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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-35531

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to facilitate the development of domestic space launch capabilities, and the growth of associated business sectors.

The delivery of domestic launch capability would close the last link in the end-to-end space value chain. This would allow the manufacture, launch and exploitation of small satellite data all to take place in Scotland and give the sector a unique offering to the global market.

This is something long recognised by the Scottish Government and is why we worked in collaboration with industry and academia to develop the jointly owned “A Strategy for Space in Scotland”. Published in 2021, this document sets out the ambitions for the sector regarding delivery of launch capability and facilitating wider growth of the Scottish space eco-system.

Question reference: S6W-35530

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the development of the SaxaVord and Sutherland spaceports, and whether it is its understanding that the business sector plans to consolidate around a single launch location.

For progress on SaxaVord and Sutherland Spaceports, I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-34559 and S6W-34600 on 6 March 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The Scottish Government is supportive of multiple launch locations, which increase Scotland's offering to the global market, add resilience to the Scottish launch sector and increase the chances of delivering economic benefits to local communities.

Question reference: S6W-34599

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the latest information that it has on the progress of the Sutherland spaceport project.

Sutherland Spaceport is a private sector project being delivered by the launch vehicle manufacturer Orbex. In December 2024, the company announced a pause in construction, to enable them to focus their initial launches from SaxaVord spaceport, with a view to return to developing Sutherland spaceport at a later date.

The Scottish Government maintain regular contact with the company, the UK Space Agency, and Highlands & Islands Enterprise as the relevant local economic development agency, to stay informed and address any pertinent issues.

Question reference: S6W-34597

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether Scotland can only be an influential responsible artificial intellegence (AI) regulator if it succeeds in attracting people to, and growing, the domestic AI sector.

Although the regulation of AI as a technology is unfortunately reserved to Westminster, Scotland can and has indeed been taking action for years to influence the national and global development of AI in a responsible way that reflects Scottish values. The purpose of Scotland’s 2021 AI Strategy is to make Scotland a leader in the development and use of trustworthy, ethical and inclusive AI. The actions to deliver this vision include multiple, complementary interventions from education, with our foundational Living with AI course, supporting our business ecosystem, with the AI Playbook geared towards SMEs, and collaboration, through forums like the monthly public sector AI Taskforce and a strong public engagement programme led by the AI Alliance. Scotland’s position globally continues to be influential with Scotland being the first country to mandate a public sector AI Register and our unique Children and AI programme, which was featured in the brochure of last month’s AI Action Summit in Paris, the most important and selective global AI event since 2023 – and to which the Head of the Scottish AI Alliance was also invited. We engage closely with the UK Government to influence UK AI Policy, and internationally though membership of multilaterals such as the Disruptive and Emerging Technology Alliance (https://detalliance.com/).

Question reference: S6W-34598

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has taken any steps to make a cost-benefit analyses of potential measures available to it to promote the artificiak intellegence (AI)-related industry in Scotland.

Currently, a breakdown of spending returns on AI business support is not available as it is challenging to break down elements of work that are specific to AI and their impact as it is implicated in so many wider business impacts. However, recent research indicates that private equity investments were up by a third in 2024, with VC investment in Scotland rising by 14% in the last quarter of last year indicating a strong investment growth into AI in Scotland. We continue to work with enterprise agencies to identify where the Scottish economy is benefitting from AI and SE are soon to publish research on the economic opportunities for AI in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-34600

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the latest information that it has on the progress of the SaxaVord spaceport.

The Scottish Government are supportive of SaxaVord Spaceport and their efforts toward reaching their first launch, which is currently understood to be later this year. This milestone will contribute significantly to Scotland’s launch ambitions and deliver end-to-end capability for the sector in Scotland.

The Scottish Government maintain regular contact with Saxavord Spaceport, however, as a private enterprise, the spaceport is responsible for managing its own communications and disclosures.

Question reference: S6W-34596

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to assess artifical intelligence (AI)-related industry activity in Scotland, in terms of size, location and specialisation.

There are several measures Scottish Government is taking to assess AI-related industry activity in Scotland, in terms of size, location and specialisation. These include the Scottish Government BICS survey (with data on AI adoption for business and industry) and Scottish Government is supporting a suite of programmes driven by Scottish Enterprise which regularly assess AI activity in Scotland. Scottish Enterprise completed research in 2023 about AI and business and are currently preparing research that assesses the economic opportunities for AI in Scotland (i.e. the size of the market). They will also soon publish a report including assessments into AI activity specialisation and location in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-34601

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what ongoing steps it is taking to monitor which potential trunk road building or upgrade projects would provide the highest economic return on investment.

Transport Scotland completed the second Strategic Transport Projects Review which sets-out the Scottish Government’s priorities for future capital investment, including new investment in the trunk road network.

Alongside the design development process of any major transport capital project there is a need to develop the appropriate level business case. These project specific business cases are developed in line with the Guidance on the Development of Business Cases in Transport Scotland, the latest transport scheme assessment and evaluation criteria and the Scottish Public Finance Manual. These cover the 5 Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance criteria of Economy, Climate Change, Environment, Health, Safety and Wellbeing and Equality and Accessibility as well as any Transport Planning Objectives and the process checks that projects remain in line with the initial assessment on which decisions were made.

Question reference: S6W-34602

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address the reported long-term reduction in the working-age population caused by below-replacement birth rates.

Recent population projections from National Records of Scotland indicate that high levels of positive net migration are projected to offset negative natural change, leading to Scotland’s population being projected to increase each year to mid-2047.

This demonstrates the importance of migration in driving population growth and is why we are using the full extent of our devolved powers to ensure Scotland is as attractive as possible, with a population profile which can support our economy, communities and public services. This includes delivering Scotland’s Migration Service and our Addressing Depopulation Action Plan, reflecting the strategic aims set out in our Population Strategy.

We will also continue to make the case for tailored migration schemes such as our Rural Visa Pilot and recently announced Scottish Graduate Visa. These are strongly supported by stakeholders, deliverable within the existing UK immigration system, and we urge the UK Government to engage substantively with the proposals to ensure that the UK immigration system can meet Scotland’s distinct demographic needs.

Question reference: S6T-02302

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of unauthorised absences from schools.