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: S6O-01074

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to increase subject choice for secondary pupils.

Question reference: S6W-07063

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 4 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason premises in Class 7 under the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Scotland) Order 1997 are no longer exempt from the short-term let licensing legislation.

Some premises listed in Use Class 7 (of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Scotland) Order 1997) are exempt from short-term let licensing legislation. Schedule 1 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 (the “Licensing Order”) sets out excluded accommodation. Class 7 premises that are exempt are:

a hotel, which has planning permission granted for use as a hotel
a hostel

In addition, the following exemption will also be relevant to some Use Class 7 premises (including hotels and guest houses):

premises in respect of which a premises licence within the meaning of section 17 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 has effect and where the provision of accommodation is an activity listed in the operating plan as defined in section 20(4) of the 2005 Act

Guest houses were originally listed as excluded accommodation in a previous version of the Licensing Order laid in December 2020. However, in response to feedback from our stakeholder working group we subsequently removed guest houses from the list of excluded accommodation and undertook further public consultation on this in June 2021. As guest houses can be variants of home sharing, they should not be automatically excluded. Further information is set out in the 2021 consultation paper (item 1 in table 2 at page 12): Short term lets - draft licensing order and business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA): consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Unless otherwise excluded by any of the criteria set out in Schedule 1 of the Licensing Order, use class 7 premises are therefore within scope of the definition of a short-term let in the Order laid in November 2021 and approved by the Scottish Parliament in January 2022.

Question reference: S6W-08001

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ash Regan on 4 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address antisocial behaviour, in particular in relation to repeat offenders.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that police and local authorities continue to have the powers and resources needed to address antisocial behaviour in our communities. This includes investing in prevention and early intervention.

No single approach will tackle all antisocial behaviour and that is why we support a range of activities which includes the use of Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBO’s) and Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN’s) alongside diversionary and early intervention activities in appropriate circumstances. We encourage agencies to work in partnership to address the issues being faced by communities and work with them to address these issues, including dealing with those who are persistent offenders.

Question reference: S6W-08133

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many specialist “Lead Teachers” have been recruited since the introduction of the programme in August 2021.

The recruitment and deployment of teachers is a matter for individual local authorities, and they are responsible for using the resources available to them to provide a complement of staff, including Lead Teachers, which meets the needs of each of their schools and its pupils based on local needs and priorities.

At the time of the Summary Statistics for Schools In Scotland 2021 publication, there were no Lead Teachers employed in schools. This data was collected in September 2021 and therefore will not reflect the current position.

Question reference: S6W-08132

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated to the creation of specialist “Lead Teacher” roles.

Since the start of the pandemic the Scottish Government has provided local authorities with £240 million of additional investment, over two financial years (2020-21 and 2021-22), specifically for the recruitment of more education staff, and a further £145.5 million of permanent funding has been allocated from April 2022.

The recruitment and deployment of teachers is a matter for individual local authorities, and they are responsible for using available resources to provide a complement of staff, including Lead Teachers, which meets the needs of each of their schools and its pupils based on local needs and priorities.

Question reference: S6W-08000

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 25 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07650 by Mairi Gougeon on 4 April 2022, what steps were taken to ensure that any required agricultural expertise was represented on the board of South of Scotland Enterprise.

South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) advertised for four new Board members in Autumn 2021. Applicants were asked to demonstrate evidence of their skills, knowledge and experience in one of three areas: land based industries; governance/strategic management; or digital transformation. On 15 February 2022, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy announced the appointments, with two of the successful candidates having extensive expertise in land based industries. In addition, two existing members of the Board have knowledge of agricultural matters.

Question reference: S6W-07999

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of (a) secondary and (b) primary schools have WiFi available for use in every classroom, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-07742

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported poor recording of bullying incidents in schools.

Question reference: S6W-07741

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what further steps will be taken to support schools in tackling bullying, in light of recent reports regarding the experience of primary school pupils in Dundee and Tayside.

The Scottish Government is clear that bullying of any kind is unacceptable and must be addressed quickly whenever it arises.

Each local authority is responsible for the care, safety and welfare of pupils in school in the authority area. All adults who work in schools have a responsibility to ensure the mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing of the children and young people in their care.

Headteachers, teachers, other school staff and local authorities are best placed to decide how to address bullying in their schools. Individual schools know their context and children and young people best and so it is essential they are able to implement their own anti-bullying policy, specific to the local needs and circumstances of the children and young people in their area.

Our national guidance ‘Respect for All’ provides the overarching framework for all adults working with children and young people to address all types of bullying. It makes clear that bullying is not just the responsibility of schools but all adults involved in the lives of children and young people who have a role in preventing and responding to bullying.

We continue to fully fund respectme, Scotland’s anti-bullying service to build confidence and capacity to address bullying effectively, aligned to ‘Respect for All’.

Question reference: S6W-07650

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what cross-government action it is taking to ensure that agriculture expertise is represented in government agencies.

Where agricultural expertise is required in Ministerial appointees to Government agencies, the sponsor team for the agency may choose to integrate that into criteria for the role. The sponsor team should work with the public body and the Board Chair on this, to represent Ministers' aims and requirements for the roles.

Government agencies will of course also ensure that they engage with their relevant stakeholders, including agricultural representatives, as appropriate.