Seòmar agus comataidhean

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

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 42862 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-07179

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 24 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it has sought from National Records of Scotland in relation to people with poor or intermittent internet connectivity still being able to complete Scotland's Census 2022.

We want everyone living in Scotland to be included in the Census and we recognise that digital exclusion (and other barriers to participation) may prevent people from being able to complete online.

We understand that not everyone will be able to, or wish to, complete their census online, and paper copies are available upon request by anyone who needs them by calling our free helpline on 0800 030 8308 and speaking to an agent . Copies of the paper questionnaire can also be ordered via the free helpline automated service, without needing to wait to speak to an agent (option one). Paper questionnaires can also be ordered online at: www.census.gov.scot/paper .

Additional requests, including help and support, can also be made via web chat, e-mail or physical correspondence. Contact details can be found here: Contact us | Scotland's Census 2022 .

Question reference: S6W-07183

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of its new vision for agriculture, how it will encourage more farmers and crofters to farm and produce food organically through financial support and other incentives.

Question reference: S6W-07181

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of its new vision for agriculture, what specific steps it plans to take to “enable more local employment on the land, more women to enter farming and more new and young entrants into farming”.

The Scottish Government’s Vision for Agriculture, https://www.gov.scot/publications/next-step-delivering-vision-scotland-leader-sustainable-regenerative-farming

was published on 2 March 2022, and outlines our aim to transform how we support farming and food production in Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

It is a positive vision for Scotland’s agriculture sector and will sit at the heart of a robust and coherent framework to underpin Scotland’s future agriculture support regime from 2025 onwards.

We want to encourage new entrants into the industry, and this Government has arguably invested the most in new entrant support compared to other parts of the UK.

We added provision to allocate direct payments to new entrants and young farmers in excess of £7.2m;
Our start-up provision alone under the SRDP totalled nearly £13m;
Under the FONE group we have helped facilitate entry to 76 new entrants by providing 112 land opportunities across 7,070 hectares of land;
And in conjunction with the NFUS, the Scottish Land Matching Service has got off to a very promising start despite the impact of Covid.

Women living and working in Scottish agriculture are an essential part of the rural economy. We have committed £300,000 this Financial Year, rising to £600,000 during the lifetime of this Parliament, to bring about practical solutions to support women, including: mainstreaming of Be Your Best Self, a personal development training programme; a project to test innovative solutions for childcare in rural areas; and the development of Skillseeder – a skills sharing app to encourage greater participation in rural and land-based training. We’ve also established the WIA Practical Training Fund, administered by Lantra Scotland. We will continue to embed and normalise equalities considerations in all future agricultural scheme development, and work with the industry to support equalities within organisations and boards.

Work is also ongoing, to develop the National Test Programme, which begins this Spring and, over the next three years will deliver Scottish Government investment of up to £51 million. It is based on and informed by the work and recommendations of the Farmer-led Groups, particularly to ensure we are beginning to tackle the most urgent needs and creating a base upon which to build a whole-farm low carbon approach. An outline of the National Test Programme has already been published: https://www.gov.scot/news/ambitious-future-for-rural-scotland/

The Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) opened for funding in 2022 to support the ambition of doubling the amount of land under organic management, set out in the Programme for Government 2021-22. We are committed to seeing more organic farming and organic produce for sale in Scotland, and working with the sector to establish a new Organic Food and Farming Action Plan. http://www.gov.scot/news/creating-a-fairer-greener-nation

The Sustainable Agricultural Capital Grant Scheme 2022 which is part of the wider agricultural transformation intentions, will be focussed on support for low emission slurry spreading equipment and slurry store covers which will help farmers, crofters and agricultural contractors comply with new regulatory requirements; reducing harmful ammonia emissions and adverse impacts on water quality resulting from the storage and spreading of livestock slurry and digestate.

https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/sustainable-agriculture-capital-grant-scheme--sacgs-/

Proposals for future agricultural support will be co-developed with rural partners through the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB) and with wider civil society through a consultation in summer 2022 to inform the introduction of a Scottish Agriculture Bill in 2023.

Question reference: S6W-07180

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 24 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to resolve the reported issues with completing Scotland's Census 2022 online as a result of codes not being recognised by the system, in order to ensure that people who choose to complete the census online can do so by Census Day on 20 March 2022.

We apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused any individual. We are aware of a very small number of instances of this occurring in the first few days of operation, out of the 2.7M Internet Access codes (IAC) issued. This issue was resolved. If required, a replacement IAC can be requested via the census website: www.census.gov.scot/request or by contacting our free helpline on 0800 030 8308.

Whilst Census Day is Sunday 20th March, there is still plenty of time to complete the census, as in previous exercises returns are accepted after this date.

Question reference: S6W-07184

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of its new vision for agriculture, how it plans to take a “whole farm approach” to reducing emissions, and how such an approach will be measured.

Question reference: S6W-07216

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 24 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that the process for requesting a paper copy of Scotland's Census 2022 is easy for people who (a) do not have, or are not confident using, online technology and (b) are uncomfortable with using, or unable to use, an interactive voice system.

Everyone living in Scotland is included in the census and we understand that not everyone will be able to, or wish to, complete their census online. That is why paper copies are available upon request by anyone who needs them either by calling our Freephone helpline on 0800 030 8308, by visiting our website www.census.gov.scot . Or, by writing to:

Scotland’s Census 2022

National Records of Scotland

New Register House

3 West Register Street

Edinburgh

EH1 3YT

Copies of the paper questionnaire can be ordered via the automated service over the phone, or by asking to speak to an adviser. Paper questionnaires can also be requested on behalf of someone else with their permission.

Question reference: S6O-00952

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met representatives of the aviation industry to discuss the sector’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S6O-00956

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on travel in Scotland of the recent changes to the Highway Code.

Question reference: S6O-00950

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc.

Question reference: S6O-00953

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Department for Work and Pensions regarding proposed changes to its office estate that could result in job losses in the north east and elsewhere in Scotland.