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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: S6O-02341

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it anticipates the outcomes will be of the proposed summit on tackling violence in schools, which was announced by the education secretary on 24 May.

Question reference: S6O-02344

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to fund traditional skills-based apprenticeships that lead to professional qualifications.

Question reference: S6O-02337

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it will put in place to support women in the immediate days and weeks after they leave a coercive and abusive relationship.

Question reference: S6O-02336

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that police officers are fully resourced.

Question reference: S6W-18109

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 31 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking following the warnings from Argyll and Bute Council’s Trading Standards and Home Energy Efficiency Team to householders that there are traders operating in the local area who are offering home energy products and are incorrectly claiming to be working on behalf of the local authority.

Question reference: S6W-18000

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 31 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16903 by Lorna Slater on 5 May 2023, for which of the schemes listed the minister has (a) visited the location and (b) met with the relevant chief executive.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme has been based on successful schemes across Europe. The Minister has been thoroughly briefed by Zero Waste Scotland on relevant research findings throughout the policy’s development.

Research was undertaken by Zero Waste Scotland, who designed the scheme, and met with a range of international scheme administrators and operators, including those from Norway, Estonia, Sweden, Lithuania, Germany, Iceland, Denmark and Finland.

This research and briefing has meant that the minister has been fully appraised of the main characteristics of schemes across Europe and has not therefore personally travelled to the countries listed or personally met the chief executives from these schemes.

Question reference: S6W-18005

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 31 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-17388 by Lorna Slater on 10 May 2023, how many producers are liable for advance payments, and what the sum total is of advance payments liable from producers until the 1 March 2024 launch date.

Question reference: S6W-17991

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 31 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent engagement ministers have had with the higher education sector regarding the role that geoscience can play in tackling climate change.

As an example of recent Ministerial engagement with the higher education sector on climate change, on 8 February the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport met the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre at Heriot-Watt University to discuss how research can support a just industrial decarbonisation which realises socioeconomic opportunities and wider environmental benefits.

Question reference: S6W-17992

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 31 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of targeting support to encourage people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds to access university programmes related to careers in roles vital to the critical minerals sector.

The Scottish Government has no role in directing individuals to a particular university programme. Universities are responsible for their own admissions processes and it is for them to decide how they wish to allocate places to each course.

We remain absolutely committed to the principle that access to education should be based on the ability to learn and not the ability to pay, and will continue to work with SFC and the sector to maintain our commitment to the widening access agenda.

SFC are committed to investing in education that is accessible to learners from all backgrounds and monitors each institutions progress on widening access as part of their role.

Scotland's universities are amongst the best in the world. We want every child, no matter their background, to have an equal chance of entering and succeeding in higher education. By 2030, we want 20% of students entering university to be from Scotland's 20% most deprived backgrounds. With 16.5% of full-time first degree entrants coming from the 20% most deprived areas in 2021-22, we achieved the interim Commission on Widening Access target to have 16% by 2021.

Question reference: S6W-18015

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 31 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on implementing split payments of welfare benefits to families in Scotland.

The Scottish Government remains committed to using our limited powers in this area to make Universal Credit more accessible and fairer for people in Scotland.

Universal Credit is reserved to the UK Government and delivery of split payments is therefore dependent on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) agreeing to deliver the policy on behalf of the Scottish Government. We continue to work with DWP to explore the feasibility of adapting the Universal Credit system to introduce split payments to make welfare benefits more accessible to families in Scotland.