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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-34093

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what role the Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy’s recent meetings with German energy firms will play in achieving Scotland’s Clean Power 2030 targets.

Question reference: S6W-34241

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants employed by Food Standards Scotland in Aberdeen are on secondment, and what their roles are.

Role	Secondment type'
Senior Feed Offier	outward loan
Lead Feed Officer	TP (internal)
Project Manager	TP (internal)
Head of Private Office	TP (internal)
Head of Field Operations	TP (internal)
Operations Manager - Area 1	TP (internal)
Field Operations Co-ordinator	TP (internal)
Head of Digital Transformation	TP (internal)
Business Planning and Reporting Officer	TP (internal)
Operations Technical Administrator	TP (internal)
Finance Manager	TP (internal)
Field Operations Co-ordinator	TP (internal)
Field Operations Co-ordinator	TP (internal)
Operations Manager - Area 3	TP (internal)
BMPU Manager	TP (internal)
Enforcement Delivery Officer	TP (internal)

Question reference: S6W-34215

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants are employed by Food Standards Scotland at its headquarters in Aberdeen, broken down by grade and role.

Total number 288
Head Office 158
Field 130
Grade	Head Office Job title	No. in post	Field Job Title	No. in post
A3	2		1
	IT modern apprentice	1	Feed Administrator	1
	Admin assistant	1
A4	5		5
	Admin Officer	2	Trainee MHI	5
	Finance assistant	3
B1	20		67
	Audit assurance support officer	1	Approvals Executive	1
	BMPU coordinator	1	Meat Hygiene Inspector	63
	Comms Executive	1	Operational Support Officer	1
	Enforcement Support Officer	1	Operations Technical Administrator	2
	Executive Officer	1
	Finance Business Partner	2
	HR Coordinator	1
	Incidents Officer	1
	Intelligence Officer	1
	Intelligence Researcher	1
	Nutrition Advisor	1
	Office and Admin Coordinator	1
	PA to DCEO	1
	Policy Advisor	2
	Procurement Officer	1
	SFELC secratariat & LA training	1
	Social Media Executive	1
	Stakeholder Database Manager	1
B2	55		41
	Engagement Policy Advisor & Co-ordinator	1	Feed Officer	3
	Project Support Officer	1	Feed Operations Coordinator	6
	Records Management Support Officer	1	Field Veterinary Coordinator	1
	Intelligence Development Officer	1	Official Veterinarian	30
	Meat Charging Officer	1	SLA & Contracts Coordinator	1
	Scientific Advisor	5
	Lead Incident Officer	1
	Marketing Manager	2
	Public Health Nutrition Advisor	4
	IT Project Support Specialist	1
	Policy Advisor	12
	Learning & Development Advisor	1
	Lead Investigator	3
	Intelligence Development Officer	2
	Lead Incidents Officer	1
	Learning & Development Business Partner	1
	Resilience Manager	1
	Facilities and Admin Manager	1
	Communications Manager - Press & Media	1
	Intelligence Analyst	2
	Events Manager	1
	Enforcement Delivery Project Manager	2
	Application Developer	1
	HR Business Partner	1
	Private Secretary to CEO	1
	Incident Support Officer	1
	Board Secretary	1
	Business Planning and Reporting Officer	1
	Data Manager	1
	Senior Finance Business Partner	1
	Assistant Financal Accountant	1
B3	43		12
	Information Systems Delivery Manager	1	Field Veterinary Manager	1
	Analyst	1	Operations Manager	3
	BMPU Manager	1	Senior Feed officer	2
	Digital Delivery Manager	1	Vet advisor	3
	Finance Manager	1	Vet Auditor	2
	Financial Accountant	1	SLA & Contracts Manager	1
	Head of Marketing & Publications	1
	Head of Private Office	1
	HR Manager	1
	HSE Manager	1
	Incidents Manager	1
	Intelligence Manager	1
	Regulatory Strategy Workstream Manager	1
	Senior Assurance Auditor	4
	Senior Business Analyst	1
	Senior Enforcement Manager	5
	Senior Intelligence Analyst	1
	Senior Investigator	1
	Senior Policy Advisor	8
	Senior Public Health Nutrition Advisor	2
	Senior Scientific Advisor	4
	SFCIU Support Manager	1
	Sustainability Workstream Manager	1
	Team Leader - Food Borne Illness Control	1
	Work Stream Manager - Digitalisation and Technology	1
C1	23		3
	Data Scientist/Statistician	1	Head of Field Operations	1
	Head of Communications & Stakeholder Engagement	1	Head Veterinarian	1
	Head of Content and Digital	1	Lead Feed Officer	1
	Head of Corporate Support	1
	Head of Crime Operations	1
	Head of Digital Transformation	1
	Head of Domestic Assurance	1
	Head of Enforcement Delivery	1
	Head of Engagement & Public Affairs	1
	Head of Finance & Procurement	1
	Head of Food and Feed Safety Policy	1
	Head of Food Protection, Science and Surveillance (FPSS)	1
	Head of Incidents	1
	Head of International Assurance & Inward Missions	1
	Head of Labelling Standards & Regulated Products	1
	Head of Public Health Nutrition	1
	Head of Risk Assessment	1
	Head of Strategic Food and Trade Policy International Trade	1
	Head of Strategic UK Frameworks & Inter-Government Partnerships	1
	Project Manager - SAFER	3
	Social Researcher	1
C2	8		1
	Head of Audit Assurance	1	Head of Operational Delivery	1
	Head of Science Division	1
	Head of Corporate Services	1
	Head of Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit	1
	Head of Policy & Regulatory Affairs	1
	Head of LA Delivery	1
	Chief Nutritionist	1
	Head of Communications and Marketing	1
SCS	2
	CE	1
	Deputy CE	1

