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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-11360

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 25 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether each event awarded funding though the Scottish Technology Ecosystem Fund took place as described on its application.

Question reference: S6W-11035

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 4 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons its Rural Entrepreneur Fund (a) has not yet been introduced, in light of its inclusion in the Programme for Government 2021-22 and (b) is not included in its Programme for Government 2022-23.

The Rural Entrepreneur Fund was a 2021-22 Programme for Government (PfG) commitment to invest £20 million over the lifetime of the current parliament.

In light of the challenging financial environment, we need to prioritise our investments to ensure that they are deliverable, impactful and affordable. Consequently, there has been no money made available for Rural Entrepreneur Fund to date.

Our PfG 2022-23 prioritises support for households, businesses and public services. Following the UK Government’s Emergency Budget we will carry out a budget review to assess opportunities to redirect additional resources to those most in need.

Question reference: S6W-11037

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 3 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will no longer seek to put measures in place to double the amount of land used for organic farming by 2026, and, if so, what the reason is for its decision on this matter.

The commitment to the 2021-22 Programme for Government ambition to double the amount of land used for organic farming by 2026 is still firmly in place, alongside our commitment to establish a new Organic Food and Farming Action Plan by the end of this parliamentary session. We will extend the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme up to the end of the period of stability in 2024, which will continue to underpin the ambition for organic farming.

Question reference: S6W-11039

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 3 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons its Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation Fund (a) has not yet been introduced, in light of its inclusion in the Programme for Government 2021-22 and (b) is not included in its Programme for Government 2022-23.

A new funding round of the Food Processing and Marketing Cooperation Grant Scheme (FPMC) ran in late 2021 to support food processors in developing local supply chains and transitioning to net zero operations. This ultimately saw £7.3m being awarded across 29 projects.

A further funding round, with a budget of £10.2m for new projects, was opened on 9 May 2022, and closed on 19 June 2022, with 65 applications having been received from the food processing industry. The assessment process has now concluded, and businesses will be notified of the outcome of their applications imminently.

This year’s Programme for Government was published in the context of the most severe cost crisis of our lifetimes, and for that reason, the nature and immediate focus of this Programme for Government is different. As well as facing uncertainty created by the inaction of others, we face difficult choices ourselves, both as a nation and as a government and the 22-23 Programme for Government clearly sets out immediate steps this government will take to help families and businesses to get through this crisis. It is also important to note that the Programme for Government does not cover all of the work being taken forward by the Scottish Government, and that we remain committed to supporting businesses to grow and expand, whilst contributing to the development of local supply chains, and supporting the transition to net zero emissions.

Question reference: S6W-11036

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will no longer seek to establish the single marketing brand for all Scottish produce, "Sustainably Scottish", and, if so, what the reason is for its decision on this matter.

SG commissioned Scottish Agriculture Organisation Society (SAOS) to undertake market research to establish demand for a new food and drink brand, and possible options. This research was based on branding that would be available to Scottish based producers, manufacturers and suppliers who can satisfy stringent criteria on provenance and low carbon operations.

The final report is expected soon. This research will be used to inform approaches that will allow businesses to capitalise on the provenance and quality that Scotland’s produce is synonymous with.

Question reference: S6O-01386

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how the work of the Covid Business Resilience and Support Directorate is supporting its Covid Recovery Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-10187

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to make regulations under section 4 of the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2020 to enable marriages to become civil partnerships.

Question reference: S6W-09101

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 29 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it takes to ensure that hardcopy paper responses to Scotland's Census 2022 are recorded accurately and that errors in recording can be corrected.

A rigorous approach is taken to ensure accurate census paper questionnaire data.

Paper questionnaires are scanned and the answers are captured digitally using character recognition software. During scanning, the system looks to automatically allocate a numeric code to each answer, which allows the data to be easily analysed. Trained Quality Control operators perform daily checks on a sample of cases to ensure the quality of data captured from scanned questionnaires meets expectations.

It is not always possible to automatically allocate valid codes during scanning as some answers provided are not always on lists the system matches to. To ensure complete information is recorded, National Records of Scotland (NRS) set up a manual coding service where trained coding operatives visually inspect census questionnaires and make a decision on the most accurate code to assign.

Further manual inspections of the paper forms are made by NRS staff to check allocated categories and codes.

Question reference: S6W-09102

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 29 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether all hardcopy paper responses to Scotland's Census 2022 will be digitally recorded in their entirety.

Question reference: S6W-09103

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 29 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how treatment of hardcopy paper responses to Scotland's Census 2022 differs from the treatment of hardcopy paper responses to the (a) 2011 census and (b) 2021 census in England and Wales.

Scanning of paper questionnaires for Scotland’s Census 2022 is in line with the 2011 census and the 2021 census in England Wales.

Full information on the coding and data processing methods employed on Scotland’s Census 2022 is published on the NRS website. Comparisons to 2011 and the 2021 census in England and Wales are made where appropriate.

Statistical methodology | Scotland's Census (scotlandscensus.gov.uk)