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-16151

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 14 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the total running costs of the Scottish National Investment Bank have been in each year since it was established.

The following table (taken from the Scottish National Investment Bank’s annual reports) shows the Bank’s operating costs and income for 2020-21 and‎ 2021-22. The Scottish Government provides budget to cover all operating costs which are not covered by the Bank’s income.

Operating

Costs

£000s

Investment Income

£000s

Net Costs

£000s

2020-21 (November to March)

2,875

-423

2,452

2021-22

9,677

-1,905

7,772

2022-23: The Bank’s final outturn is still being finalised and it is too early to provide a provisional figure to Parliament. The Bank will lay its audited Annual Accounts in Parliament before the end of September.

Question reference: S6W-16034

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding Creative Scotland has distributed to organisations registered in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland in each year since 2016-17.

Since 2016-2017, Creative Scotland has awarded a total of £17,135,309 to cultural organisations registered in England, £105,996 to those registered in Wales and £22,780 to those registered in Northern Ireland.

The majority of these awards have been made through Creative Scotland’s Open Funds , Screen Funding and the Four Nations International Fund for organisations and productions undertaking activity in Scotland and for organisations who receive funding from Creative Scotland but operate with a UK-wide remit.

Question reference: S6W-16053

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to contribute any additional funding to Edinburgh's festivals, in light of the announcement in the UK Spring Budget of £8.6 million of new funding.

The Scottish Government have been urging the UK Government to recognise the valuable role that Scotland's culture sector plays for both the Scottish and wider UK economies. While this funding from the UK Government for two of our many major and world-class festivals is welcome given the extraordinarily challenging economic climate, this is another example of the UK Government bypassing this Parliament and intervening in devolved policy without consultation.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting Edinburgh and Glasgow festivals with up to £3 million of funding available in financial year 2023-24.

The Scottish Government has provided funding for Edinburgh’s Festivals through the EXPO programme of £1.8 million annually since 2007, and the PLACE programme of £1 million annually since 2018.

The funding allows them to develop international opportunities for artists, promote Scotland and its culture, and provide invaluable schools and community programmes, both during festivals and all-year round. The Scottish Government also made an additional £2.1 million available for the 75th anniversary festivals in 2022 (Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe & Edinburgh International Film Festival) through an additional PLACE Resilience Fund.

Question reference: S6W-16145

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 March 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its commitment to raise tree-planting rates from 10,000 hectares to 15,000 hectares per year by 2024-25, how many hectares of trees were planted in each of the past five years.

The Scottish Government’s woodland creation target will rise to 18,000 hectares per year by 2024-25, with an annual target for a minimum of 4,000 hectares of this newly created woodland to be native woodland.

Forest Research publishes official statistics for new woodland planting, which includes longer time series data. Data for the number of hectares of woodland planted in the past five years in Scotland is available here: https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statistics/forestry-statistics/

Figures for new woodland creation for the past five financial years (1 April to 31 March) are as follows:

Year	England ‎ (thousand ha)	Wales ‎ (thousand ha)	Scotland ‎ (thousand ha)	Northern Ireland ‎ (thousand ha)	UK ‎ (thousand ha)
2017-18	1.50	0.20	7.14	0.21	9.05
2018-19	1.41	0.67	11.21	0.24	13.53
2019-20	2.36	0.08	11.05	0.20	13.68
2020-21	2.05	0.29	10.66	0.28	13.29
2021-22	2.26	0.58	10.48	0.54	13.84

Question reference: S6W-16146

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Deputy First Minister's statement to the Parliament on 16 March 2023, whether it will provide a list of the “design gaps and build errors” regarding Hull 801, which were cited as the cause for the further revision to the timescale for delivery of the vessel by Ferguson Marine.

Question reference: S6W-16147

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an estimate of any time-related increases in the overhead costs in 2024 due to the extension of the timescale for delivery of Hull 802 by Ferguson Marine to later in 2024.

Question reference: S6W-16148

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it expects to receive an indication of any time-related increases in the overhead costs in 2024 due to the extension of the timescale for delivery of Hull 802 by Ferguson Marine to later in 2024.

As advised in the answer to question S6W-16147 on 11 April 2023, the Scottish Government continues to conduct the necessary and proper financial due diligence on the delivery of 801 and 802, including on the funding request submitted by Ferguson Marine in September 2022 and following the revised delivery schedule submitted by Ferguson Marine in March 2023.

Ministers will update Parliament once this process has concluded.

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-16116

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15621 by Maree Todd on 21 March 2023, for what reasons the percentage of children participating in the General Dental Service fell from 97% in September 2007 to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic level of 84.2% in September 2019.

The total number of children who have participated in NHS GDS has increased by 17.6%, from 693,307 in 2007 to 815,317 in 2019.

However, the participation rate is the proportion of the registered population who have seen a dentist in the last two years. The participation rate is therefore also influenced by the number of people who are registered for NHS dental services. The number of children that were registered for NHS dental services between 2007 and 2019 has increased by 35.4%

Question reference: S6W-16117

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15622 by Maree Todd on 21 March 2023, for what reasons the percentage of adults participating in the General Dental Service fell from 98.6% in September 2007 to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic level of 66.2% in September 2019.

The total number of adults who have participated in NHS GDS has increased by 45.6%, from 1,902,885 in 2007 to 2,788,692 in 2019.

However, the participation rate is the proportion of the registered population who have seen a dentist in the last two years. The participation rate is therefore also influenced by the number of people who are registered for NHS dental services. The number of adults that were registered for NHS dental services between 2007 and 2019 has increased by 118.4%

Question reference: S6W-16051

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comments by the Deputy First Minister during the ministerial statement on Ferguson Marine on 16 March 2023, whether the planned operational lifespan of (a) MV Glen Sannox and (b) Hull 802 has changed.