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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

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Question reference: S6W-22698

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Dundee City Council only posting a draft statement of its accounts for the financial year 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-23049

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how the Barnett consequential funding that it received as a result of the UK Government's funding support for swimming pools in England will be distributed.

The funding received was included within the Scottish Government’s Autumn Budget Revision published on 28 September. It also formed part of the consequentials figures included in the Deputy First Minister’s letter to the FPAC on 21 November providing an update on the in-year budget changes.

This funding was utilised to support the range of measures outlined within the Autumn Budget Revision including £264.5 million being provided to Local Government for pay offers, £30 million for additional costs relating to the Ukrainian Resettlement programme and £50 million of additional capital funding being provided to the NHS.

Question reference: S6W-23092

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12252 by Keith Brown on 29 November 2022, how many people were found guilty of offences under section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-22927

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of Scottish Prison Service (a) dogs and (b) dog handlers that are trained to detect drugs and other contraband since this information was last provided to the Scottish Parliament's Health and Sport Committee on 10 January 2018.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

As of 24 November 2023, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has 15 trained dogs and 9 trained dog handlers.

All our dogs are trained to detect drugs, whilst some of our dogs are trained to detect arms and explosives and/or various prohibited items including mobile phones.

All our dog handlers form part of the National Tactical Search Unit and are highly trained in the searching of people, property, communal spaces and living areas i.e., cells.

Question reference: S6W-22719

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what oversight it has of Stagecoach and any investigations that the company carries out to ensure that its vehicles have maximum fire safety protections.

Question reference: S6W-22716

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Glasgow City Council only posting a draft statement of its accounts for the financial year 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-23117

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has provided any assistance to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, following reports of a suspected ransomware attack, and what plans it has to prevent similar attacks on (a) local authorities and (b) Scottish Government agencies in the future.

The Scottish Government is aware that Comhairle nan Eilean Siar is dealing with a significant cyber incident. The Scottish Government, Police Scotland and the National Cyber Security Centre are working together to provide advice and support to the Council as they manage this incident.

It is the responsibility of every organisation to ensure they have their own cyber resilience arrangements in place. The Scottish Government works closely with the public sector to help improve its cyber security and resilience.

The Public Sector Action Plan associated with the Strategic Framework for a Cyber Resilience Scotland has recently been refreshed and sets out how the Scottish Government will continue to work with the sector to improve its cyber resilience standards and best practice.

We have established the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (SC3) to improve national incident response coordination, early warning and threat intelligence. Police Scotland, the Scottish Government and the National Cyber Security Centre are lead members. SC3 shares threat intelligence with the Scottish public sector, including early warning of critical software vulnerabilities which could be exploited to conduct a cyber attack. This helps the wider sector proactively defend their networks and systems from similar attacks.

In addition, the Scottish Government, through its delivery partners is providing:

incident response training events aimed at preparing public sector organisations for responding to cyber incidents and attack
upskilling funding to help bolster cyber security skills within public bodies, and
cyber awareness training for public sector board members to improve knowledge and understanding at the highest levels within organisations.

Question reference: S6W-23090

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12253 by Keith Brown on 29 November 2022, how many directors, managers or partners of corporate bodies were found guilty of offences under regulation 44(1) of the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 in 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-23108

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been released by Creative Scotland to (a) charitable organisations and (b) businesses/for-profit organisations in each year since 2016.

Question reference: S6O-02857

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the impact of the UK Government’s Autumn Statement on NHS funding in Scotland.