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: S5W-26422

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26103 by Ash Denham on 14 November 2019, should a person claims that they have been denied access to a duty solicitor, whether it will confirm what avenues of redress are available to them.

If an individual has concerns about the actions of an officer or their treatment in police custody then this should be raised with the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 stipulates that the Chief Constable of Scotland is responsible for the policing of Scotland, and is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority for this, rather than to Scottish Ministers directly.

If, once a response from Police Scotland has been received, the individual remains dissatisfied they can refer the matter to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC). PIRC have responsibility for providing independent scrutiny of the way the police respond to complaints from the public.

Question reference: S5W-26426

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26105 by Ash Denham on 14 November 2019, in light of the minister confirming that Police Scotland has access to these statistics, and the commitment to transparency in the Scottish Ministerial Code, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding how many complaints have been made in each of the last five years regarding people being taken into police custody and not having access to a duty solicitor, also broken down by how many were upheld.

Question reference: S5W-26421

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 28 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what progress CalMac is making with the delivery of action-led biodiversity plans at half of its operational sites by 2020.

All sites controlled by CalMac Ferries Ltd across the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service network have delivered actions from the biodiversity plan, primarily focussing on litter prevention and clean up, control of non-native invasive species and raising biodiversity awareness.

CalMac’s Biodiversity Report 2015 – 2017 can be found by following this link: https://www.calmac.co.uk/corporate/environment/biodiversity-report .

As per the requirements of the Wildlife and Natural Environment Act, CalMac’s Biodiversity Report will be updated in 2020.

Question reference: S5W-26420

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 28 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the operational carbon footprint is of (a) Pentland Ferries and (b) Western Ferries.

Question reference: S5O-03820

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 27 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting The Highland Council to tackle housing shortages.

There are many ways in which the Scottish Government is supporting Highland Council to deliver more homes. We will invest almost £194 million in the Highland Council area to deliver on our ambitious commitment to deliver 50,000 affordable homes over the duration of this parliament.

Additionally we have awarded £13 million to Highland Council towards an infrastructure fund to open up both affordable and private housing developments. And separately we have provided the £30 million Rural Housing and Islands Housing Funds that provide communities and organisations in the rural and island areas with a mechanism to support new housing.

Question reference: S5W-26373

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 25 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to questions S5W-25533 and S5W-25837 by Aileen Campbell on 8 October and 12 November 2019 respectively, in light of the cabinet secretary's confirmation that "a number of organisations" made informal requests for it to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding which bodies made these informal requests.

Question reference: S5W-25845

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 20 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Ferguson Marine Engineering being taken into public ownership, what role the Scottish Government can play in developing low-emission passenger and freight ferries for the (a) Scottish and (b) international market.

The Scottish Government has always been clear that our immediate priorities remain the completion of the MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802 and securing a future for Ferguson Marine and its workforce. We continue to be committed to finding a solution to support future shipbuilding at the site, including low-emission vessels for our own ferries networks, as we seek to deliver on our commitments under the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) Act 2019. The work we are doing in developing the next Ferries Plan for the period beyond 2022 will also be informed by the work and modelling being undertaken in preparation of the updated Climate Change Plan.

Question reference: S5W-26103

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 14 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what avenues of redress there are for people taken into police custody who have been denied access to a duty solicitor.

Question reference: S5W-26104

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 14 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government who is immediately responsible for ensuring that people taken into police custody have access to a duty solicitor.

Question reference: S5W-26105

Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 14 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints have been made in each of the last five years regarding people being taken into police custody not having access to a duty solicitor, also broken down by how many were upheld.