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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-19667

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 19 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it will make available to local authorities that find reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete present in (a) school buildings and (b) other local authority-owned buildings, in order to (i) manage and (ii) remove it.

Question reference: S6W-19470

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 19 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact of increased mortgage rates on the Scottish economy.

Forecasts for the Scottish economy are produced by the independent Scottish Fiscal Commission. They published their most recent forecast in May 2023.

The Scottish Government has not made any formal assessment of the impact of increased mortgage rates on the Scottish economy. However, the Scottish Government regularly monitors trends in mortgage rates and the level of mortgage lending through the quarterly Scottish Housing Market Review , and also monitors trends in economic activity, which is affected by mortgage and other interest rates, through the monthly Economic Brief .

The Scottish Government has recently conducted an evidence review on the impact of the wider cost of living crisis on low income households with children. A part of the report includes a section on housing which briefly summarises the impact of higher mortgage costs for families on low incomes.

Question reference: S6W-20032

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-19696

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage the development of a new economic zone in the Highlands.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing the economy of the Highlands and Islands to its full potential. We are working with partners including local authorities, businesses and our enterprise agency and supporting a broad range of activities backed by significant Scottish Government investment to achieve that aim.

Through the Growth Deal programme we are investing £242.5 million across the Highlands and Islands over the next 10 years to grow the economy. This will fund projects on a range of themes including renewable energy, housing, transport, skills, tourism, culture, marine, space and aerospace to drive sustainable economic growth.

Our enterprise agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), is providing specialist advice, training and funding to help businesses respond to economic opportunities. The agency also supports the development of infrastructure, including business and industrial premises in rural locations. During 2022-23, HIE approved £63.2 million for 489 projects and secured £35 million of investment for the region’s economy.

In January this year we confirmed Inverness and Cromarty Firth as one of Scotland’s Green Freeports. With access to up to £25 million in seed capital, up to £1 million in revenue funding, and a package of customs and tax incentives, Green Freeports will create internationally competitive clusters of manufacturing excellence. With a focus on renewable energy, wind and hydrogen, the Cromarty Firth Green Freeport will create up to 25,000 jobs and attract £2.6 billion in inward investment to the region.

These initiatives and many others we are supporting will drive sustainable economic growth across the Highlands and Islands for the benefit of people and communities.

Question reference: S6W-19622

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has met with the administrators appointed to oversee Circularity Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-19787

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to appoint directors to the board of any future Deposit Return Scheme administrator.

Question reference: S6W-19560

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it was first informed that Circularity Scotland was going into administration.

The Scottish Government was first informed that Circularity Scotland was likely to go into administration late on 19 June 2023 and was formally told that they were appointing administrators on 20 June 2023. The administrators confirmed they had been appointed on their website on 21 June 2023.

We had told the UK Government that Circularity Scotland were likely to go into administration should they not provide a full exclusion to the Internal Market Act for the Deposit Return Scheme in Scotland to allow it to go ahead as planned on 1 March 2024.

Question reference: S6W-19788

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it required the establishment of a minimum viable product from applicants to be a Deposit Return Scheme administrator, and, if not, for what reason such a requirement was not deemed necessary.

The information to be contained in an application for scheme administrator approval is set out in Schedule 2 of the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020 as passed by the Scottish Parliament. The design and operational detail of the scheme is a matter for the scheme administrator. Following the March 2023 gateway review, scoping work was commenced to finalise a Target Operating Model. This work has been paused due to the UK Government’s 11th hour intervention which undermined Scotland’s deposit return scheme.

Question reference: S6W-19643

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the newly announced Investment Zones in Glasgow and Aberdeen will be subject to the same regime of workers' rights as the rest of Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-19651

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to raise the issue of how e-cigarettes are treated in Scotland under Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations as part of the ongoing UK-wide review.