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-02258

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to announce the delivery plan for the second Strategic Transport Projects Review.

Question reference: S6W-16749

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 5 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is now on the legal advice that it received in 2017, on which the decision of the then Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform not to extend powers to the Scottish SPCA for investigating wildlife crimes was based.

The Scottish Government does not routinely publish or discuss legal advice received.

During the Parliamentary passage of the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020, the Scottish Government committed to establishing a taskforce to look again at the arguments for and against extending wildlife crime investigation powers to the Scottish SPCA. This commitment was re-affirmed in both the 2021-22 Programme for Government and in the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party Shared Policy Programme.

Question reference: S6W-16748

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 5 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider bringing forward an amendment to the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill to include provisions on snaring.

Question reference: S6W-16741

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 3 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the results of the Scottish Agricultural Census for 2022.

Question reference: S6W-17224

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what obligations NHS boards have to provide attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) screening and assessment for adults, and what the criteria are for patients to access such screening and assessment.

It is the responsibility of Local Health and Social Care Partnerships to put in place services to meet local needs, including the needs of adults with ADHD.

The 2020 Programme for Government included a commitment to consider a National Clinical Pathway for ADHD. In order to deliver on this, the Scottish Government commissioned the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to carry out a feasibility study to investigate how such a pathway would work and benefit adults diagnosed with ADHD. The Feasibility Study was published in January 2021, with the report finding that a multi-disciplinary neurodevelopmental approach, inclusive of ADHD, was needed.

Following on from the study, the Scottish Government has provided funding of £650,000 for adult neurodevelopmental pathway trials. The final report , including the findings and recommendations of the trials were published in March. We have accepted the recommendations and we are working with NAIT on implementation.

Question reference: S6W-16950

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when Transport Scotland last met (a) members and (b) officials from Dumfries and Galloway Council in relation to upgrading the A75.

Transport Scotland officials last met with members and officials from Dumfries and Galloway Council to specifically discuss upgrades to the A75 at the spring Convention of the South of Scotland on 28 February 2022. Transport Scotland’s Director of Transport Strategy and Analysis presented a paper which included details about STPR2 Recommendation 40 (Access to Stranraer and the ports at Cairnryan).

In addition, Transport Scotland officials have quarterly liaison meetings with Dumfries and Galloway Council officers, Police Scotland and the Trunk Road Operating Companies to discuss road maintenance and other operational issues. The most recent meeting took place on 16 February 2023.

Question reference: S6W-16951

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received any requests from Dumfries and Galloway Council regarding improvements to the A75.

Dumfries and Galloway Council were one of 165 organisations which responded to the consultation on the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) draft report, undertaken between January and April 2022. The Council’s responses covered a range of topics, including potential improvements to the A75. All responses were considered in production of the suite of final reports and statutory impact assessments, published on 8 December 2022.

Question reference: S6W-16947

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates the business plan on investment in the A75 that Transport Scotland and the Department for Transport are working on will be completed.

Question reference: S6W-16764

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support (a) the provision of and (b) access to grassroots football (i) coaching and (ii) activities for children and young people.

We understand the importance of sport and physical activity for children and young people in Scotland and the positive impact that it has on their physical, mental and social health.

Through sport scotland, our national agency for sport, we are working in partnerships with Scottish Governing Bodies of sport (SGBs), local authorities, leisure trusts, sports clubs and community organisations, schools, colleges and universities to provide opportunities for all to participate in sport, to break down the barriers, financial or otherwise, that keep too many people from leading active lives.

sport scotland has provided the SFA with an investment of £1,347,400 in the current financial year to help support a wide range of grassroots activity, supporting the SFA’s Football for All strategy. This includes developing children and young people’s football, all of which aims to provide a pathway for anyone to enjoy participating in football.

As set out in the Programme for Government we are working with sport scotland to ensure that Active Schools programmes are free for all children and young people by the end of this Parliament, providing them with more opportunities to take part in sport, such as football, before, during and after school.

In the 2021-22 academic year (last full year of data - 2021-22 data reflects the return to activity following the COVID-19 pandemic), 218,000 participants made 3.5 million visits to Active Schools activities with Football being the most popular and visited activity.

Question reference: S6W-16740

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 28 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK Trade (Australia and New Zealand) Act 2023, what its most recent assessment is of any benefits to (a) farmers and (b) consumers in Scotland resulting from the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement.

The UK Government’s own economic modelling shows that the agriculture and semi-processing sectors will lose out because of the UK-Australia trade deal. The approach taken in the negotiation of that deal also does not align with our Vision for Trade, which references the benefits of trade agreements but makes clear that these must include appropriate safeguards for our producers in sensitive sectors, like beef and lamb. The former Secretary of State for DEFRA, George Eustice MP, who was in post while these recent trade deals were negotiated, expressed a similar view when he said in the UK Parliament on 14 November 2022 that “Wedid not need to give Australia or New Zealand full liberalisation in beef and sheep – it was not in our economic interest to do so”. Also, and in sharp contrast, the recent EU trade deal with New Zealand seems to have secured significantly stronger protections for domestic EU producers.

Overall, the gains for Scottish food producers of the UK-Australia trade deal are marginal. While tariffs will be removed on a range of exports, these only benefit certain products such as Scotch Whisky. These gains are offset by the liberal market access the UK has agreed which will allow the import of agri-food products, often produced on a mass scale and to lower standards of production than in Scotland. This will have an adverse impact on our agri-food producers and economy.

Tariff liberalisation may benefit consumers by marginally increasing choice and reducing the price of imported products, for example red meat, wine, dairy and eggs. However, there is a greater risk to the Scottish economy if this displaces domestic products.

Ultimately, these Trade deals go nowhere near replacing the lost trade from the disastrous Brexit deal the UK Government negotiated with the EU.