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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-13272

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether its Graduate Development Programme was delivered in 2022.

Question reference: S6W-13268

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it expects (a) local authorities and (b) other public bodies to purchase reverse vending machines as part of the Deposit Return Scheme and, if so, how many.

Question reference: S6W-13229

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many people since arriving in Scotland from Ukraine through the (a) Super Sponsor Scheme and (b) Homes for Ukraine scheme have been (i) assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness, (ii) living in temporary accommodation and (iii) on a housing waiting list in each month since the start of the scheme, broken down by local authority.

The Scottish Government does not currently have the information you have requested as we do not link the visa routes and homelessness status of displaced individuals from Ukraine.

However, the Scottish Government has agreed with Local Authorities to amend the homelessness data collection to record Ukrainian Displaced People applying for support after presenting as homeless, though this will take some time before these changes are fully implemented.

The Scottish Government regularly publish data summarising the latest Scotland-level information on people displaced by the war in Ukraine coming to Scotland through the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme visa schemes on our website: Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland: Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland: statistics - December 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-13230

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of forecast reports conducted by Zero Waste Scotland showing any (a) potential savings and (b) net losses resulting from the forthcoming Deposit Return Scheme in each local authority area.

Modelling by Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) projects that 29 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities will incur a net financial benefit from the implementation of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Local authorities are also expected to benefit from a reduction in the impact of litter, and from efficiencies to collection services following the implementation of DRS.

ZWS it is engaging with individual local authorities, in particular the three currently projected not to make savings, to assess the impacts of DRS on them and look at options for service improvements.

These calculations are based on commercially sensitive data provided in confidence to ZWS by local authorities. We will therefore not publicly identify the three local authorities that stand to incur a net cost.

Question reference: S6W-13235

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the merits of introducing mandatory CCTV in fish slaughterhouses, in line with the Mandatory Use of Closed Circuit Television in Slaughterhouses (Scotland) Regulations 2020, which, under the Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009, mandates the use of CCTV in slaughterhouses for terrestrial animals and excludes fish slaughterhouses.

Question reference: S6W-12848

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support Scottish airports as they seek to restore air links lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although aviation is currently reserved to the UK Government, we continue to do all we can within the powers available to support Scotland’s airports recover from the impact of Covid and grow Scotland’s international connectivity for business, tourism, exports and the wider economy.

Last month I met airlines who provided an update on how their networks are recovering from the impact of Covid and was briefed on some encouraging signs of recovery. The Scottish Government has always recognised the importance of improving Scotland’s direct international connectivity and continue to be proactive in restoring and growing our direct international connectivity. That is why our cross-Government route development team continues to work closely with Scotland’s airports and airlines globally to help restore and grow international connectivity, while not returning to previous levels of emissions. In developing our Aviation Strategy, we are considering how best to improve our approach to recognise the particular impact Covid had on airlines’ route networks and fleet plans. It remains our aspiration that Scotland should be as well connected as peer nations and regions, and recent announcements of new routes for 2023 to Atlanta with Delta Air Lines, and Calgary with WestJet, are welcome developments.

We continue to provide funding to support the operations of Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL). In 2021-22 we provided HIAL with over £75 million in funding to maintain their operations. This funding means that HIAL’s airport charges are kept lower than they would otherwise be enabling the operation of commercial air services.

Question reference: S6W-12914

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with representatives from (a) Forth Ports and (b) Antwerp-Bruges Port Authority regarding the restoration of roll-on, roll-off ferry services between Rosyth and Zeebrugge.

Transport Scotland officials have regular discussions with Forth Ports officials regarding a number of maritime issues, including direct ferry links to Europe.

Transport Scotland officials have met with Antwerp-Bruges Port Authority officials twice this year, to discuss potential links between Scottish ports and Antwerp-Bruges Port. There have also been government to government discussions with the Government of Flanders and Transport Scotland officials are maintaining this contact.

Question reference: S6W-12170

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a full list of active groups and sub-groups within the Education and Skills portfolio.

Question reference: S6F-01670

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 December 2022

To ask the First Minister what actions the Scottish Government will take forward as a result of COP15, the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

Question reference: S6F-01656

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 December 2022

Question to be taken in Chamber.