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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 32092 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-06670

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many organisations have now signed up to Scotland’s Redress Scheme as contributors.

Question reference: S6W-06665

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 7 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) financial resources and (b) other support will be provided for the establishment of freeports in Scotland.

Each successful Green Freeport applicant will have the opportunity to access up to £25 million of capital funding to assist with site infrastructure costs. In addition, they will also have the opportunity to access up to £1 million of revenue funding to assist with set-up costs. Release of revenue funding will be subject to Green Freeports adequately demonstrating a need for this funding, and to suitable governance arrangements being established.

The successful Green Freeports will also benefit from a package of reserved and devolved incentives, including tax reliefs and customs easements.

Officials from both the Scottish and UK Governments will work with the successful applicants to support them to develop robust business cases which, once approved, will allow the Green Freeports to open for business.

Question reference: S6W-06669

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been distributed in payments by Scotland’s Redress Scheme since its launch.

Scotland’s Redress Scheme has been running for twelve weeks and Redress Scotland have begun to make decisions and offers of redress payments. As this process is in its infancy, completed applications and financial payments have not yet reached a level to enable us to disclose payment amounts without comprising the applicants’ data privacy.

It should also be noted that although determinations have been made, all associated payments may not yet have been processed as a fundamental aspect of the scheme is to ensure that applicants have suitable time, up to 6 months following determination, to consider the offer and seek legal advice prior to accepting any payment and signing any necessary waiver relating to their application. Further information regarding payments will be available in due course as more determinations are made, and in line with the reporting responsibilities included in the legislation.

Question reference: S6W-06333

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 7 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) local authorities and (b) any of its agencies that have compulsory purchase powers can use such powers to purchase land for the purpose of the land being used for carbon sequestration, and what (i) legislation and (ii) guidance exists on this matter.

The Scottish Government has produced a range of guidance and advice notes on the use of compulsory purchase powers, which are available on our compulsory purchase webpage . Scottish Government policy and guidance on compulsory purchase orders is contained in circular 6/2011 . Appendix B to the circular contains a schedule of compulsory purchase powers, the authorities that may use them and the purposes for which they may be used.

Whether local authorities, or any other body with compulsory purchase powers, can use their powers to acquire land for the purposes of carbon sequestration would depend on the nature of the scheme or project being promoted, and the scope of the power. This is a matter of judgement for individual acquiring authorities in the first instance, and ultimately the Courts.

Question reference: S6W-06843

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities have introduced additional payment for the uplift of garden waste.

That information is not held centrally.

There is no statutory requirement for local authorities to separately collect garden waste and charging for its collection is not a new option available to councils. Garden waste is included in Schedule 2 of the Controlled Waste Regulations 1992 which contains the types of waste for which a charge for collection may be made. It is up to individual councils whether to charge or not.

As set out in our update to the Climate Change Plan, we will consult on requirements to separately collect garden waste by 2023, to further promote recycling.

Question reference: S6W-06860

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04421 by John Swinney on 24 November 2021, whether it will provide an update regarding what progress it has made in delivering The Promise.

The Scottish Government remains committed to Keeping The Promise by 2030, working in partnership with Local Authorities, The Promise Scotland, third sector, health boards and importantly the care community.

On 18 February the First Minister announced that the Scottish Government would publish its Implementation Plan for Keeping The Promise before Easter. The Implementation Plan will set out our routemap to 2030 as well as key actions we will take to Keep The Promise.

Question reference: S6W-06661

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that NHS Scotland is reaching at least the equivalent of the NICE guidelines for adults with cerebral palsy (CP), in light of the reported findings of a survey by Cerebral Palsy Scotland that 65% of people with CP do not consider the service is meeting their needs.

The Scottish Government welcomes the survey undertaken by Cerebral Palsy Scotland in November 2021 and notes the findings.

Scottish Government officials recently met with Cerebral Palsy Scotland to further discuss the care and support available to people with this condition. We will continue to work with NHS, third sector partners and people with Cerebral Palsy to drive up standards of care and service development.

In December 2019, we published a Neurological Care and Support – National Framework for Action . We are investing £4.5 million of funding over five years to implement the Framework’s 17 commitments.

The aims include improving the provision of co-ordinated health and social care and support, developing sustainable workforce models and ensuring high standards of person-centred care for people with neurological conditions, such as Cerebral Palsy.

Question reference: S6W-06303

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 7 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that climate change and nature recovery will be the primary priorities of the Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4).

Meeting greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and securing positive effects for biodiversity are two of six high level outcomes for the National Planning Framework set out in The Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997.

The draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) currently subject to Scottish Parliament scrutiny, alongside public consultation, is clear that we must rebalance our planning system so that climate change and nature recovery are the primary guiding principles for all our plans and decisions. Its four overarching themes work together towards net-zero, adaptable places and addressing the nature crisis.

Our radically improved and new policies contained in draft NPF4 include new universal policies addressing the climate emergency and nature crisis, to be applied to all planning decisions. These policies create a requirement to give significant weight to the global climate emergency in plans and decisions. They also aim to deliver positive outcomes for biodiversity from development without the need for overly complex metrics.

Question reference: S6W-06785

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 7 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is in place regarding prioritising the reopening of youth and community facilities as a crucial part of the COVID-19 recovery.

We are working collaboratively with Community Learning and Development providers to support safe practices and behaviours through the Advanced Learning COVID-19 Recovery Group and to deliver guidance that will support the Strategic Framework. This will include encouraging local/community facilities to permit access to organisations and groups working within this sector, operating in line with their own requirements under the terms of the Strategic Framework.

We have also prepared safer workplaces guidance and the organised activities for children guidance to support and accelerate these organisations ability to safely reopen these buildings. However, the responsibility for reopening youth and community facilities ultimately rests with the owners.

Question reference: S6W-07042

Current Status: Withdrawn