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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.

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Question reference: S6W-02390

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 16 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will prioritise non-domestic rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure industries after March 2022.

Scottish Government has a long-standing record of providing the most generous non-domestic rates regime in the UK and were the first Government in the UK to offer any extension to relief for the retail, hospitality, leisure and aviation sectors for 2021-22.

Decisions on non-domestic rates including the poundage and reliefs are traditionally set out in the Scottish budget alongside other government priorities. The Programme for Government recognises the importance of a fair, just and sustainable recovery with local business and communities at the heart, and future spend will be determined as part of the Scottish budget process.

Question reference: S6W-02336

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 16 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding its training of Sri Lankan police, and whether ministers have discussed any human rights concerns related to Sri Lankan police.

Scottish Ministers have not discussed the training delivered by Police Scotland in Sri Lanka. Scottish Government officials regularly discuss overseas deployments with Police Scotland’s International Development and Innovation Unit, who have confirmed that training in Sri Lanka has been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Scottish Police Authority has responsibility for oversight of Police Scotland and to scrutinise the decisions of the Chief Constable.

Question reference: S6W-02240

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of recommendation 15 in the report, Farming for 1.5C: From here to 2045, which states that "The carbon in Scotland’s soils should not be traded until further notice".

The main regulated, compulsory carbon pricing market in the UK is the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Agriculture and land-use emissions are not covered by the current scope of the UK ETS. The carbon in Scotland’s deep peat soils is however being traded through the peatland code. This is a voluntary certification mechanism which provides assurances to carbon market buyers that the climate benefits from restoring peat are real, quantifiable, additional and permanent.

Although there is no soil carbon code in place at present, there is UK-wide interest in developing a soil carbon code. This has been most recently addressed by a UK Soil Association conference on 14th July 2021 but this has not yet been translated into a co-ordinated programme of work.

Question reference: S6O-00166

Asked by: Kaukab Stewart, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in supporting the removal of flammable cladding.

We met our commitment to start the programme to assess buildings within our first 100 days of government.

Our Single Building Assessments will identify issues around fire safety including cladding and the scale and scope of remediation needed to make buildings safe. This will support home owners and offer reassurance to those affected.

We are committed to fully funding Single Building Assessments with the £97.1 million consequentials we have received. We continue to urge other parties, such as developers, to continue to play their part where construction is found to be unsafe just as we continue to press the UK Government for the detail on further consequentials.

Question reference: S6O-00165

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Scotland's Mental Health First Aid is reportedly not running any training courses at present.

Scotland’s Mental Health First Aid programme is delivered as a face-to-face training event. In order to comply with the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 guidance and to protect public health, the delivery of these training courses was paused by Public Health Scotland (PHS), which holds the licence for this training to operate in Scotland. A range of online resources was made available by PHS and NHS Education for Scotland throughout the pandemic. In recognition of the changing context, PHS is working to ensure that the delivery of the Mental Health First Aid programme can resume safely. These courses will restart in November 2021.

Question reference: S6O-00164

Asked by: Marie McNair, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce the consumption of energy drinks among teenagers.

The Scottish Government has worked with Community Leisure UK, local authorities, NHS Scotland and retailers to restrict the sale of energy drinks to under-16s in publically funded leisure centres and across all NHS retail sites. Energy drinks are also not permitted in schools under the Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020.

We have consulted on Ending the sale of energy drinks to children and young people and will publish a report of the responses we received in due course.

Question reference: S6O-00163

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of Afghan refugees that local authorities have offered to settle.

Scotland has always played its part in welcoming refugees, and as people from Afghanistan start to settle in Scotland, we are seeing the same.

Between June and 12 September, around 180 people in 53 families arrived in Scotland across nine local authority areas under the relocation scheme for locally employed staff. A further 16 families of approximately 65 people are expected to arrive over the next two weeks and we expect more to follow.

To date, 23 local authorities have confirmed their commitment to receiving people and others are going through internal processes to confirm their position. The Scottish Government commends all those local authorities welcoming people and other bodies which play their part in supporting people to rebuild their lives.

Question reference: S6O-00196

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its position regarding short-term lets licensing.

Question reference: S6O-00193

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its efforts to prevent and alleviate homelessness.

Question reference: S6O-00192

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when parents will be permitted to attend school sports to watch their children play.