Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-04169

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will launch an independent review of the 2024 Higher History exam, in light of reports that responses to a survey by the Scottish Association of Teachers of History were overwhelmingly critical of the SQA review, that it had been described as a "whitewash", and that one respondent referred to it as "the most biased and useless investigation I have ever seen a public body attempt to pass off as legitimate”.

Question reference: S6W-31930

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 13 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31621 by Dorothy Bain on 3 December 2024, whether it will clarify whether this means that there is no official record or documentation of section 12 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 being implemented.

As previously advised with reference to question S6W-31621 on 3 December 2024, during daily routine engagement with the police, Procurators Fiscal undertake the long-established practice of instructing the police in their investigation of crime and all suspicious, sudden and unexplained deaths. The ongoing input and direction during the investigative process is not specifically recorded as implementation of section 12 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, nor is there any statutory obligation to do so.

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

Question reference: S6O-04133

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the proposal from Save Our Surgeries in Burghead and Hopeman to pilot a nurse-led service in the villages following the closure of their GP surgeries.

Question reference: S6W-31866

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many miles of the A96 have been dualled in each year from 2011 to date.

The Scottish Government’s commitment to fully dual the A96 was made in December 2011. A lot has happened since then, not least nearly 14 years of austerity and cost pressures under the previous UK Government, which put significant financial constraints on Scottish budgets. We also had a pandemic which meant that very little construction work was planned or undertaken for a number of years.

The position of the Scottish Government has not changed – the current favoured position is to fully dual the A96, and we are already taking forward the dualling process from Inverness to Nairn, including Nairn Bypass.

The outcomes from the A96 Corridor Review, which was undertaken as a result of the Bute House Agreement, have been published in draft for public consultation and no final decision has been made.

Feedback from members of the public and key stakeholders will be key in helping inform the Scottish Government’s final decision on how best to take forward improvements to the A96 whilst also balancing the demands of the challenging economic climate and the climate emergency, and to inform our timescales going forward.

Question reference: S6W-31865

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its reported decision to delay the full dualling of the A96, when the Cabinet Secretary for Transport last travelled on the A96 in order to understand the reported concerns regarding this decision.

The position of the Scottish Government has not changed – the current favoured position is to fully dual the A96, and we are already taking forward the dualling process from Inverness to Nairn, including Nairn Bypass.

The outcomes from the A96 Corridor Review, which was undertaken as a result of the Bute House Agreement, have been published in draft for public consultation and no final decision has been made.

Feedback from members of the public and key stakeholders will be key in helping inform the Scottish Government’s final decision on how best to take forward improvements to the A96 whilst also balancing the demands of the challenging economic climate and the climate emergency, and to inform our timescales going forward.

The Scottish Government is wholly aware of the challenges and reality of living with a trunk road, such as the A96 cutting through the heart of towns such as Nairn, Elgin and Keith. I attended the Build the Nairn Bypass event hosted by the Inverness Courier in Nairn on 31 May 2024 to hear first-hand the impacts it has on the safety and well-being of those that live, travel, work and attend education establishments along it.

Question reference: S6W-31620

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 3 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the rationale would be for the Lord Advocate to use section 12 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

As head of the system of prosecutions in Scotland, I have primary responsibility for the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences in Scotland.

I have, along with Procurators Fiscal, who hold commissions on my behalf, legal authority to instruct the police in their investigation and reporting of crime and all suspicious, sudden and unexplained deaths.

Instruction of the police can take the form of Lord Advocate Guidelines to the Chief Constable to inform of approaches to be taken by the police in specified circumstances. Equally, instruction and direction may be issued in relation to specific matters in the context of ongoing liaison between the police and Procurators Fiscal who can instruct the police during the course of investigations and when further investigation is required in a case. Instruction of the police is a continuous process in the discharge of the Lord Advocate’s duties as regards the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-31621

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 3 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many times section 12 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 has been used each year since 1999, and what information it has regarding each year in the period prior to that when the Act was in force.

There is a long-established practice of Procurators Fiscal instructing the police in their investigation of crime and all suspicious sudden and unexplained deaths.

Investigation and direction may be issued in relation to specific matters in the context of ongoing liaison between the police and Procurators Fiscal who can instruct the police during the course of investigations and when further investigation is required in a case.

This is carried out as routine engagement during the investigative process and as such is not recorded as specific implementation of section 12 of the 1995 Act.

Question reference: S6W-31187

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 25 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many hectares of land there have been that can be classed as land capable of supporting (a) arable agriculture, (b) mixed agriculture, (c) improved grassland and (d) rough grazing, in each year since 2019, also broken down by local authority area.

The Scottish Government does not collate information regarding land use capability in this manner. Information on Scotland’s land capability is available at a National Scale through the Land Capability for Agriculture map and can be accessed here: National scale land capability for agriculture | Scotland's soils (environment.gov.scot).

Please note that the land capability for agriculture assessment was carried out in 1981 using data collected between 1978 and 1981 and is not broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-31189

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 25 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many hectares of land capable of supporting mixed agriculture has been used for (a) housing developments, (b) industrial developments and (c) renewable projects, in each year since 2019, also broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-31190

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 25 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many hectares of land capable of supporting improved grassland have been used for (a) housing developments, (b) industrial developments and (c) renewable projects, in each year since 2019, also broken down by local authority area.

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