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: S5O-04493

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the issues concerning the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill that have been raised by bodies such as the Law Society of Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-30127

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had contact with Creative Scotland, in the Year of Coast and Waters, regarding increasing the number of job opportunities it offers outside Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Through the work of the EventScotland Year of Coasts and Waters Steering and Working Groups, the Scottish Government has maintained close contact with a range of public, private and third sector stakeholders, including Creative Scotland, regarding the opportunities offered by the Year of Coasts and Waters 2020 to the tourism, creative and event sectors in all parts of Scotland.

The plans for the Year have been heavily impacted by the Covid restrictions but would have brought benefit to many areas outside Edinburgh and Glasgow. For example, Vision Mechanics received funding from, inter alia, Creative Scotland to create Storm , a 10m giant puppet which had a programme of appearances planned across Scotland, bringing an environmental message to a wide audience. Other Year of Coasts and Waters 2020 supported events were to be the RSPB DolphinFest in Aberdeen, Portsoy Traditional Boat Festival and concerts by the Nevis Ensemble in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

Due to the necessary cancellation of most of the original planned schedule, consideration is being given to the potential rollover of the Year of Coasts and Waters 2020 programme through to 2021. EventScotland is currently undertaking feasibility work on the reshaped events programme with funded events partners.

In the meantime VisitScotland’s marketing campaign continues to harness the power of Scotland’s coastal landscapes and inland waters in celebration of the Year of Coasts and Waters. As the campaign currently draws on the planned re-opening of our tourism and hospitality sectors and the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors, visitors will be inspired to responsibly and safely enjoy the health and wellbeing benefits of being close to Scotland’s ‘blue’ spaces, right across Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-30126

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 June 2020
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any discussions with the BBC in Scotland about its local democracy reporter scheme, with respect to the viability of weekly newspapers.

The Scottish Government has regular discussions with BBC Scotland on a number of topics and the BBC has informed the Scottish Government about the development of the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The Scottish Government has provided a range of business support to the Scottish newspaper industry and media outlets during the covid-19 pandemic. Businesses were able to access the business support set out in find business support website at https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/.

In addition to this support, on 14 May 2020 the Cabinet Secretary for Finance announced that the Scottish Government will invest £3 million in additional marketing activity with Scottish newspapers across the rest of the year. This is on top of the additional £440,000 it has already invested in increasing marketing of public health messages. On 20 May 2020 the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No. 2) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament, including an amendment that gives the newspaper industry 100% rates relief for a year by placing them in the same category as the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.

Question reference: S5O-04398

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that there will be sufficient capacity and operators for school buses to operate when schools return in mid-August.

Question reference: S5O-04368

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how older people in the North East Scotland region will be supported as the country enters the next phase of lifting the COVID-19 lockdown.

Question reference: S5W-28043

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 31 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce a requirement for online pet adverts to include the breeder’s registration or licence number, as part of its plans to update and strengthen existing licensing legislation covering pet breeding and selling.

Question reference: S5W-28042

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 31 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether, as part of its plans to update and strengthen existing licensing legislation covering dog breeding, selling and rehoming, it will introduce a requirement for anyone breeding, selling or transferring the ownership of (a) a litter of puppies to be registered and (b) more than one litter of puppies to be licensed.

The Scottish Government does not propose to introduce a requirement for anyone breeding, selling or transferring the ownership of a litter of puppies to be registered. We also do not propose to require licensing for anyone breeding, selling or transferring more than one litter of puppies.

The Scottish Government's new licensing legislation will require anyone breeding three or more litters of puppies in any twelve month period to be licensed by the local authority. Under current legislation the threshold number of litters for licensing in any twelve month period is five. We will also be ending the third party sale of puppies under 6 months old by anyone other than the breeder that bred them.

Question reference: S5O-04327

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2020
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 26 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to tackle inequality and poverty in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Our £350 million package will support those in need and protect the health, welfare and wellbeing of the people of Scotland.

In addition to the support I outlined earlier, we will invest an additional £45 million in the Scottish Welfare Fund to support those in financial crisis.

Our £70 million Food Fund will help address issues of food insecurity, especially for older people, and families who rely on free school meals.

We also expect that there may be increased applications for the Council Tax Reduction Scheme and Scottish Social Security, and have set aside £50 million to help address this.

Question reference: S5O-04257

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 March 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to ensure that the Port of Dundee is properly equipped to handle decommissioning work.

Question reference: S5W-25993

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 14 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding in the Audit Scotland report, NHS in Scotland 2019, that NHS Tayside has missed the national target for (a) CAMHS patients being seen within 18 weeks, (b) outpatients waiting less than 12 weeks following first referral and (c) day case and inpatients waiting less than 12 weeks for treatment.

Since 2016, the Scottish Government has invested nearly £2.7 million in NHS Tayside for capacity building and workforce development to improve mental health waiting times.

There have been improvements in NHS Tayside’s performance and this was discussed at the mid-year review meeting with NHS Tayside’s Chair and Chief Executive. However, I do recognise that some aspects of NHS Tayside’s target performance is below the level required. The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring all patients have swift and safe access to NHS services.

As part of the Waiting Times Improvement Plan which I published in October last year we are making available more than £102 million in 2019-20, of which more than £9 million has been made available to NHS Tayside to increase capacity in the system, for example, staffing, evening and weekend clinics and additional theatre sessions to ensure progress towards delivering the Waiting Times Improvement Plan.