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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-14973

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with representatives of Scottish Power, and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S6W-14724

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how much has been paid by each local authority on pension contributions in each year since 1999.

The Scottish Government holds limited information on pension contributions and these are contained within the Local Financial Returns (LFRs). Data on LFRs is published as part of the Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics.

Teachers

There are currently two occupational pension schemes for teachers in Scotland. These schemes are administered by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) on behalf of Scottish Ministers. The SPPA is the definitive source of information on teachers pensions.

Non-Teachers

The Local Government Pension Scheme in Scotland is a funded, defined benefit, statutory occupational pension scheme. It's one of the main public service pension schemes in Scotland, serving more than 236,000 active members, over 140,000 deferred members and more than 169,000 pensioners and dependents.

The scheme is administered by 11 local government administering authorities. These are:

Dumfries and Galloway Pension Fund
Falkirk Council Pension Fund
Fife Council Pension Fund
Highland Council Pension Fund
Lothian Pension Fund
North East Scotland Pension Fund
Orkney Islands Pension Fund
Scottish Borders Pension Fund
Shetland Islands Pension Fund
Strathclyde Pension Fund
Tayside Superannuation Fund

These eleven funds provide information on employee and employer pension contributions, as shown in the table below. The contributions cover all employers in the schemes, and this is broader than just Scotland’s 32 councils. It is not possible to separate out the individual local authority contributions in the data held centrally by Scottish Government.

Year	Employee Contributions £ millions	Employer Contributions £ millions	Total Contributions £ millions
1998-99	133	198	331
1999-00	145	254	399
2000-01	150	290	441
2001-02	161	339	500
2002-03	174	398	572
2003-04	188	461	649
2004-05	202	516	718
2005-06	240	558	798
2006-07	253	600	852
2007-08	237	696	933
2008-09	247	759	1,006
2009-10	273	867	1,140
2010-11	276	958	1,234
2011-12	263	944	1,207
2012-13	258	878	1,136
2013-14	267	891	1,158
2014-15	271	908	1,180
2015-16	277	958	1,235
2016-17	284	974	1,258
2017-18	291	996	1,286
2018-19	302	1,049	1,351
2019-20	326	1,116	1,442
2020-21	335	1,144	1,480
2021-22	355	1,212	1,567

Figures may not sum to row total due to rounding.

Source: Scottish Local Government Finance Statistics

https://www.gov.scot/collections/local-government-finance-statistics/#scottishlocalgovernmentfinancialstatistics

Question reference: S6W-15381

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the downloading and use of TikTok on civil servants' phones, in light of reports of potential privacy and security concerns.

Scottish Government officials have access to Corporately Owned Privately Enabled (COPE) mobile devices. They are built with business in mind but with the flexibility to allow the users to install other applications. These devices are securely configured in line with NCSC best practice and third party applications (such as TikTok) are prevented from interacting with corporate applications. The Scottish Government has a social media policy that defines the responsibilities of all Scottish Government staff when using social media, this can be found on their website at www.gov.scot/publications/social-media-policy/ .

Question reference: S6W-15276

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to develop an advice helpline or online support for those who hold a power of attorney, as recommended by the Scottish Mental Health Law Review, and, if so, within what timescale.

The Scottish Government recognises that acting as an attorney can be very demanding and attorneys must have information on their rights and responsibilities and the safeguards in place to protect individuals. This will benefit both them and the adults they are supporting.

The Scottish Mental Health Law Review published its final report on 30 September 2022 and set out over 200 proposals for reform. The report recommendations are complex and wide-ranging, and cross-government work is underway to consider them and assess their implications. The Scottish Government intends to set out its initial response to the Review report, including priority actions that will be taken forward, by summer 2023.

Question reference: S6W-15246

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with representatives from TATA Steel regarding the sale of Dalzell and Clydebridge steelworks, and whether the minutes of the meeting will be made publicly available.

Question reference: S6W-15213

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported chronic understaffing in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Question reference: S6W-14978

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the (a) Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport and (b) Minister for Just Transition, Employment Employment and Work last visited Aberdeen, and what engagements were undertaken.

On 11 January 2023 I visited Aberdeen to attend the opening of the National Subsea centre and for a media round table to discuss the launch of the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.

On 9 February 2023 the Minister for Just Transition, Employability and Skills visited Opportunity North East and Net Zero Technology Centre to hear updates on projects funded via the Just Transition Fund. The Minister also met with Aberdeen City Council Co-Leaders and Chief Executive to discuss Just Transition in the region.

Question reference: S6W-14793

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many trees it estimates will need to be removed in order to meet its 2030 targets for onshore windfarm development.

While the Scottish Government holds some relevant information relating to tree removal as a result of onshore windfarm developments on Forestry and Land Scotland sites, it does not hold information relating to all onshore windfarms. Further data is held by Local Planning Authorities.

Where trees are proposed to be felled for the purpose of building an onshore wind farm it is most likely that there would be a condition attached to the consent requiring compensatory planting. This is to accord with the Scottish Government’s policy on the control of woodland removal – The Scottish Government's Policy on Control of Woodland Removal (forestry.gov.scot)

The monitoring and enforcing of such conditions are undertaken by the Local Planning Authority.

Question reference: S6W-14710

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress towards completion of the fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) guidance documents, and by what date these will be published.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) was adopted on 13 February 2023. Our NPF4 Delivery Programme, published November 2022, provides an overview of actions to be taken to support delivery, including the preparation of a number guidance documents throughout 2023 and beyond. NatureScot’s Developing With Nature guidance, to support policy 3c, has already been published (13 February 2023). Guidance on Local Development Planning and a draft consultation on Local Living and 20 Minute Neighbourhoods will be published in the spring. We will provide an update on the production of other guidance documents when we publish our second iteration of the Delivery Plan in the summer.

Question reference: S6W-15393

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14560 by Neil Gray on 21 February 2023, how many times the Joint Assurance Review group has met since November 2022.