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-03537

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions its ministers have had with short-term lets businesses and sole traders in (a) North Ayrshire and (b) Inverclyde regarding its proposed short-term lets licensing scheme and planning control area legislation.

In developing proposals for the regulation of short-term lets we have engaged extensively with a range of stakeholders across Scotland, including short-term let hosts and operators and organisations representing their interests, through three public consultations, the Short-Term Lets Stakeholder Working Group and through other meetings with Ministers and officials. Across the three public consultations, we have received over 3,000 responses, of which over half were from hosts and operators, and considered over 1000 letters and e-mails from all types of stakeholders. We have engaged directly with self-caterers, B&B owners and Airbnb hosts. We do not have this data broken down by area.

Question reference: S6W-03530

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 21 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address any broadband coverage reliability issues in rural communities in North Ayrshire.

Through the £463 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme we delivered fibre broadband to over 951,500 premises across Scotland with over 841,600 of those now capable of accessing superfast speeds of 30 Megabits per second (Mbps). Of these, over 27,000 fibre connections have been delivered in North Ayrshire.

Through the Reaching 100% (R100) programme we will build upon this by delivering universal access to superfast broadband, regardless of remoteness or rurality – including rural communities in North Ayrshire.

Through a combination of the £600 million R100 contracts, the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) and continued commercial coverage we will ensure that anyone who wants a superfast connection of 30Mbps and above by the end of 2021 can have one.

Question reference: S6W-03554

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many separate visits its ministers have made to nightclub venues in an official capacity to discuss the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine certification scheme with the owners and staff of such premises.

Question reference: S6W-03345

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 21 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the timetable for the delivery of the MV Glen Sannox ferry.

Question reference: S6W-03346

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 21 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the estimated final cost of the MV Glen Sannox ferry upon completion.

Question reference: S6W-03529

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 21 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on the average speed of broadband in homes in rural North Ayrshire.

Question reference: S6O-00279

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 October 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the anticipated final cost and delivery date of vessels 801 and 802 for the CalMac fleet.

Question reference: S6W-03553

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 19 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions its ministers have had with the nightclub sector in (a) North Ayrshire and (b) Inverclyde regarding the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine certification scheme.

Question reference: S6W-03354

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported statistics from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service stating that domestic abuse charges are at their highest level since 2015-16.

The Scottish Government advises anyone who has experienced domestic abuse to report crimes committed against them. Domestic abuse is a heinous crime and we remain absolutely committed to working with justice partners to ensure that they have the most effective tools at their disposal to ensure that perpetrators receive a robust response and are held to account for their actions.

The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 (the ‘Act’) came into effect in April 2019 and provides the police with additional powers to take action against those who abuse their partner or ex-partner. As highlighted in the publication, in 2020-21, 1,581 charges were reported under the Act, with 95 percent resulting in court proceedings being raised.

Lastly, as part of the Programme for Government, we will invest £100 million over the next three years to support frontline services so that women and children can safely access the support they need and to focus on prevention of violence against women and girls from school onwards.

Question reference: S6W-03351

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 15 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported data from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service stating that the average time taken to complete a fatal accident inquiry increased by eight months to 939 days in 2020-21.

Between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021, COPFS concluded 59 FAIs, an increase from 57 the previous year. This increase took place notwithstanding an increase of more than 40% deaths reported to COPFS compared to previous years as well as the restrictions on court business for much of that period due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In relation to those 59 FAIs, 43 related to deaths which had occurred between 2018 and 2020.

In recognition of the fact that some death investigations have taken too long, COPFS has made significant changes to its practices and additional resources have been applied to this important area of work. There has been a particular focus on clearing a backlog of cases and consequently some older FAIs concluded during this period which will have affected the figures quoted.

There are legitimate and unavoidable reasons for prolonged periods of investigation: the overriding necessity of conducting death investigations thoroughly; the need to wait for the outcome of other related investigations; the need to obtain expert advice; and the need to consider and, in some cases, conclude criminal proceedings before holding an FAI.