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-05802

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how often the Bioenergy Working Group has met since the Bioenergy Update was published in March 2021.

Question reference: S6W-05790

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the SQA will communicate the key areas to be covered within the forthcoming exam diet to (a) teachers and (b) pupils, in light of reported concerns regarding disruption to learning as a result of staff and pupil absences due to COVID-19 and the impact of the availability of subject specialists in secondary schools on the completion of courses.

As I confirmed on 1 February, based on the ongoing disruption arising from Covid, the SQA has taken the decision to invoke the Scenario 2 contingency and revision support will be made available in early March.

This revision support will complement the significant modifications to courses and assessments that the SQA have already made to take account of the expected disruption to learning this year.

The timing of the revision support gives learners the opportunity to complete the learning for their courses and focus on their coursework before their attention moves more fully to preparing for exams. It is important that teaching and learning is not narrowed too far in advance as this would negatively impact the learners’ breadth of knowledge and understanding as well as the next steps in their learning. In addition, the timing allows SQA to fully align the revision support with the question papers which are still being finalised.

Further information regarding the 2022 exam diet preparation, including the approach to exceptional circumstances, grading and appeals as well as support for learners, was included in my statement on 1 February 2022 and can be found at: Meeting of the Parliament: 01/02/2022 | Scottish Parliament Website .

Question reference: S6W-05756

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what role Audit Scotland has in ensuring that the climate emergency is included as a corporate priority in public sector organisations, and what resources and funding are allocated for the purpose of carrying out any such role.

Question reference: S6W-05982

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm if a judicial office holder from outwith Scotland will preside over the public inquiry into the malicious prosecutions concerning Rangers FC.

Question reference: S6W-05568

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government who attended each COBR meeting on its behalf during 2021.

COBR is shorthand for the UK Government Civil Contingencies Committee that is convened to handle matters of UK national emergency or major disruption. COBR ministerial meetings are described as COBR (M).

The Scottish Government can only report on COBR meetings we are invited to attend by the UK Government. The following table sets out the COBR meetings that the Scottish Government was invited to and which Scottish Ministers attended during 2021.

Meeting	Subject	Date	SG representative(s)
COBR (M)	Winter resilience	01-01-2021	Deputy First Minister
COBR (M)	Storm Christoph	19-01-2021	Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change, and Land Reform
COBR (M)	Storm Christoph	20-01-2021	First Minister
COBR (M)	Storm Christoph	21-01-2021	Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change, and Land Reform
COBR (M)	Covid-19	10-12-2021	First Minister Chief Medical Officer Director General, Constitution and External Affairs
COBR (M)	Covid-19	15-12-2021	First Minister Chief Medical Officer Director of COVID Coordination
COBR (M)	Covid-19	19-12-2021	First Minister Chief Medical Officer Director General, Constitution and External Affairs

Question reference: S6W-05503

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to deliver a fair and managed transition for workers currently working at the Torness nuclear power station, following its closure.

Our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan is currently being developed. This will include co-design as a key underpinning principle, ensuring workers from across the energy sector have the opportunity to contribute towards this process.

In addition, the Scottish Government is investing £300m in the Edinburgh and SE Scotland City Region Deal, which will create new economic opportunities across the area and is expected to provide up to 21,000 jobs. This includes £25m for an Integrated Regional Skills and Employability Programme, which will help local people prepare for the changing regional labour market and benefit from the many new jobs that the Deal and other investments across the region are creating.

Question reference: S6W-05820

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the chair of the review into the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy in Scotland plans to meet with members of the waste industry and/or their representatives before the deadline for the call for evidence on 21 February 2022.

As independent Chair, it is for Dr Church to determine and manage the process of the review. I am, therefore, unable to respond on his behalf regarding the number of meetings he will hold with waste industry representatives.

However, Dr Church has assured me he wishes to hear from all interested stakeholders during the review and I would encourage anyone interested to respond to the Call for Evidence which is open until 21 February.

Question reference: S6W-05784

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to enforce the incorporation of whole life carbon into the costing of all public sector investment and spending decisions.

The Scottish Government published new guidance, Public Sector Leadership on the Global Climate Emergency , on 29 October, to provide advice for public bodies on robust, consistent and comprehensive carbon management.

The guidance says it is vital that public bodies understand the carbon impacts of their decisions and therefore embed carbon into decision-making processes. The guidance says that any investment should consider the whole life impact with regards to climate change to ensure that truly sustainable options are selected. The guidance defines whole life costing as referring to the total cost of ownership over the life of an asset and that typical areas of expenditure which are included in calculating the whole-life cost include planning, design, construction and acquisition, operations, maintenance, depreciation and cost of finance and disposal. The guidance also says that budget holders must understand and actively support a strong focus on climate considerations within procurements and that additional focus must be placed upon whole life costing.

The Climate Change (Duties of Public Bodies: Reporting Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2020 requires that, from this year, public bodies must report how they will align their spending plans and use of resources to contribute to reducing emissions and delivering emissions reduction targets.

I also refer the member to the answer to your question S5W-05786 on 31 January 2022 and the Scottish Government’s commitment to using public procurement to address the Climate Emergency. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Question reference: S6W-05394

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 3 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the use of the CitizenCard as valid ID for the purposes of the vaccine certification scheme.

Question reference: S6O-00747

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported calls for the Head of the Civil Service to investigate and rule on the deployment of Scottish Government civil servants to develop policy on independence.