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-15856

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Network Rail regarding the use of any spare capacity on passenger trains to freight goods into Scotland's cities.

Question reference: S6W-15653

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is on track to meet its commitment to reduce car km by 20% by 2030.

The Scottish Government agrees with the recommendations of the Climate Change Committee that we need plans to deter car use, to accompany current plans to encourage active travel and the use of public transport, the need for both is set out in the route map on 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030.

That is why we have set out our future transport infrastructure priorities in the second Strategic Transport Projects Review published on 8 December 2022 that includes a focus on active travel, mass transit and bus priority for mode shift away from the predominance of cars.

However, the evidence is clear that incentivising sustainable alternatives alone will not be sufficient to bring about the behaviour change to deliver the scale of 20% car KM reduction. Therefore As outlined in our route map to achieving a 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030 jointly developed with COSLA, we have commissioned research exploring equitable options for demand management to discourage car use.

The most direct levers on the cost of buying or running a petrol or diesel car – fuel duty and vehicle excise duty – are reserved. The recent rises in the cost of motoring underline the unfairness of the current, regressive motoring tax regime.

We will continue to press the UK Government for a fair and progressive future transport tax system that better incentivises the transition to zero-emission vehicles, reduces unnecessary journeys and raises revenues to fund policies to support a shift to more sustainable travel.

Question reference: S6O-01996

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding an assessment of the impact of short-term let licencing on the rural economy.

Question reference: S6O-01962

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to roll out Mobility as a Service across Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-01901

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues and councils regarding improving connectivity for Scotland’s islands.

Question reference: S6W-13956

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 26 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12954 by Jamie Hepburn on 20 December 2022, which of the Good Governance Task Group’s recommendations on college governance that were made in 2016 (a) have been and (b) are still to be implemented.

Following the recommendations of the Good College Governance Task Group in 2016, my predecessor Richard Lochhead MSP Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science wrote to the Education and Skills Committee in 2019 outlining the 8 actions that the Scottish Government would take forward in response to the recommendations.

To date, the College Development Network (CDN) has embedded teamwork training within the induction training of board members and now publish college board vacancies on their national website. At present, the Scottish Government has, after a pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic, restarted workaround the Task Group’s recommendations and is currently consulting on proposals to introduce trade union nominees onto College Boards, with the consultation closing on 27 January 2023. This work will sit within a wider package of transformation and change within the tertiary education and skills sector, as the Scottish Government progresses recommendations from the SFC Review of Coherence and Sustainability 2021.

The Scottish Government works with stakeholders through the Good Governance Steering Group, where work around governance reforms in the college sector is discussed; at present as well as the work to implement the recommendation of adding trade unions nominees on boards, there is ongoing work to refresh the Ministerial Guidance. No decision has yet been taken on the timeframe for implementing the other 5 actions in response to the recommendations made by the Good Governance Task Group.

Question reference: S6O-01854

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it has received that the correct procedures were used by the board of South Lanarkshire College when it took the decision to dismiss its Principal.

Question reference: S6O-01824

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted on the effect of the rent cap on the number of homes available for rent in the private sector.

Question reference: S6W-13012

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-12054 and S6W-12392 by Jenny Gilruth on 17 November 2022 and 6 December 2022, whether it has the power to extend the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service contract after its conclusion in September 2024, and for what reason it has not provided this information in its answers.

Question reference: S6W-13182

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 5 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the St Andrew's Award for exceptional acts of bravery can be awarded posthumously.