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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: S6F-03373

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2024

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that Transport Scotland has spent more than £16 million on consultancy fees in relation to the A83 Rest and Be Thankful project.

Question reference: S6F-03358

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2024

To ask the First Minister what the implications are for public health in Scotland of the UK Government’s announcement that it plans to ban junk food advertising before 9.00 pm.

Question reference: S6W-29590

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that environmental impact assessments take into account seasonal variations in the surveyed environment.

Where an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required, this must include a description of the relevant aspects of the current state of the environment and an outline of the likely evolution thereof without implementation of the project, as far as natural changes from the baseline scenario can be assessed with reasonable effort, on the basis of the availability of environmental information and scientific knowledge. Where an EIA Report is considered to contain insufficient information it is open to the decision-maker to request further environmental information.

Question reference: S6W-29164

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what alternative financial support is available to young people under 17 who wish to continue their education but are not eligible for the Education Maintenance Allowance.

Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is available at school and college for eligible 16-19 year olds supporting them to remain and progress in learning. For those at school, and under 17 who are not eligible for EMA, they may receive Free School Meals and/or the School Clothing Grant depending on their individual circumstances.

Similarly, for those young people studying a further education course at college, they may be eligible for discretionary funding, study costs and childcare funding. This support is assessed and administered directly by individual colleges.

In the instances where a young person under 17 opts to study a higher education course, they may be eligible to apply for tuition fee support, bursary and living cost grants to support them throughout their studies. Students over the age of 16 are also eligible to apply for a student loan. This support is assessed and administered by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS).

All young people and children living in Scotland aged 5-21 can apply for a card to access the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-29318

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether a 15 to 20% management fee applied by the City of Edinburgh Council as part of the Mixed Tenure Improvement Service is (a) excessive and (b) above industry standard.

The Mixed Tenure Improvement Service is delivered by the City of Edinburgh Council using powers as set out in the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004. The Scottish Government does not collect or collate information about the management fees charged by local authorities or housing associations as part of Tenement Management Schemes.

The guidance issued by the Scottish Government about the design and delivery of Area Based Schemes (ABS) allows for councils to claim up to 20% of their grant award as enabling costs. This ensures that participating households are not asked to help meet wider household engagement, survey, scaffolding and management costs for ABS projects as a whole.

Question reference: S6W-29381

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-27609 by Ivan McKee on 23 May 2024, whether it will provide an update on when it plans to publish the findings from the second phase of the Local Governance Review's community engagement process, Democracy Matters.

Question reference: S6W-29323

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to the City of Edinburgh Council in relation to the Mixed Tenure Improvement Service in each financial year since 2021.

Question reference: S6W-29331

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered setting a limit on the financial cost to households impacted by the transition to net zero buildings, including as part of the Mixed Tenure Improvement Service, in light of the reportedly large financial bills that families are currently facing.

With energy bills remaining significantly high, the Scottish Government has offered to work with the UK Government to ensure energy consumers are supported, including through driving improvement to the energy efficiency of our housing stock, in order to tackle fuel poverty and ensure the energy market is fit for purpose as we transition towards net zero.

Our consultation on a Heat in Buildings Bill, which closed on 8 March 2024, included proposals for setting a cap on the costs to property owners of meeting the proposed Heat in Buildings Standard. This proposal was included in recognition of our overall aim to ensure our proposals are fair, proportionate and affordable.

We are currently considering responses to the consultation to inform our thinking and development of future proposals.

The Mixed Tenure Improvement Service is not a Scottish Government initiative and was established and is led by the City of Edinburgh Council.

Question reference: S6W-29344

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the Nature Restoration Fund's impact on tackling the nature and climate emergencies.

Question reference: S6W-29345

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide information on the Nature Restoration Fund's record so far, including the (a) total amount of funding awarded, (b) number of projects funded, broken down by (i) terrestrial and (ii) marine, (c) number of beneficiary organisations and (d) number of jobs created or posts funded by the Fund.

(a) To date, just over £51 Million has been awarded through the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF). This includes just over £32 Million awarded through the NRF competitive strand, just over £1.3 Million through NRF-funded Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF) projects, and £18 Million provided directly to local authorities and National Parks, via the NRF Edinburgh Process strand, as of the end of the 2023-24 financial year.

(b) 220 projects have been offered competitive funding to date. This includes 192 projects through the NRF competitive strand and 28 NRF-funded SMEEF projects. (i) 162 were terrestrial or freshwater projects (ii) 30 were coastal and marine projects (plus the 28 NRF-funded SMEEF projects).

Additionally, local authorities and National Parks have supported further projects directly through their allocation from the NRF Edinburgh Process strand.

(c) 119 separate applicants have been offered funding from the NRF competitive strand or NRF-funded SMEEF projects. That does not include the 32 local authorities and 2 National Parks who have also benefitted from direct NRF funding, and will in turn have used their allocation to support projects led by other organisations (e.g. community groups, local charities).

(d) We do not hold information on the number of jobs created or posts funded by the NRF.