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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-15567

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any bridge upgrades that may be needed in the future, broken down by local authority area.

From our latest review of the trunk road network there are 35 bridges which have been identified as requiring upgrades. These are located within the following Local Authority areas:

Local Authority Area	Number of Bridges
Highland	19
Argyle & Bute	1
Falkirk	1
Stirling	6
Inverness	1
Moray	2
Borders	1
West Dunbartonshire	2
Dumfries and Galloway	2
Total	35

Transport Scotland does not hold the above information for structures maintained by Local Authorities.

Question reference: S6W-15618

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) Transport Scotland and (b) East Ayrshire Council regarding any potential risks on the A76 at Mauchline that may have been heightened by recent housing developments.

Transport Scotland, acting on behalf of the Scottish Ministers, is a statutory consultee in the planning process for all planning applications that have the potential to impact the performance and safety of the Trunk Road Network.

East Ayrshire Council consulted Transport Scotland on two separate planning applications for residential developments in Mauchline on the A76. Both planning applications were supported by detailed transport appraisals, the outcomes and recommendations from which were accepted by Transport Scotland. Following extensive dialogue with the developer regarding the proposed junction accesses onto the A76 trunk road, and submission of Road Safety Audits, Transport Scotland responded to the planning authority on both applications recommending approval subject to a number of conditions.

Question reference: S6W-15653

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is on track to meet its commitment to reduce car km by 20% by 2030.

The Scottish Government agrees with the recommendations of the Climate Change Committee that we need plans to deter car use, to accompany current plans to encourage active travel and the use of public transport, the need for both is set out in the route map on 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030.

That is why we have set out our future transport infrastructure priorities in the second Strategic Transport Projects Review published on 8 December 2022 that includes a focus on active travel, mass transit and bus priority for mode shift away from the predominance of cars.

However, the evidence is clear that incentivising sustainable alternatives alone will not be sufficient to bring about the behaviour change to deliver the scale of 20% car KM reduction. Therefore As outlined in our route map to achieving a 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030 jointly developed with COSLA, we have commissioned research exploring equitable options for demand management to discourage car use.

The most direct levers on the cost of buying or running a petrol or diesel car – fuel duty and vehicle excise duty – are reserved. The recent rises in the cost of motoring underline the unfairness of the current, regressive motoring tax regime.

We will continue to press the UK Government for a fair and progressive future transport tax system that better incentivises the transition to zero-emission vehicles, reduces unnecessary journeys and raises revenues to fund policies to support a shift to more sustainable travel.

Question reference: S6W-15971

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to revise national planning rules in relation to domestic energy microgeneration, such as photovoltaic arrays on roofs, in conservation areas, following the publication of the fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4).

Question reference: S6W-15951

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the percentage of the eligible population that have been cited for jury service in the past year.

Question reference: S6W-15974

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on efforts to assist the workforce of Stoneywood paper mill, in Aberdeen, since the paper mill ceased operations.

The Scottish Government, through our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE), has provided continuous support to assist the workforce of Stoneywood paper mill, in Aberdeen.

On 22 September 2022, PACE information was supplied to the administrator, Interpath Advisory, for distribution to the workforce immediately following the announcement of redundancies, to facilitate their self-referral to PACE services. As previously advised, a PACE support and employment event took place on 29 September, which was attended by approximately 136 individuals, followed by a Jobs Fair on 10 October, which was attended by approximately 500 individuals. Additional PACE support has also been routinely provided to the retained Arjowiggins staff, which included onsite delivery on 11, 24 and 31 January 2023. Further on site delivery may take place with retained staff, should demand be confirmed.

Question reference: S6W-15950

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on how many people have been excused as of right from jury duty in the past year, and, of those, how many were excused because they had (a) already served on a jury in the last five years and (b) been cited but not selected in the last two years.

Question reference: S6W-15952

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has ever carried out an analysis of any impact that jury duty citations may have on the wider economy.

Question reference: S6W-15938

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many cyber-attacks have been recorded on (a) its and (b) its agencies’ computer and data systems since January 2021, and, in each case, what the suspected source was, and to what extent the attack (i) gained information and (ii) damaged systems.

1. The National Cyber Security Centre advises Government departments to withhold specific information that may provide insight into the likelihood of success of specific cyber techniques and the Scottish Government follows this advice.
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2. The Scottish Government is not a formal reporting agency for cyber incidents or cyber attacks, which means that agencies are not obliged to report any cyber incidents or attacks they experience to us. However, we encourage any Scottish public body that does experience a cyber incident to notify the Scottish Government Cyber Resilience Unit under the voluntary Scottish Public Sector Notifiable Cyber Incident Procedure so that we can ensure that all relevant and necessary support can be provided.
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Between January 2021 and 17 March 2023 we were notified of 26 cyber incidents under this procedure.

Question reference: S6W-15988

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported findings from the charity, Cats Protection, that 29% of pet cats in Scotland are not microchipped, which is higher than the overall UK figure, what consideration it has given to the compulsory microchipping of pet cats.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission has established a working group to consider the microchipping of cats alongside the UK Government’s recently published draft legislation. Scottish Ministers will carefully consider their findings once published.

The Scottish Government’s Code of Practice for the Welfare of Cats recommends that all cat owners should consider neutering and microchipping their pets as the best way of being reunited with their rightful owners, should they be separated.

The Scottish Government remains willing to consider areas where consistent changes to legislation in all GB administrations will improve the welfare of kept animals and strengthen the prospects of separated animals being returned to their owners.