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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.

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Question reference: S6W-32860

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what licence conditions requiring prior landowner notification are applied in relation to each species under schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

At present the only existing licence condition applied by NatureScot for Schedule 1 species is for disturbance of any such species where the work is to be undertaken on a National Nature Reserve (NNR). This condition requires prior land owner notification before the work is carried out. No work authorised by this licence may be undertaken on a NNR without the prior permission of the NatureScot NNR Manager.

NatureScot intend to introduce a new condition to schedule 1 disturbance licences that will require prior land owner notification on all land for the forthcoming monitoring season.

Question reference: S6W-32855

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on which stations that are managed by (a) Network Rail in Scotland and (b) ScotRail provide Changing Places toilet facilities, and during which hours these facilities are open to the public.

Question reference: S6W-32851

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) it and (b) the NHS has spent on legal costs regarding compensation for medical negligence in the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-32753

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has allocated to projects using the Croft House Grant Scheme in each year since 2016, broken down by local authority area.

This Government is committed to continuing to help crofters and their families to live on and work their croft, contributing to the sustainability of our rural and island communities.

Area *	Croft House Grant Funding Awarded since 2016 (£)
Argyll	1,027,281.54
Barra	447,442.68
Caithness	502,416.36
Harris	224,473.60
Inverness	420,717.60
Lewis	2,674,726.37
North Uist	676,473.20
Ross-shire	708,022.80
Shetland	1,099,077.61
Skye	1,998,124.36
South Uist	954,556.44
Sutherland	996,751.92

*Figures are broken down by the Rural Payments and Inspections Division by area not by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-32774

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have attended chronic pain clinics in each NHS board in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-33191

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many animal disqualification and deprivation orders were issued in the period 2022-24; how this compares with 2017-22, and what underlying causes are behind any increase in number.

The number of disqualification or deprivation orders imposed in 2022-24 was 307. In the period 2017-22 the number imposed was 255.

While numerous factors can contribute to fluctuations in these numbers, it is likely that amendments to the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 (the 2006 Act), that were introduced by The Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020 (the 2020 Act), have resulted in an increase in the number of disqualification orders being imposed by the courts.

Previously, section 40(1) of the 2006 Act provided that where a person is convicted of a relevant offence, the convicting court may make a disqualification order, but it did not specify when such an order should be made. An amendment introduced by the 2020 Act places a stronger requirement on courts to consider issuing a disqualification order in every case where a person is convicted of a relevant offence and makes clear that such an order should be imposed for the purposes of protecting animal welfare.

Section 4(4) of the 2020 Act, also inserted a new section 42A into the 2006 Act to require the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service to establish and maintain a record of the reasons relating to disqualification orders.

Question reference: S6O-04234

Asked by: Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the additional £34 million allocated to Culture and Heritage in its draft Budget will assist in the preservation of any small, yet key, Scottish heritage sites under threat of closure, such as Kinneil Museum in the Falkirk East constituency.

Question reference: S6O-04235

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support South Lanarkshire Council as part of the local government settlement for 2025-26.

Question reference: S6O-04239

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any implications for its provision of funding for humanitarian aid in Gaza, whether it will provide an update on what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding recent developments in Gaza.

Question reference: S6O-04236

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it anticipates will be paid in this financial year in PFI and PPP unitary charge payments across the public sector.