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-06279

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maggie Chapman (On behalf of the SPCB) on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (a) how many and (b) what proportion of written questions were processed within (i) 0 to 1 (ii) 2 to 3 (iii) 4 to 5 and (iv) 6 or more days after being lodged, in each week since May 2021.

Tables A and B set out information about the number and percentage of written questions up to the week commencing 7 February 2022 that have been processed within the timeframe set out in the question.

In providing this information, “processed” has been taken to mean the number of calendar days between a question being submitted by a Member and the question either being published or not lodged. As the information is based on calendar days, it does not take into account factors such as days on which the office of the clerk is closed, i.e. a question which was submitted on a Friday and published on a Monday will be included in the tables as having taken 2 to 3 calendar days rather than reflecting the processing having taken 0 to 1 working days. The data is not held in a format that would enable this further disaggregation to be provided.

There are also a number of elements that may be involved in processing questions. Factors such as seeking clarification of the purpose of a question, editing a question so that it meets the requirements of Standing Orders and Guidance on Parliamentary Questions, or seeking input on issues such as sub judice or compliance with data protection obligations may impact on the time that it takes for questions to be processed. These factors can also impact on the processing time where batches of interrelated questions are submitted among which only one or two may raise more complex considerations. The necessary prioritisation of other items, such as Urgent Questions or motions and amendments for debate, may also impact on the time between a question being submitted and published or not lodged. As noted in the response to S6W-06278, additional staffing resources have been deployed to the Chamber Desk. Once training and familiarisation have been completed, it is anticipated that there will be a positive impact on the time taken to process questions.

Table A

w/c	Total	0-1 day	2-3 days	4-5 days	6+ days
10-May	54	49	5
17-May	136	115	21
24-May	137	103		31	3
31-May	183	156	20	7
07-Jun	163	117	39	6	1
14-Jun	259	213	31	2	13
21-Jun	170	151	13	2	4
28-Jun	112	41	55	6	10
05-Jul	179	126	16	29	8
12-Jul	222	122	48	50	2
19-Jul	245	188	38	7	12
26-Jul	182	159	8	5	10
02-Aug	94	41	16	26	11
09-Aug	141	60	47	28	6
16-Aug	186	55	86	33	12
23-Aug	183	41	57	23	62
30-Aug	116	11	18	54	33
06-Sep	247	45	78	91	33
13-Sep	179	5	34	96	44
20-Sep	185	94	38	43	10
27-Sep	119	14	37	47	21
04-Oct	197	111	29	50	7
11-Oct	137	73	61	1	2
18-Oct	132	80	29	9	14
25-Oct	162	38	48	28	48
01-Nov	159	5	77	44	33
08-Nov	242	12	70	101	59
15-Nov	112	26	71	7	8
22-Nov	161	57	39	54	11
29-Nov	196	11	79	52	54
06-Dec	190	7	95	42	46
13-Dec	216	31	32	84	69
20-Dec	162	6	76	12	68
27-Dec	4				4
03-Jan	97	40	51		6
10-Jan	168	58	46	14	50
17-Jan	180	46	45	29	60
24-Jan	238	4	66	18	150
31-Jan	187	7	54	90	36
07-Feb	228	13	154	56	5

