Seòmar agus comataidhean

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

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 43551 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-18863

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 19 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many private corporations own land holdings of over 500 hectares, and what total area of land is owned by private corporations with land holdings of over 500 hectares.

This is a question for the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland. She advises me that that on 13 June 2023, out of the 2025 registered titles with a footprint area over 500 ha, 432 are owned exclusively by a company. These titles comprise a combined footprint area of 939,133 ha.

A further 213 titles are leased exclusively by a company and 2 are mixed tenure titles registered under the Land Registration (Scotland) 1979 Act.

This figure excludes public bodies, charities, trusts, and titles with a complex proprietorship structure consisting of a mix of natural and non-natural persons acting in various capacities.

Of the 616 unregistered areas of land over 500 ha, which have been linked to a Sasines Search Sheet in the RoS Unlocking Sasines dataset, an estimated 189 are owned by a company. Together, these areas comprise an indicative area of 667,178 ha.

Question reference: S6W-18866

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 19 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to land holdings of over 500 hectares in size, how many have been transferred in each of the last 20 years, broken down by those that were by (a) sale, (b) inheritance and (c) other means.

This is a question for the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland. She advises me that that transfers are divided between transfers for the monetary full market value of the property and transfers for discounted/non-monetary/other considerations. Separating transfers due to inheritance would require manual inspection of the deeds for each transaction. Figures are current on 13 June 2023.

Year	FMV transfers (a)	Other transfers (b+c)	Total
2003	46	0	46
2004	40	0	40
2005	47	1	48
2006	57	0	57
2007	53	1	54
2008	40	0	40
2009	42	1	43
2010	44	0	44
2011	48	0	48
2012	46	0	46
2013	34	3	37
2014	33	2	35
2015	86	122	208
2016	114	172	286
2017	106	233	339
2018	52	231	283
2019	72	307	379
2020	85	294	379
2021	105	352	457
2022	123	287	410
2023	36	105	141

Question reference: S6W-18860

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 19 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many land holdings in Scotland are over 500 hectares in size, and what total area of land is covered by land holdings of over 500 hectares.

This is a question for the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland. She advises me that that on 13 June 2023, there were 2,025 Registered titles in the Land Register of Scotland where the total footprint of the title exceeds 500 ha. Together, these titles comprise a combined footprint of 2,813,263 ha.

A further 256 draft titles which are currently undergoing registration for the first time look set to also exceed this threshold once registration is complete. The expected combined footprint for these titles will be around 448,361 ha, which may include rights which overlap with already registered titles.

The figures above include outright ownership as well as long-term leases.

A further 616 unregistered areas of land, each with homogenous ownership and an indicative extent over 500 ha, have been linked to a Sasines Search Sheet in the RoS Unlocking Sasines dataset. These unregistered areas comprise an indicative extent of 1,739,070 ha, with no overlapping rights present.

Question reference: S6W-18862

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 19 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many individuals own land holdings of over 500 hectares.

This is a question for the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland. She advises me that that on 13 June 2023, out of the 2025 registered titles with a footprint area over 500 ha, 801 are owned exclusively by one or more natural persons.

A further 15 titles are leased exclusively by one or more natural persons and 2 are mixed tenure titles registered under the Land Registration (Scotland) 1979 Act.

These figures exclude titles where a natural person may be acting in a special capacity (e.g. as a trustee or partner), as well as titles with a complex proprietorship structure consisting of a mix of natural and non-natural persons acting in various capacities.

Of the 616 areas of unregistered land over 500 ha, which have been linked to a Sasines Search Sheet in the RoS Unlocking Sasines dataset, an estimated 245 are owned exclusively by one or more natural persons.

Question reference: S6W-18849

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 19 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to prevent landlords from banning tenants keeping pets in a property without good reason, in light of similar plans in other jurisdictions.

We are aware of the proposals in the Renters (Reform) Bill in England introduced last month. The Shared Policy Programme in August 2021, followed by our ‘New Deal for Tenants’ consultation in December 2021 sought views on proposals to strengthen the rights of tenants including, specifically, greater rights to have a pet.

Our proposals for reform are in development ahead of a future Housing Bill. The timing and content of that Housing Bill is currently being considered as we continue to deliver our emergency response to support tenants through the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Question reference: S6W-17842

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will allow West Lothian IJB to retain some of its £10 million of COVID reserves, in light of reports that some social care services in West Lothian could be privatised due to a budget gap.

Most Integration Joint Board (IJB) reserves are earmarked for specific purposes, including the response to COVID-19, and cannot be used to fund other spending commitments. In 2022-23, surplus COVID-19 reserves were redistributed to meet COVID-19 costs across health and social care, whilst ensuring that IJBs continued to have sufficient funding to cover their COVID-19 costs.

Ultimately, it is for IJBs, including locally-elected representatives, to make informed decisions on how best to deliver services to their local communities.

Question reference: S6W-18774

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Care in the Digital Age: Delivery Plan 2022-23, whether it has provided the ability for people to have the choice for a video appointment with social work.

Video appointments are an option across social work in Scotland via Near Me, through the Scottish Government’s purchase of a national licence for the use of Near Me by any part of the public sector that wishes to use it. Work continues supporting the social work sector on considering how and when video appointments work best, for example in accessing out of hours support. This work includes a funded and expert-supported programme in Fife HSCP (Health and Social Care Partnership) to establish use cases and develop pathways by the end of the year.

Question reference: S6W-18736

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 19 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has begun, or plans to begin, any testing for the drug, xylazine, in light of the first death from the drug having been reported in the UK in May 2023.

The Scottish Government is aware of this drug, to date there have been two detections in Scotland that we have been made aware of through the Welsh WEDINOS programme.

Public Health Scotland, through their Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) programme, are continuing to monitor this situation. Currently xylazine is not routinely screened for in police or post-mortem toxicology throughout the UK, but we will keep this under review and future decisions around adding this to toxicology screening in Scotland would be made by the RADAR pathology and toxicology network.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD, the UK Government’s drug advisory body) New Psychoactive Substance committee are also monitoring the availability of this substance and are conducting an evidence review which will also inform action in Scotland. Public Health Scotland continue to lead on the ongoing development of RADAR which provides essential and real-time data on drug trends and harms to ensure a quick response to what is happening on the ground, including providing vital public health alerts, such as they issued around nitazenes in January 2023.

Question reference: S6W-18776

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Care in the Digital Age: Delivery Plan 2022-23, whether it has expanded capability to deliver self-management resources, advice and guidance through improvements to NHS inform to allow focused support for mental health.

A series of improvements have been implemented to NHS inform allowing for more dynamic, mobile-first content structures. These improvements allowed the Digital Mental Health Programme to test a range of content layouts to incorporate more video, imagery and interactive guides within the existing content templates. This work will also have wider benefits including a reduction in costs and time savings as content for NHS inform is maintained and developed.

Question reference: S6W-18966

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 19 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on what impact any increased incident response times by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service have on the safety of the general public and people endangered or affected by incidents.