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-01241

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress towards its commitment to deliver a free laptop or tablet to every school child in Scotland.

Question reference: S6F-01165

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government plans to address the reported potential spending gap of £3.5 billion in its budget by 2026-27.

Question reference: S6O-01144

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what impact driver shortages will have on the availability of rail services for passengers in Mid-Scotland and Fife.

Question reference: S6O-01079

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what role it considers community hospitals will have in the delivery of NHS services in the future.

Question reference: S6W-07599

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the Starlink satellite service as a means of providing superfast broadband to hard-to-reach properties across Scotland.

Officials advise that Starlink's base level satellite internet service offers speeds of between 50Mbps and 150Mbps, but that Starlink's beta commercial service is currently only available at a latitude below 55 degrees. This means it is unavailable to the vast majority of premises in Scotland at this time.

Starlink has indicated that they have plans to make their service available above 55 degrees latitude in financial year 2022-23 – however, there is no firm date for further availability of the service.

Question reference: S6W-07601

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any discussions with Starlink satellite service regarding the pricing structure to ensure that the £5,000 main voucher portion of the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme can be used to access this service.

As Starlink's satellite service currently costs £84 per month (set to rise to £94 per month from 9 May 2022), it does not meet the affordability requirement as set out in the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) terms and conditions and, therefore, Starlink is unable to register as a supplier. As paragraph 2.6 of the beneficiary terms and conditions for the R100 SBVS sets out, vouchers are for one-off installation and set-up costs only. Vouchers cannot be used to subsidise service charges.

Question reference: S6W-07602

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has done of any satellite services that can be procured for the purpose of providing broadband to properties that will not be served by the R100 programme and will be able to be purchased with a £5,000 main voucher under the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-07600

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the £5,000 main voucher portion of the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme can currently be used to access the Starlink satellite service.

The terms and conditions of the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) require that suppliers meet Ofcom's definition of 'affordable' broadband - set by Ofcom as no more than £46.10 per month, as per the terms and conditions of the UK's broadband Universal Service Obligation. As Starlink's satellite service currently costs £84 per month (set to rise to £94 per month from 9 May 2022), it does not meet this requirement and, therefore, Starlink is unable to register as a supplier for the R100 SBVS.

Question reference: S6W-07597

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will extend the deadline for applications for the interim voucher portion of the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme for people who are experiencing delays under the R100 programme.

Question reference: S6W-07598

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties in (a) Perth and Kinross and (b) Fife are deemed to be eligible for the £5,000 main voucher portion of the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme that is available to people who will not receive broadband services under the R100 programme.