provisions of the Franchise Agreement. An alternative commercial proposal was also submitted. Following careful analysis, review and negotiation with SCSL, a financial position which represented value for money to Scottish taxpayers could not be presented; subsequently neither proposal was accepted.