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-05192

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether newspaper publishing businesses will be eligible for the business rates relief extension announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance on 10 December 2021 and, if not, what financial support will be available to such businesses from March 2022.

Since the start of the pandemic, businesses in Scotland have benefitted from more than £4.4 billion in support. This includes COVID-19 non-domestic rates reliefs which have saved businesses around £1.6 billion in reduced rates bills since 1 April 2020.

The Scottish Budget maintains a generous non-domestic regime in Scotland for 2022-23 and supports a package of reliefs worth an estimated £802 million. This includes for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors continuing relief at 50% for the first three months of 2022-23, capped at £27,500 per ratepayer. This responds to a key ask from the business community to avoid a cliff edge return to full rates liability for those businesses on 31 March 2022. The property uses eligible for this relief in 2022-23 will be unchanged from 2021-22. Properties used wholly or mainly for news publishing will continue to be eligible for this relief.

Question reference: S6W-05655

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 19 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government (a) whether it has provided or (b) when it will provide a full response to the previous parliamentary session's Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee’s Inquiry into Regional Marine Planning, as committed to in the Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment’s letter to the Committee of 23 March 2021.

We welcomed the previous Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform (ECCLR) Committee’s Inquiry report into regional marine planning. This report and its 29 recommendations have been carefully considered to help inform our future approach to regional marine planning. There will be a formal response to the ECCLR inquiry, with individual responses to each recommendation, made in advance of an announcement about the next steps for marine planning in Spring 2022.

Question reference: S6O-00623

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Orkney and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S6O-00633

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the date by which self-referral for over-70s to the breast screening programme will resume.

Question reference: S6W-05103

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 5 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL) procurement under the Air Traffic Management System project has been cancelled and, if so, for what reason.

HIAL’s Air Traffic Management 2030 Strategy (ATMS) is a long-term programme consisting of numerous different individual projects. Some of these projects include one or more procurement exercises. Across the programme as a whole some procurement exercises have concluded, some are ongoing and some have not started yet.

Following the announcement of the joint agreement between HIAL and Prospect to establish a new way forward, HIAL contacted those companies involved in the Remote Tower procurement to confirm that the tender exercise had been cancelled. HIAL felt it would be inappropriate and unfair to expect tenderers to remain engaged in the procurement process in circumstances where the timescale for, and scope and extent of possible future remote air traffic provision is unclear.

Question reference: S6W-05102

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 5 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much Highlands and Islands Airports Limited's (HIAL) Air Traffic Management System project has cost to date.

Question reference: S6W-04874

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04128 by Humza Yousaf on 30 November 2021, whether it will provide a specific date for the expected availability of COVID-19 booster vaccination information on the vaccine passport app, and through the NHS Portal.

Question reference: S6O-00562

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what update it can provide on delivering forensic examination services for children and young people in island and rural communities.

Question reference: S6W-04734

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will add the COVID-19 booster vaccination to (a) the NHS Scotland Covid Status app and (b) vaccination certificates.

Question reference: S6W-04680

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of its consultation report on the draft licensing order and business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA) for short-term lets, how many local authorities responded to the consultation exercise and, of those who responded, how many (a) raised no issues with the proposed licensing and (b) highlighted concerns over (i) fees, (ii) resourcing, and (iii) a lack of start-up costs associated with licensing.

A total of eleven local authorities responded to the 2021 consultation on the draft Licensing Order and draft Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA). The Scottish Government also received responses from the Society of Local Authority Lawyers & Administrators in Scotland (SOLAR), and the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers (ALACHO).

Four local authorities and SOLAR raised concerns in relation to the fees set out in the draft BRIA. Two local authorities highlighted concerns about resourcing and two called for the Scottish Government to provide financial support to cover establishment costs.

Published consultation responses can be found here: https://consult.gov.scot/housing-and-social-justice/short-term-lets-draft-licensing-order-and-bria/consultation/published_select_respondent