Table B

w/c	Total	0-1 day	2-3 days	4-5 days	6+ days
10-May	54	90.74	9.26	0.00	0.00
17-May	136	84.56	15.44	0.00	0.00
24-May	137	75.18	0.00	22.63	2.19
31-May	183	85.25	10.93	3.83	0.00
07-Jun	163	71.78	23.93	3.68	0.61
14-Jun	259	82.24	11.97	0.77	5.02
21-Jun	170	88.82	7.65	1.18	2.35
28-Jun	112	36.61	49.11	5.36	8.93
05-Jul	179	70.39	8.94	16.20	4.47
12-Jul	222	54.95	21.62	22.52	0.90
19-Jul	245	76.73	15.51	2.86	4.90
26-Jul	182	87.36	4.40	2.75	5.49
02-Aug	94	43.62	17.02	27.66	11.70
09-Aug	141	42.55	33.33	19.86	4.26
16-Aug	186	29.57	46.24	17.74	6.45
23-Aug	183	22.40	31.15	12.57	33.88
30-Aug	116	9.48	15.52	46.55	28.45
06-Sep	247	18.22	31.58	36.84	13.36
13-Sep	179	2.79	18.99	53.63	24.58
20-Sep	185	50.81	20.54	23.24	5.41
27-Sep	119	11.76	31.09	39.50	17.65
04-Oct	197	56.35	14.72	25.38	3.55
11-Oct	137	53.28	44.53	0.73	1.46
18-Oct	132	60.61	21.97	6.82	10.61
25-Oct	162	23.46	29.63	17.28	29.63
01-Nov	159	3.14	48.43	27.67	20.75
08-Nov	242	4.96	28.93	41.74	24.38
15-Nov	112	23.21	63.39	6.25	7.14
22-Nov	161	35.40	24.22	33.54	6.83
29-Nov	196	5.61	40.31	26.53	27.55
06-Dec	190	3.68	50.00	22.11	24.21
13-Dec	216	14.35	14.81	38.89	31.94
20-Dec	162	3.70	46.91	7.41	41.98
27-Dec	4	0.00	0.00	0.00	100.00
03-Jan	97	41.24	52.58	0.00	6.19
10-Jan	168	34.52	27.38	8.33	29.76
17-Jan	180	25.56	25.00	16.11	33.33
24-Jan	238	1.68	27.73	7.56	63.03
31-Jan	187	3.74	28.88	48.13	19.25
07-Feb	228	5.70	67.54	24.56	2.19

Question reference: S6W-06193

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05586 by Graeme Dey on 24 January 2022, whether it will provide a breakdown by workstream of Transport Scotland FTE staffing levels between 2016 and 2021.

Attached are the figures for FTE requested since 2016 and broken down by workstreams.

Transport Scotland FTE (2016 - 2021)
Directorate	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Avaition, Maritime, Freight and Canals	27.7	29.1	30.5	33.3	38.4	42.7
Bus, Access and Active Travel	*	*	*	62.4	58.8	62
Chief Executive Office	5	13	10.8	3	3	3
Finance and Corp Services	48	51.7	50.7	47.9	51.3	53.5
Low Carbon Economy	*	*	*	16.3	21.2	25.8
Major Projects	71	66.8	72	59.6	62.8	58.6
Rail	55	53.1	53.1	62.8	69.6	66.5
Roads	121	116.9	116.1	98.2	99.5	110.6
Transport Strategy and Analysis	*	*	*	44	57.6	59.6
Transport Policy	48	49.2	52.6	*	*	*
TS Totals	375.7	379.8	385.8	427.5	462.2	482.3

* No figures for these years.

Please note that the Transport Policy directorate was disbanded in 2018. That same year, Low Carbon Economy, Bus, Accessibility and Active Travel and Transport Strategy & Analysis were created as individual directorates.

Question reference: S6W-06192

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05586 by Graeme Dey on 24 January 2022, for what reason the FTE staffing levels at Transport Scotland have risen from 375.7 in 2016 to 482 in 2021.

The reason for the increase in FTE staffing level’s from 2016 and 2021 are due Transport Scotland’s increasing pieces of work through changing ministerial responsibilities. These responsibilities include our work on EU Exit, COP26, Free Bus Travel for U22’s and the Strategic Transport Projects Review (SPTR2). These key commitments have led to the need for an increase in staffing numbers to ensure their delivery.

Question reference: S6O-00851

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-00850

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-00849

Asked by: Jim Fairlie, MSP for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any safety issues on the trunk road network in the Perthshire South and Kinross-shire constituency.

Question reference: S6O-00846

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill.

Question reference: S6O-00852

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of jobs in offshore wind and the wider green economy.

Question reference: S6O-00853

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how the country's transport system can help to improve economic growth.

Question reference: S6O-00847

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on co-operative development in Scotland.