Question reference: S6W-34235

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what resources are currently allocated to the Food Crime and Incidents Unit in Food Standards Scotland, and how this compares to 2018.

Question reference: S6W-34219

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of Food Standards Scotland staff in Aberdeen is employed on a (a) permanent and (b) temporary contract.

Question reference: S6W-34163

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions related to assaults on doctors have resulted in (a) convictions and (b) other outcomes, in each year since 2018, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-34145

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of any delays in the prosecution of speeding cases and the factors contributing to these.

The average length of time between the date of alleged commission of a criminal offence and the date of a final court verdict increased considerably as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions brought in to try to limit the spread of coronavirus.

This affected the prosecution of all types of offences, including speeding offences. Scottish Government investment has helped aid the recovery of the summary courts from the effects of the pandemic.

Question reference: S6W-34063

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are taken to ensure the confidentiality and security of information discussed during meetings in the Scottish Government Resilience Room.

SGORR’s information security is guided, like information security in all other parts of Scottish Government, by three key principles: confidentiality (information is classified correctly following government guidance), integrity (information is verified and comes from a reputable source), and availability (it is stored securely on Government systems, can only be accessed by those who have the right to see it, and is only shared where appropriate).

Question reference: S6W-34061

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how often exercises or drills are conducted to test the effectiveness of the Scottish Government Resilience Room’s crisis response capabilities.

The Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGORR) takes part in a number of exercises every year to test its response protocols and overall effectiveness, train its staff and ensure a shared understanding of roles and responsibilities with partners. These exercises range from Tier 1 exercises (organised by UK Government and simulating a UK-level response) to SGORR-internal training exercises. The number of exercises SGORR participates in varies from year to year. To date in 2025, SGORR has completed six SGORR training exercises, and is currently planning to participate in a Tier 1 exercise later this year.

Question reference: S6W-34060

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what resources and facilities are available within the Scottish Government Resilience Room to support decision making during emergencies.

The Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGORR) provides Scottish Ministers and senior officials with situational awareness, enabling them to make informed strategic decisions on the Scottish Government’s response to civil contingencies emergencies. SGORR provides this situational awareness, using relevant facilities, by supplying written and verbal briefings, organising meetings at official or ministerial level and making connections across and outside the Scottish Government, with SGORR working closely with responders at all levels in Scotland and with the UK Government where relevant to the response.