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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-34963

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff (a) Forestry and Land Scotland, (b) Scottish Forestry and (c) NatureScot have employed on a (i) full-time permanent, (ii) full-time temporary, (iii) part-time permanent and (iv) part-time temporary employment basis in each year since 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-34966

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much in total was paid in (a) salaries and (b) expenses to members of the executive board of (i) Forestry and Land Scotland, (ii) Scottish Forestry and (iii) NatureScot in each year since 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-34961

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) Scottish Forestry, (b) Forestry and Land Scotland and (c) NatureScot has spent on diversity, equality and inclusion (i) officers and (ii) training in each year since 2021.

Question reference: S6W-34965

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people employed by (a) Forestry and Land Scotland, (b) Scottish Forestry and (c) NatureScot in each year since 2021-22 earned more than the gross national median weekly earnings for 2024-25, broken down by (i) full-time and (ii) part-time staff.

Question reference: S6W-34967

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the total desk space capacity is for staff in the headquarters of (a) Scottish Forestry, (b) Forestry and Land Scotland and (c) NatureScot, and how much of that has been used on a weekly basis since January 2024.

Question reference: S6W-35299

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 13 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements it is making to fund secure care places for young people on remand beyond March 2025, in light of reports that no arrangement or funding has yet to be confirmed.

Question reference: S6W-35277

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported view of the Scottish Retail Consortium that up to 13,000 part-time retail jobs in Scotland could be lost over the next three years due to changes to employment policy, including the increase in employer national insurance contributions.

We recognise the very challenging conditions for Scottish retail businesses. NIC decisions are reserved to the UK Government and it is regrettable that the Chancellor’s changes places additional pressures on Scottish retailers. We have called on the UK Government to reverse this decision, as debated in Parliament on 18 February. SG continues supporting businesses and workers through the Fair Work Framework, skills programmes and business support. The latest Scottish Budget maintains a competitive non-domestic rates regime, ensuring over 95% of properties in Scotland are liable for a lower property tax rate than elsewhere in the UK. A £3 million fund has also been introduced to tackle retail crime, reinforcing our commitment to supporting businesses, protecting jobs and strengthening Scotland’s retail industry.

Question reference: S6W-35294

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 13 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many building preservation notices have been served by planning authorities in each of the last 20 years.

The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 Section 3 states that it is local authorities who issue building preservation notices. The Scottish Government does not routinely gather information about how many building preservation notices each local authority issues.

The Scottish Government publishes statistics on planning applications determined by planning authorities on a 6 monthly basis on our website at: https://www.gov.scot/collections/planning-statistics/

Historic Environment Scotland considers applications for sites/properties to be designated, and publishes annual statistics on their website through their Planning Performance Framework Reports.

Question reference: S6O-04460

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to build on the reported successes of the Aberdeen City Region Deal, which is due to conclude its 10-year plan next year.

Question reference: S6O-04464

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the deposit return scheme, including whether it will be appointing a deposit management organisation on schedule in April 2025.