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: S5O-04417

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement and discussions it has had with the UK Government in relation to the forming of new trade agreements.

Question reference: S5W-28407

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 8 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Scotland's established life sciences sector, for what reason it is not making greater use of the expertise in university and research institute labs throughout the country to increase the testing capacity for COVID-19.

Academic partnerships have already been set up with laboratories at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Aberdeen and two further academic partnerships are expected to go live in June. Additional capacity is provided by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service.

The University of Glasgow hosts one of three Lighthouse Labs established across the UK to analyse samples taken from regional testing centres, which are part of the UK Expanded Testing programme.

National Services Scotland is assessing offers of laboratory space from various sectors in Scotland. This requires ensuring the testing is done in a way that is safe and meets high quality standards for confidence in the results and complies with due diligence. National Services Scotland are working with Enterprise Scotland to engage with private laboratories that have offered assistance.

Question reference: S5O-04344

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to the further education sector to help develop the skills of people whose employment has been impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Question reference: S5W-28388

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 April 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 13 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement by the UK Government of a £750 million fund for frontline charities across the UK, whether Barnett consequentials of £60 million will be directed towards hospices in Scotland, and, if so, how much will be allocated directly to them.

The consequentials arising from the UK Government announcement do not include £60 million in consequentials for hospices. HM Treasury has indicated Scotland will receive an estimated £19 million in consequentials in respect of the £200 million for hospices included in the UK Government’s announcement of £750 million for charities.

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport wrote to Scottish Hospices on 28 April to confirm that we are committed to providing funding support to hospices and will work with them to understand their needs.

The Scottish Government has already announced its own support for charities. On 18 March, the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Communities announced a £350 million package of funding to support organisations helping people and communities across Scotland – of which £125 million is supporting the charitable sector.

Question reference: S5T-02144

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when recycling centres will be designated as an essential service and reopened.

Question reference: S5W-27849

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 20 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Scottish Natural Heritage report, Developing a counting methodology for mountain hares (Lepus timidus) in Scotland, whether the standardised national counting method has been rolled out to all moors where shooting takes place.

The standardised national counting method has been rolled out on 60 estates with grouse moors in the central and eastern Highlands and in the Lammermuir Hills. This followed 8 training sessions organised by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT). Counts have been received by GWCT from two-thirds of these estates so far.

In order to obtain good coverage of the main areas managed for driven grouse shooting, the GWCT estimates that training for another 14 - 16 estates is required.

In addition, SNH has undertaken training of staff responsible for the management of upland National Nature Reserves in the Central Highlands. Although none of these are managed as grouse moors, it is important to undertake counts in other habitats used by mountain hares, albeit at lower population density, in order to provide information on the wider hare population as well as the population present on grouse moors.

SNH will continue to work with estates and partners to develop ways to share results to ensure robust data analysis and reporting.

Question reference: S5O-04300

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for addressing potholes on Scotland’s roads.

Question reference: S5W-27682

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 11 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in addressing the environmental dump at Lathalmond M90 Commerce Park in Fife.

SEPA officials met with the representatives of the landowners in December 2019, who agreed to present a costed plan for the removal, disposal and recycling options for the wastes.

While an outline of this plan has been presented to SEPA, further details are still required from the company before engagement with SEPA's partners can begin. SEPA has requested that this further information is provided by the end of March.

Question reference: S5W-27681

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the danger to drivers and passengers of the potholes on the M90 between Dunfermline and Kelty.

Based upon national standards of good practice, our Operating Company for the M90, BEAR Scotland, has a contractual obligation to inspect the route at 7-day intervals. The M90 is inspected twice weekly. These inspections are primarily to identify defects that require prompt attention (Category 1 defects) because they present, or could present, an immediate hazard to road users. For road surface Category 1 defects, BEAR Scotland is required to carry out temporary repairs by 6am the following morning and permanent repairs within 28 days.

Our Operating Company has recently recorded road surface defects between Dunfermline and Kelty and completed temporary repairs as required. These defects will be monitored until permanent repairs can be completed.

Question reference: S5W-27106

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 6 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what additional powers it requires to retain and increase job numbers and increase Scotland's presence in offshore wind projects.

At an Offshore Wind Supply Chain Summit on 16 January 2020, it was announced that as part of the upcoming Crown Estate Scotland ScotWind Leasing process, the first such leasing round since devolution of the Crown Estate Scotland to Scottish Ministers, applicants will be required to submit a Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS). The SCDS will demonstrate how applicants plan to tap into the potential offered by Scottish based suppliers. Crown Estate Scotland is currently considering what potential consequences will be established for non-compliance with the terms laid out in the applicant’s SCDS.

The powers associated with the Contract for Difference (CfD) mechanism, which are an obvious driver of new economic development, remain reserved to the UK Government. Its continued operation, design and requirements on successful developers will continue to have a major influence on offshore wind development and related economic activity. We have stressed to BEIS the need to reform this mechanism in a manner that better reflects total value added for the Scottish and UK supply chains – at present, when awarding contracts, CfD would appear to place no weight on bid quality at the final stage and instead places all weight on the levelised cost of energy. While the latter has had benefit for consumers, in terms of driving efficiency of the technology and the prices paid for electricity, this approach has pushed commercial risk down the supply chain and put enormous pressure on cost, leading to imports from areas with lower labour costs, weaker regulation of employment conditions and less stringent climate standards.

As things stand, UK Ministers are unlikely to have to draw upon funds allocated for use in CfD auctions, because prices submitted are below wholesale market prices. We argue that UK Ministers should use their unused budget and powers over CfD to target stimulation and route to market for technologies such as floating offshore wind, as well as marine energy, island wind and to better support the offshore wind supply chain – something that Scottish ministers would certainly be doing if circumstances were different and these powers devolved.

Scottish Ministers have also been calling for proactive action from the sector for some time and while there have been successes, we are still seeing yards across the country struggle to secure contracts. That is why we have committed to using every lever at our disposal, to the maximum, to ensure that our renewables supply chain benefits from the expected significant expansion of offshore wind in our waters. We will continue to explore all of these issues through the consultation on our Draft Sectoral Marine Plan and Offshore Wind Policy Statement.