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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: S6O-00860

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, in light of the symbols of solidarity seen across the world, whether it will, and has the equipment necessary to, light the Scottish Parliament building in the colours of the Ukraine flag at night.

Question reference: S6O-00819

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the creation of a development and recovery agency for Glasgow.

The Glasgow Regional Economic Partnership recently published a Regional Recovery Strategy for the area which aligns closely with the priorities outlined in our National Strategy for Economic Transformation published earlier this week.

Assisting with the City Centre recovery is the Glasgow City Centre Task Force which Scottish ministers work closely with on economic recovery and Glasgow City Council has been allocated £2.6m from the City Centre Recovery Fund to take forward local priorities.

The Scottish Government works closely with the Regional Economic Partnership and the Glasgow City Centre Task Force and we value their knowledge and expertise and do not believe a further Agency is required given the existing arrangements.

Question reference: S6W-06279

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maggie Chapman (On behalf of the SPCB) on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (a) how many and (b) what proportion of written questions were processed within (i) 0 to 1 (ii) 2 to 3 (iii) 4 to 5 and (iv) 6 or more days after being lodged, in each week since May 2021.

Tables A and B set out information about the number and percentage of written questions up to the week commencing 7 February 2022 that have been processed within the timeframe set out in the question.

In providing this information, “processed” has been taken to mean the number of calendar days between a question being submitted by a Member and the question either being published or not lodged. As the information is based on calendar days, it does not take into account factors such as days on which the office of the clerk is closed, i.e. a question which was submitted on a Friday and published on a Monday will be included in the tables as having taken 2 to 3 calendar days rather than reflecting the processing having taken 0 to 1 working days. The data is not held in a format that would enable this further disaggregation to be provided.

There are also a number of elements that may be involved in processing questions. Factors such as seeking clarification of the purpose of a question, editing a question so that it meets the requirements of Standing Orders and Guidance on Parliamentary Questions, or seeking input on issues such as sub judice or compliance with data protection obligations may impact on the time that it takes for questions to be processed. These factors can also impact on the processing time where batches of interrelated questions are submitted among which only one or two may raise more complex considerations. The necessary prioritisation of other items, such as Urgent Questions or motions and amendments for debate, may also impact on the time between a question being submitted and published or not lodged. As noted in the response to S6W-06278, additional staffing resources have been deployed to the Chamber Desk. Once training and familiarisation have been completed, it is anticipated that there will be a positive impact on the time taken to process questions.

Table A

w/c	Total	0-1 day	2-3 days	4-5 days	6+ days
10-May	54	49	5
17-May	136	115	21
24-May	137	103		31	3
31-May	183	156	20	7
07-Jun	163	117	39	6	1
14-Jun	259	213	31	2	13
21-Jun	170	151	13	2	4
28-Jun	112	41	55	6	10
05-Jul	179	126	16	29	8
12-Jul	222	122	48	50	2
19-Jul	245	188	38	7	12
26-Jul	182	159	8	5	10
02-Aug	94	41	16	26	11
09-Aug	141	60	47	28	6
16-Aug	186	55	86	33	12
23-Aug	183	41	57	23	62
30-Aug	116	11	18	54	33
06-Sep	247	45	78	91	33
13-Sep	179	5	34	96	44
20-Sep	185	94	38	43	10
27-Sep	119	14	37	47	21
04-Oct	197	111	29	50	7
11-Oct	137	73	61	1	2
18-Oct	132	80	29	9	14
25-Oct	162	38	48	28	48
01-Nov	159	5	77	44	33
08-Nov	242	12	70	101	59
15-Nov	112	26	71	7	8
22-Nov	161	57	39	54	11
29-Nov	196	11	79	52	54
06-Dec	190	7	95	42	46
13-Dec	216	31	32	84	69
20-Dec	162	6	76	12	68
27-Dec	4				4
03-Jan	97	40	51		6
10-Jan	168	58	46	14	50
17-Jan	180	46	45	29	60
24-Jan	238	4	66	18	150
31-Jan	187	7	54	90	36
07-Feb	228	13	154	56	5

