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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-12731

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress is being made with designing a National Towns of Culture scheme.

Question reference: S6W-12665

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the total quantity of counterfeit and illegal goods seized by Trading Standard Scotland officers was in each of the past five years.

Question reference: S6W-12536

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the contract to accommodate Ukrainian refugees, what the (a) total cost to date and (b) estimated cost up until the contract end date is of providing catering for the MS (i) Victoria and (ii) Ambition.

Question reference: S6W-12706

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of (a) 999 and (b) 101 calls have been abandoned or discontinued in each year since 2014.

Question reference: S6W-12623

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will accept recommendation 7 of HM Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland’s report, Inspection of COPFS practice in relation to sections 274 and 275 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

The Scottish Government is currently giving consideration to recommendation 7 of the Inspectorate’s report as part of its work on the planned Criminal Justice Reform Bill and proposals in relation to Independent Legal Representation in respect of section 275 applications.

The Bill will look to deliver reforms building on the Scottish Government’s recent consultation on Improving Victims’ Experiences of the Justice System and recommendations from Lady Dorrian’s Review on Improving the Management of Sexual Offence Cases.

Question reference: S6W-12537

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the contract to accommodate Ukrainian refugees, what the (a) total cost to date and (b) estimated cost up until the contract end date is of port charges for the MS (i) Victoria and (ii) Ambition.

Question reference: S6W-12538

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the contract to accommodate Ukrainian refugees, whether it is responsible for meeting the cost of conducting running repairs of the MS (a) Victoria and (b) Ambition for the duration of the contract, and, if so, what the total cost of any such repairs has been.

Question reference: S6W-12637

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide the attendance figures for (a) Dandelion project and (b) any other Scottish UNBOXED events.

Unboxed was a major UK-wide programme celebrating creativity and innovation, featuring ten large-scale commissioned projects designed to reach millions on-line and in person, bring people together and showcase the Four Nation's creativity.

Scottish Ministers appointed EventScotland as the Strategic Delivery Body for the commission and delivery of the Scottish UNBOXED project, Dandelion, which was funded by the Scottish Government through EventScotland.

The detailed external evaluation of all ten of the Unboxed programme, including Dandelion, is due to be published in Spring 2023. In the interim, the latest details are set out below under the relevant headings.

(a) attendance figures for Dandelion projects

Live events and hands-on schools activities

The following table shows the engagement figures to date for Dandelion, involving over 1,000 events at over 500 locations across Scotland.

	Overall Dandelion Attendance
Live & Participation	336,927
Schools Participation – including 89,101 pupils and families in 468 schools	252,134
Total In Person Attendance/Participation	589,061

In total over 589,000 people took part in person in live events and hands-on schools activities, across Scotland. The figures in the table above detail the number of people who took part in activities in person; both those that took part in person in the festival and public events elements of the programme (336,927) and those pupils and family members that took part in person in the learning and participation programme involving schools (est. 252,134).

These events included (but are not limited to):

Two free outdoor Dandelion festivals in Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow (17 – 19 June 2022) and in Inverness (2- 4 September 2022) which attracted almost 67,000 attendees to two three-day festivals celebrating community growing and sustainability, with programmes featuring live music, locally food, workshops, talks, hands-on activities for all ages, representation from activists and community groups, plus free plants to take home encouraging audiences to ‘grow-their-own';
Events in the 12 Unexpected Gardens (and a ‘Floating Garden’ which toured Scotland’s canal network) which hosted over 500 events engaging more than 18,000 audiences and participants from communities, in particular young people, during the arc of the growing season from March-September 2022;
20 Free For All (FFA) events involved Dandelion giving away thousands of seeds and plant plugs to over 13,000 visitors to try their hand at growing;
The "Schools Growing Initiative’’ saw an estimated 89,101 pupils (plus their family members) in 468 schools become citizen scientists using vertical farm growing cubes. (The cubes are miniature vertical farms, growing hundreds of seedlings under LED light in an accelerated setting, combining design craft, traditional horticultural expertise and technological innovation). Schools across Scotland also took part in the "Big Tattie Experiment’’, which included sowing 258,000 potatoes in 2,000 tonnes of specially made, sustainably sourced, growing medium taken home by pupils to grow;
In addition to the school cube growing initiative, over 96,000 people at 17 locations across Scotland experienced ‘Show Cubes’ (integrated with multiple speaker systems) that either toured Scotland on cargo bikes or were installed in key locations such as the V&A Dundee, connecting with local bike clubs and introducing eleven local communities to future food growing technologies.

Digital and broadcast

In addition to the in person attendances detailed above, Dandelion’s digital and broadcast content allowed the programme to reach a broader audience who might not have been able to take part in events and activities in person, or the schools programme. Dandelion's digital and broadcast content engaged with 869,960. This included specially commissioned digital short films and featured broadcast content.

(b) Attendance figures for other Unboxed projects within Scotland

Four Unboxed projects toured to Scotland, providing free events and experiences in Paisley, Edinburgh, Dundee, Dumfries, Orkney Islands, and the Highlands. As the Strategic Delivery Body for Scottish activity, EventScotland offered advice and support to those cross-UK Unboxed events with a delivery footprint in Scotland, when asked to do so by the individual project.

Responsibility for, and funding of, these events remains with the central Unboxed organisation and the UK Government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and therefore the Scottish Government does not hold attendance information for these projects.

Question reference: S6W-12612

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to undertake a public information campaign to help veterans access any support that they are entitled to.

The Scottish Government’s 2021-22 Programme for Government committed to securing improved opportunities for veterans, ensuring that those who have been willing to risk their lives in the service of the nation can access good jobs once their time in the military is over. These include more opportunities for veterans to work for the Scottish Government and a campaign working with the business community to help employers understand the benefits that veterans bring to the workforce, to help increase employment opportunities for veterans. This campaign will launch early next year.

In addition, this year the Scottish Government commissioned See Me to develop a public awareness campaign to tackle the stigma associated with veterans mental health and encourage veterans in Scotland to speak up about mental health and get help when they need it. The campaign, known as The Guard, launched in late November.

Question reference: S6W-12910

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been awarded to businesses in the South Scotland region from the Regional Food Fund, in each year since the Fund was established.