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 43592 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-18390

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the view of the Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, Sir Robert Chote, in his letter of 7 December 2022 to Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP, that the claim that Scotland has 25% of Europe's potential offshore wind resource was "poorly constructed" in the Scottish Government's 2010 publication that made the claim.

Question reference: S6W-18392

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement has taken place between any ministers who, in the three years leading up to December 2022, used the claim that Scotland has 25% of Europe's offshore wind potential, and the UK Statistics Authority, since December 2022.

Question reference: S6W-18093

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 8 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it gives to customers of the tenancy deposits schemes if they have an issue, dispute or complaint with one of the tenancy schemes that do not offer an independent dispute resolution procedure.

Tenancy Deposit Schemes were introduced to deal with the problem of landlords and letting agents who unfairly withheld deposits from tenants. In Scotland a custodial scheme is operated by 3 schemes approved by Scottish Ministers.

Tenants benefit from having deposits safeguarded by an independent third party. Section 33 and 34 of the Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011 sets out the requirements for all approved schemes to provide a free and independent dispute resolution service, so that the deposit can be returned quickly and fairly.

Scottish Government cannot intervene with individual deposit disputes and cannot intervene in decisions made by the independent adjudicator in relation to a tenancy deposit case.

Question reference: S6W-18240

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 8 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will appoint its diaspora Youth Officers, as set out in the Scottish Connections Framework, and how many Youth Officers it plans to appoint each year.

The Scottish Government, in its Scottish Connections Framework, committed to engage with Scottish heritage organisations internationally, supporting these organisations to broaden their appeal to young people, including supporting appointment of Youth Officers and establishing scholarships and youth exchanges.

The Scottish Government will not appoint diaspora Youth Officers but will support and encourage diaspora organisations in their efforts to broaden their membership and appeal to younger generations.

Question reference: S6W-18367

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 8 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-17500 by Angus Robertson on 12 May 2023, when it plans to update the gov.scot website with "the full costs of my visit, and those of all Ministerial travel costs", in order for MSPs to be able to see the information, in light of its answer encouraging people to "look there for more details"; whether it has now published "details of the meetings, including summaries of each", in light of its answer stating that this would "be published next week under Freedom of Information", and whether it will provide the "range of actions including follow up with specific companies, ongoing diaspora engagements and discussion with the Tartan Week Committee" that "will continue to be monitored in the coming year".

Ministerial Engagements, travel and gifts are published within 3 months in line with the Scottish Ministerial Code.

The Freedom of Information request referred to, detailing meetings and summaries of each, was published on 19 May 2023 on the Scottish Government Website. Details can be found at this link https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202300352406/ .

Follow up actions from business meetings are contained in the meeting summaries. Actions include, but are not limited to: offering to support links to centres of excellence in technology and data science; continued support of the encouragement of talent access; gathering examples of best practice across industries; supporting development of events; working with our diaspora partners to support improving delivery of Tartan Week results for Scotland; and continuation of support from Scottish Enterprise for development activities.

Specific actions that are sensitive to the future operations of those companies and diaspora groups, have been omitted in order to protect business interests and the strong US Scotland relationship.

Question reference: S6W-18505

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 8 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of any additional financial pressures on local authority budgets being caused by inflation.

Although it is the responsibility of local authorities to assess the impact of inflationary pressures on their budgets, Scottish Government Ministers and officials meet regularly with COSLA and individual local authorities to discuss all their respective financial pressures. This engagement has increased in recent weeks following the First Minister’s re-commitment to working with COSLA and SOLACE to agree a New Deal for Local Government in Scotland with the aim of providing greater flexibility over local funding, with clear accountability for delivery on shared priorities and outcomes.

Question reference: S6W-18235

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 8 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates it will complete the work to map and engage Scotland’s diaspora, as set out in the Scottish Connections Framework, and how it will publish the results.

The Scottish Government, in its Scottish Connections Framework, committed to collaborate across our full network – our international offices, including SDI, GlobalScots, Trade and Investment Envoys and public bodies – to map and engage our diaspora.

This will be an ongoing task as we discover more about our international diaspora, rather than a discrete project with a beginning and end date. Progress will be reported in the biennial review of progress towards implementing the Framework.

The Framework also committed to publish a digital directory of diaspora organisations hosted on scotland.org. which will launch in 2023.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18236 on 8 June 2023. 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-18237

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 8 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will begin its trial launch of Instagram channels in targeted international markets, as set out in the Scottish Connections Framework.

The Scottish Government, in its Scottish Connections Framework, committed to trial the launch of Instagram channels in targeted international markets. Adding Instagram channel capacity in specific locations will allow the Scottish Government to more closely engage with diaspora members in country and build on the audience base from existing social media channels.

The Scottish Government plans to launch at least one additional Instagram channel in a priority diaspora market by the end of 2023. A final launch date will be confirmed in due course in consultation with officials advising on this location.

Question reference: S6W-18254

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 8 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14121 by Shona Robison on 9 February 2023, and in light of reports that around a quarter of the £375 million Welsh Building Safety Fund has been spent so far, whether it will provide an update on what (a) amount and (b) proportion of the £97.1 million provided by the UK Government to fund cladding remediation work has been spent to date, and what forecasts it holds for expenditure of the money.

Question reference: S6W-18239

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 8 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it anticipates it will launch a pilot Scottish Connections Fund, as set out in the Scottish Connections Framework, and how much funding it will allocate to this.

The Scottish Government, in its Scottish Connections Framework, committed to pilot a Scottish Connections Fund to support the aims of the Framework.

The fund will support initiatives that bring together those with a connection to Scotland, promote Scotland’s reputation and interests, and build greater connections back to Scotland itself.

The fund will be open to bids from both individuals and organisations within Scotland’s diaspora networks. We will publish details of the fund in 2023, including the amount available.