Table B

w/c	Total	0-1 day	2-3 days	4-5 days	6+ days
10-May	54	90.74	9.26	0.00	0.00
17-May	136	84.56	15.44	0.00	0.00
24-May	137	75.18	0.00	22.63	2.19
31-May	183	85.25	10.93	3.83	0.00
07-Jun	163	71.78	23.93	3.68	0.61
14-Jun	259	82.24	11.97	0.77	5.02
21-Jun	170	88.82	7.65	1.18	2.35
28-Jun	112	36.61	49.11	5.36	8.93
05-Jul	179	70.39	8.94	16.20	4.47
12-Jul	222	54.95	21.62	22.52	0.90
19-Jul	245	76.73	15.51	2.86	4.90
26-Jul	182	87.36	4.40	2.75	5.49
02-Aug	94	43.62	17.02	27.66	11.70
09-Aug	141	42.55	33.33	19.86	4.26
16-Aug	186	29.57	46.24	17.74	6.45
23-Aug	183	22.40	31.15	12.57	33.88
30-Aug	116	9.48	15.52	46.55	28.45
06-Sep	247	18.22	31.58	36.84	13.36
13-Sep	179	2.79	18.99	53.63	24.58
20-Sep	185	50.81	20.54	23.24	5.41
27-Sep	119	11.76	31.09	39.50	17.65
04-Oct	197	56.35	14.72	25.38	3.55
11-Oct	137	53.28	44.53	0.73	1.46
18-Oct	132	60.61	21.97	6.82	10.61
25-Oct	162	23.46	29.63	17.28	29.63
01-Nov	159	3.14	48.43	27.67	20.75
08-Nov	242	4.96	28.93	41.74	24.38
15-Nov	112	23.21	63.39	6.25	7.14
22-Nov	161	35.40	24.22	33.54	6.83
29-Nov	196	5.61	40.31	26.53	27.55
06-Dec	190	3.68	50.00	22.11	24.21
13-Dec	216	14.35	14.81	38.89	31.94
20-Dec	162	3.70	46.91	7.41	41.98
27-Dec	4	0.00	0.00	0.00	100.00
03-Jan	97	41.24	52.58	0.00	6.19
10-Jan	168	34.52	27.38	8.33	29.76
17-Jan	180	25.56	25.00	16.11	33.33
24-Jan	238	1.68	27.73	7.56	63.03
31-Jan	187	3.74	28.88	48.13	19.25
07-Feb	228	5.70	67.54	24.56	2.19

Question reference: S6W-06278

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maggie Chapman (On behalf of the SPCB) on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the reasons are for the delays in processing written questions.

Session 6 has seen a change in the nature of the items that the Chamber Desk processes. In particular, the number of Urgent Questions being lodged has increased significantly. This had had an impact on the previous pattern of work undertaken by the Chamber Desk. When Urgent Questions are submitted, they are given priority due to the timeframe for such questions to be taken if selected and only selected questions are published. This, combined with the necessary prioritisation of oral questions and motions and amendments for debate, has resulted in a longer turnaround time for written questions than Members will previously have been used to.

To respond to these changes in demand and pattern of work, additional staffing resources have been deployed to the Chamber Desk. Due to the specialist nature of the services provided by the Chamber Desk, the impact of these additional resources will not be immediately realised as staff require to undertake training and familiarisation with the role. However, the position is being actively assessed on an ongoing basis to ensure that questions and motions are processed in the timeliest manner possible. We are grateful for Members’ forbearance while the necessary training is undertaken.

Question reference: S6W-06753

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) reported incidents, (b) prosecutions, (c) convictions and (d) penalties for vandalism and related offences committed against public toilet facilities there have been in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-06803

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners are being held in (a) individual cells and (b) cells holding more than one person, and how many are being "doubled-up" in individual cells.

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

On 21 February 2022 the prison population at unlock was 7,561. A breakdown is provided below regarding the accommodation the individuals were located in:

1. 4,885 people were accommodated alone in a cell intended to accommodate one person and,

230 people were accommodated alone in a cell that is designed to be double occupancy.

2. 918 people were accommodated in a cell, or dormitory, intended for more than one person and,

1,528 people were accommodated with another person in a cell intended for one person.

Question reference: S6W-06752

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what monitoring it undertakes of vandalism of public toilet facilities and the impact that vandalism has on the availability of toilet facilities in local communities.

Question reference: S6W-06721

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason glass has been included in its Deposit Return Scheme.

Including glass in our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will bring significant environmental and economic benefits. The inclusion of glass will save over 1.2 megatonnes CO 2 equivalent over 25 years. DRS will also reduce the amount of harmful glass litter in our environment.

In addition, DRS will significantly increase the quantity and quality of glass recyclate, creating an aggregated and high-quality feedstock for reprocessing. This will include clear glass which we understand to be in high demand.

Question reference: S6W-06723

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the review of the use of snares, which was due by the end of 2021.

Question reference: S6W-06305

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 3 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish its latest review into snaring, which, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, was due to be completed by December 2021.