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-12169

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 28 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the budget reallocations announced in the Emergency Budget Review, including the £714 million allocated to fund public sector pay settlements, on the Budget for 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-12164

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 24 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates additional funding will be needed for public sector pay settlements in 2022-23 beyond the £714 million that the Deputy First Minister announced as part of the Emergency Budget Review.

Question reference: S6O-01617

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has engaged in discussions or research about the feasibility of vertical farming in Scotland’s cities.

Question reference: S6W-12080

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it received from the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland in relation to proposed regulations about pavement parking exemptions.

The Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) wrote to Transport Scotland in March 2022 expressing their desire that no Ministerial Directions be given on which type of pavement can be considered by local authorities for an Exemption Order. We sought to allay their concerns during a meeting between MACS and the Minister for Transport on 15 June 2022 and a further meeting with the policy lead of MACS and Transport Scotland.

During these meetings we confirmed that exemptions had already been the subject of Parliamentary debate during the passage of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. We also confirmed that Ministerial Directions will not allow for blanket exemptions of streets from the National pavement parking prohibitions and will set out scenarios where local authorities may be able to consider an exemption. Exemptions will only be considered in exceptional circumstances and will not be the norm. Any such exemptions will require to be clearly marked by signs and lines on the ground so that a driver can be in no doubt where pavement parking is permitted.

Additionally, we are currently finalising the wording of the Ministerial Directions to take account of any issues raised in the public consultation.

Question reference: S6W-11882

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 21 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it can do to allow the removal of any freeze on apprenticeship places and budgets at Skills Development Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-01597

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-11605

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its progress in developing an Agriculture Bill, and when it expects a Bill to be introduced.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a new Agriculture Bill to Parliament in 2023.

The public consultation on proposals for a new Bill, “Delivering our Vision for Scottish Agriculture. Proposals for a new Agriculture Bill” was launched on 29 August and will now be open until 5 December. The consultation seeks views on proposals, which aim to assist in delivering the Vision for Agriculture, and suggests a legislative framework required to replace the current Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).

Question reference: S6W-11796

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 10 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on any action it has taken regarding the closure of the Edinburgh Filmhouse and the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-11493 and S6T-00915 answered on 26 October 2022 and 25 October 2022 respectively.

The answer to Topical Question S6T-00915 can be found here: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-25-10-2022?meeting=13939&iob=126317#16180

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Question reference: S6W-11607

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce some conditional agriculture subsidies before 2025 in areas where there is widespread agreement between key stakeholders on policy.

Agriculture support is already conditional, the current Basic Payment Scheme requires Farmers, Crofters, etc to meet Cross Compliance and Greening measures, to qualify for that payment. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11606 on 10 November 2022 in relation to future conditionality of agricultural support. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Question reference: S6W-11606

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to a higher target than 50% for conditionality of agricultural subsidies in any future Agriculture Bill.

I refer the member to the Parliamentary Statement I made on Tues 8 November 2022, which set out the Scottish Government's pathway for the future of agricultural support including the conditionality of that support. This is in line with our Vision for Scottish Agriculture, published in March 2022, in which we committed to integrate enhanced conditionality of at least half of all funding for farming and crofting by 2025. We are seeking views on that conditionality in the public consultation “Delivering our Vision for Scottish Agriculture”, which closes on 21 Nov 2022.