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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-20024

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many schools have been substantially refurbished, from 2016-17 to date, (a) in total and (b) broken down by local authority.

A total of 255 substantial refurbishment projects were completed between 2016-17 and 2021-22. These figures do not include new-build schools. Figures for 2022-23 are not yet available.

Table 1 shows the breakdown by local authority. Only refurbishments with a cost of £500,000 or more for primary and £1 million or more for secondary and special are included. School extensions meeting the cost thresholds are counted as substantial refurbishments.

A breakdown by individual year is available from Table 7.2 in the school estate statistics supplementary data tables https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-estate-statistics-2022/documents/ .

Table 1: Substantial refurbishments by local authority between 2016-17 and 2021-22.

Local Authority	Substantial refurbishments
Aberdeen City	11
Aberdeenshire	18
Angus	1
Argyll and Bute	2
City of Edinburgh	8
Clackmannanshire	2
Dumfries and Galloway	12
Dundee City	0
East Ayrshire	2
East Dunbartonshire	1
East Lothian	5
East Renfrewshire	4
Falkirk	6
Fife	17
Glasgow City	73
Highland	35
Inverclyde	4
Midlothian	2
Moray	11
Na h-Eileanan Siar	2
North Ayrshire	6
North Lanarkshire	1
Orkney Islands	2
Perth and Kinross	5
Renfrewshire	2
Scottish Borders	1
Shetland Islands	2
South Ayrshire	6
South Lanarkshire	10
Stirling	2
West Dunbartonshire	0
West Lothian	2
Total	255

Question reference: S6O-02436

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service faces “insufficient resource to meet statutory and policy obligations” due to budget cuts.

Question reference: S6O-02419

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will give in the academic year 2023-24 for the Rights Respecting Schools Awards programme.

Question reference: S6O-02269

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will propose scheduling parliamentary time to debate the potential role of artificial intelligence in the scrutiny of legislation.

Question reference: S6O-02207

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Lothian, and local groups, since March 2023 regarding the reopening of the Edington Hospital in North Berwick.

Question reference: S6O-02186

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with industry bodies and colleges regarding the provision of green skills training for green jobs of the future.

Question reference: S6O-02062

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what steps it will take to create a more family-friendly environment.

Question reference: S6O-02084

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met EDF and the Nuclear Industry Association regarding the future of Torness nuclear power station.

Question reference: S6O-02035

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to maintain relationships with Scotland's European neighbours post-Brexit.

Question reference: S6W-15717

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 14 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent inspection by Historic Environment Scotland of the works at the Union Chain Bridge over the River Tweed, and what its position is on whether the works carried out by Northumberland County Council comply with the consents granted in relation to the site's listed building status.

The Scottish Government delivers support for the historic environment through sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland. We rely on Historic Environment Scotland as the experts to conserve and protect our important heritage assets for current and future generations to enjoy and benefit from. I am pleased that Historic Environment Scotland provided £500,000 for the Union Chain Bridge project to fund repair work. As the site visit that was carried out at the Union Chain Bridge is an operational matter for Historic Environment Scotland, I have asked it to write to the member with a more detailed answer to his question.