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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-16089

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15590 by Keith Brown on 14 March 2023, whether it will provide the data that it holds on forced marriage-related offences in Scotland in each year since 2016.

Question reference: S6W-16123

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15236 by Neil Gray on 1 March 2023, what support it will provide to Aberdeen City Council, in light of the announcement that it proposes to close six libraries by the end of March 2023.

We are aware of Aberdeen Council’s decision and acknowledge how difficult this is for the libraries, their staff and the communities they serve. The Scottish Government places great importance on public libraries and we believe everyone should have access to library services. As set out in response to S6W-16124 , l ibrary policy is devolved to local authorities, who have a statutory duty to ensure there is adequate provision of library services for their residents.

We recognise the financial challenges that local government are facing and the difficult choices they had to make to balance their budgets. In the most challenging budget settlement since devolution the Scottish Government is providing nearly £13.5 billion in the 2023-24 Local Government Settlement. Following the flat-cash position set out in the Resource Spending Review, we have listened to councils and are now increasing the resources available to Local Government next year by over £793 million.

In 2023-24, Aberdeen City Council will receive £436.9 million to fund local services, which equates to an extra £27.1 million to support vital day to day services or an additional 6.6 per cent compared to 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-16114

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce compulsory microchipping of pet cats in Scotland, in light of the UK Government regulations proposing compulsory microchipping of cats in England, which were laid in the UK Parliament on 13 March 2023.

Question reference: S6W-16116

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15621 by Maree Todd on 21 March 2023, for what reasons the percentage of children participating in the General Dental Service fell from 97% in September 2007 to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic level of 84.2% in September 2019.

The total number of children who have participated in NHS GDS has increased by 17.6%, from 693,307 in 2007 to 815,317 in 2019.

However, the participation rate is the proportion of the registered population who have seen a dentist in the last two years. The participation rate is therefore also influenced by the number of people who are registered for NHS dental services. The number of children that were registered for NHS dental services between 2007 and 2019 has increased by 35.4%

Question reference: S6W-16090

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that CalMac’s new Ar Turas ticketing system no longer offers the option of a season ticket for residents of the Isle of Cumbrae, what plans are in place to offer suitable and appropriate discounts in line with historic benefits.

CalMac are focussing their efforts on the Ar Turas Go-Live event. However, TS officials have had an initial meeting with CalMac to investigate potential options for eBooking of multi-journey tickets. This is at an early stage. It is important to note the wider benefits that the Ar Turas System will bring for both customers and staff.

Wider fares policy will be considered as part of the Islands Connectivity Plan and future fares options will be considered through that process.

Question reference: S6W-16065

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many instances of cuckooing have been (a) reported to and (b) identified by Police Scotland in each year since 2017 and what steps it is taking to tackle this activity.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to tackling serious and organised crime and strongly condemns the illegal practice of ‘cuckooing’ and the subsequent misery it causes victims.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the operational intelligence on incidents involving cuckooing. This information should be requested from Police Scotland directly.

The Scottish Government is working with partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce to disrupt cuckooing and County Lines networks.

Question reference: S6W-16274

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its pilot to remove peak ScotRail fares, what its rationale is for running the pilot over a six-month period, and what its position is on whether this will be a sufficient period of time during which to assess the success or otherwise of the trial; what it considers would constitute the success of the pilot, and how this will be measured; what the rationale is for potentially removing peak fares, and what the evidence base is that suggests that removing peak fares will achieve this; in which geographical area(s) it expects the removal of peak fares to have the most impact, and what impact it projects the removal of peak fares will have on the ScotRail's income from ticket fares during the trial period.

Question reference: S6W-16725

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce regulations to bring the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 into force.

Question reference: S6W-16275

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much subsidy it provided to ScotRail in each financial year since 2017-18, and how much it expects to provide in each of the five financial years after 2022-23.

The subsidy provided to ScotRail from 2017 to 2022 is contained within Transport Scotland’s annual report and accounts which is published on Transport Scotland’s website. The hyperlinks listed below cover the financial years from 2017 to 2022.

For financial year 2022-23 this information will be published on the website once audited. Future years will be published once budgets are agreed.

Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2022 | Transport Scotland

Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 | Transport Scotland

Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2020 | Transport Scotland

Transport Scotland Annual Report and Accounts 2018-19 | Transport Scotland

Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2018 | Transport Scotland

Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2017 | Transport Scotland

Question reference: S6W-16425

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether it will challenge the decision of the UK Secretary of State for Scotland to issue an order under section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 in respect of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed by an overwhelming majority of the Scottish Parliament, with support from members of all parties. The UK Government's use of section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 to prevent the Bill proceeding to Royal Assent represents an unprecedented challenge to the Scottish Parliament's ability to legislate on devolved matters.

The Scottish Government has provided detailed responses to questions from the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee in a letter of 5 February, is now considering the reasons given by the UK Government for its use of the section 35 power, and will update Parliament on next steps in due course.

	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Forced marriage under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014	0	0	0	0	3	0	1
Breaching a forced marriage protection order	0	0	0	0	0	0	0