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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: S6T-01415

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what advice and support it can provide to parents and carers who are struggling to afford nappies and infant feed, in light of recent reports regarding nappy need, difficulties in accessing baby formula at foodbanks and families with young children being forced to cut back on essentials.

Question reference: S6T-01410

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether orthopaedic appointments and surgeries, when they do not require the use of general anaesthetic, should be carried out in local community hospitals.

Question reference: S6F-02199

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2023

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is regarding recent reports that suggest there is a mental health crisis emerging in the early years sector.

Question reference: S6F-02201

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2023

To ask the First Minister whether any objections or concerns were raised by the Scottish Ministers during the deliberations about the guidelines for sentencing under-25s, which came into effect in January 2022.

Question reference: S6F-02200

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2023

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that the Community Pharmacy Scotland Board has described the financial settlement that it has been offered as "derisory".

Question reference: S6F-02180

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2023

To ask the First Minister what priority the Scottish Government gives to protecting Scotland's environment.

Question reference: S6F-02174

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-02175

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-18051

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether entitlement to the Small Business Bonus Scheme should be granted automatically to eligible ratepayers, as opposed to it having to be claimed for.

Public bodies have a duty to manage public finances appropriately and this includes ensuring that procedures for administering relief are suitably robust.

Most reliefs generally require an application to be made to the local authority except for universally available reliefs. This is because applications help local authorities determine whether a property is eligible for a particular relief.

The Small Business Bonus Scheme relief is available for properties where the rateable value of the property does not exceed £20,000 and where the rateable value of all of the ratepayer’s properties does not exceed £35,000 and where the property is not used for an excluded purpose.

An application for Small Business Bonus Scheme relief therefore requires ratepayers to declare information regarding their non-domestic properties in Scotland, allowing local authorities to determine whether the eligibility criteria for the relief is met.

Question reference: S6W-17986

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that the Minister for Transport has confirmed that Amey has carried out repairs to potholes on the A90 between Fraserburgh and Peterhead and that the operating company is currently programming permanent repairs, when it expects (a) Amey to have concluded the programming of permanent repairs and (b) the permanent repairs to have been completed.

As part of the ongoing management and maintenance of the A90 trunk road, Amey Ltd (Transport Scotland’s operating company for the North East area of Scotland) prepares and delivers a 1-year programme of works, based upon the findings from their continual inspections of the network. These can include larger carriageway resurfacing schemes, more localised patching works or individual pothole patch repairs.

This 1-year programme is agreed with Transport Scotland before the start of the financial year and as with all programmes of this nature, remains under review depending on the findings of subsequent inspections and any reprioritisation.

In terms of resurfacing works on the A90, schemes at Crimond, South of Crimond and South of St Fergus were completed during the last financial year (2022-23). These schemes provided an investment of £1.2 million on the A90 between Peterhead and Fraserburgh.

Additionally, Amey has programmed the following patching schemes for delivery in 2023-24 in the A90 Fraserburgh to Peterhead area.

Route	Location	Brief Description of project	Construction Start Date	Construction End Date	Value
A90	Berryslacks	Machine Patching	01-08-2023	30-08-2023	£30,000
A90	South of Leask	Machine Patching	01-08-2023	30-08-2023	£30,000
A90	Lunderton Layby to St Fergus Cemetery	Machine Inlay Patching	01-09-2023	30-09-2023	£150,000
A90	South of St Fergus	Machine Inlay Patching	01-09-2023	30-09-2023	£150,000
A90	Logie Lodges to B9033	Machine Inlay Patching	01-09-2023	30-09-2023	£150,000
A90	Cortes Village	Machine Patching	01-11-2023	30-11-2023	£30,000
A90	Philorth	Machine Inlay Patching	01-11-2023	30-11-2023	£60,000

As noted in our recent correspondence, my reply of 20 April referred to thirty Category 1 defects between Fraserburgh and Peterhead, which Amey had temporarily repaired to make safe. Since then, 9 of these were permanently repaired within the following 28 days. For the remaining defects, engineers have reviewed and determined that, on this occasion it is more effective to undertake more substantial patching at these locations. Given the proximity and nature of these locations, this approach will capture a wider area of repair than singular repairs, adding longevity but with less disruption to the travelling public.