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-29273

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 13 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, based on the most recent data it holds, which 10 breeds of dogs have been most responsible for seriously injuring or killing people, ranked in order.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24486 on 24 January 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

As noted in the answer to S6W-24486, there is no central database within Scotland or the UK that provides data on dog attacks, broken down by the breed of dog involved.

Data is available from National Records Scotland on deaths from being bitten or struck by a dog in Scotland. Data is also available from Public Health Scotland on the number of inpatient and day case admissions to hospital where a diagnosis of dog attack (bite or strike) was recorded. Data on the breed or type of dogs involved is not recorded.

Question reference: S6T-02090

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent reported dog attack in Aberdeenshire, what effect the restrictions on XL Bully-type dogs have had on the incidence of dog attacks.

Question reference: S6O-03679

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on mitigating any UK Government reductions to UK-wide benefits since 2019.

Question reference: S6F-03216

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 June 2024

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will review the impact of the short-term let licensing legislation, in light of the upcoming summer tourist season.

Question reference: S6O-03455

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had and will have with rural communities, such as residents and businesses in the Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale constituency, regarding the restrictions on the installation of wood burning stoves.

Question reference: S6W-27079

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 2 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing legislation in Scotland similar to the UK Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.

The Scottish Government, at this time, does not have plans to introduce legislation similar to the UK Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.

The Scottish Government remains committed to improving animal welfare and will carefully consider DEFRA’s proposals for restricting advertising of animal activities abroad, once known.

Sadly the opportunity to jointly introduce this legislation was lost due to the last minute handling by the UK Government that saw Scottish Ministers given insufficient time to consider the proposals and their implications. The Scottish Government would have liked to have given their full support to these measures

Scottish Ministers will continue to engage with the UK Government and other devolved administrations where it is practical and feasible to do so.

Question reference: S6O-03379

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made on the extension of the Borders Railway south to Carlisle.

Question reference: S6F-02987

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 March 2024

To ask the First Minister, further to the regulations relating to XL Bully-type dogs coming into force, to whom a dog owner can apply for advice on whether their dog fits the conformation of the XL Bully-type, in light of reports that a substantial number of dog owners in England are now applying to deregister their dogs having established retrospectively that their pet does not conform to the Defra definition of an XL Bully-type dog.

Question reference: S6W-26106

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 19 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-25875 by Jim Fairlie on 11 March 2024, in light of it being two years since its discussions with the UK Government on a UK-wide dog microchipping database, whether it will revisit this issue.

Question reference: S6W-25875

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 11 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that there are 15 separate dog microchipping databases that are compliant with the UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and that every dog in the UK must be microchipped once they are eight weeks old, what discussions it has had with DEFRA regarding having a UK-wide microchipping database, and what the estimated cost is of the Scottish Government developing a standalone Scottish database to enable the traceability of all dogs and their owners and/or breeders in Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the benefits of having a single point of access to microchipping data to aid with the identifying and reuniting owners and their pets and Scottish Ministers remain committed to working jointly with other administrations where it is both sensible and logical to do so in the interests of animal welfare.

Officials had discussions with DEFRA and other UK administrations regarding the possibility of a single UK-wide microchipping data base and other possible database reforms when Defra consulted on microchipping in 2022. We have not costed a Scotland-only database as we are seeking a consistent UK approach to database reform.

The Microchipping of Dogs Regulations (Scotland) 2016 requires database operators to provide and share information with persons authorised by Scottish Ministers or a local authority.