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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: S6F-02700

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2024

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s position is regarding any implications for its net zero ambitions of the UK Government’s Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, which seeks changes to the licensing regime, including how regularly licensing rounds are held.

Question reference: S6F-02708

Asked by: Roz McCall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2024

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reports that The Promise is not on track to deliver effective change for Scotland’s care experienced people.

Question reference: S6F-02695

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2024

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6F-02687

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-02688

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-24005

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22395 by Elena Whitham on 3 November 2023, and in light of reports of nitazenes being linked to nine deaths in Scotland in the last six months, what was discussed at the meeting in early November of the Minister for Drug and Alcohol Policy and members of the Scottish Government's National Mission Oversight Group on Drugs with international colleagues "to hear about their experience of dealing with the appearance of fentanyl and synthetic opioids in the drug supply", and whether it can provide an update on the further meeting that it was planning to "discuss operational level issues with international colleagues and Scottish drug service delivery providers".

As I set out in Parliament on 18 December during the statement on implementing the medication assisted treatment we are preparing for changes to the drug supply with synthetic opioids becoming more prevalent. At the National Mission Oversight Group meeting on 14 November 2023 Dr Sharon Stancliff, Associate Medical Director of Harm Reduction in Healthcare New York State, and Professor Thomas Kerr, Director of Research with the British Columba Centre on Substance Use, gave presentations on their experiences of fentanyl and the impact this has had since becoming prevalent in the drug supply in New York State and British Columba respectively. An overview of fentanyl was given, the differences between opiates and synthetics and the differences in overdose presentations were covered. The use of naloxone and fentanyl testing strips, along with the need for buprenorphine and harm reduction practices generally, were discussed. The presentations also covered use of safer drug consumption facilities, drug checking and the decriminalisation pilot which took place in British Columbia. They shared their views on what is needed here in Scotland, based on their respective experiences with fentanyl epidemics in their countries, to help address the risks that synthetics pose.

Officials recently met with stakeholders who are involved in the delivery of drug and housing services to discuss the roundtable event taking place this year on synthetic opioids and those areas they would want to cover. Planning is continuing for this to take place at the start of 2024, the event will cover all synthetic opioids including nitazenes.

The Scottish Drugs Forum have launched resources on synthetic opioids and nitazenes to get information out to people that they are in the illegal drug supply Resources — Stop The Deaths . Public Health Scotland have also recently issued an update to their alert via RADAR to healthcare staff and the public to highlight the increased dangers associated with the drugs ( RADAR Nitazenes alert 2023 ).

Question reference: S6W-24004

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with North Lanarkshire Council regarding the (a) proposed merger of Condorrat and Baird Memorial primary schools, (b) creation of a new Gaelic Medium Education hub and (c) potential impact of the above on pupils attending Baird Memorial Primary School Early Years Support Unit.

Scottish Government officials from the Gaelic and Scots team met with senior education officers of North Lanarkshire Council on 6 December to discuss matters relating to the recent consultation involving both Condorrat and Baird Memorial primary schools. Along with the meeting, the Scottish Government has also received correspondence from parents on this matter and officials have been following the consultation closely. There was an agreement to meet again in the new year.

Question reference: S6W-23757

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of pupils currently learning in temporary (a) buildings, (b) classrooms and (c) schools that are not part of their own campus.

Question reference: S6W-23758

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any additional costs associated with the phase 3 bids for the Learning Estate Investment Programme as a result of the delay in communicating who had been awarded funding.

The projects which form Phase 3 of the £2bn Learning Estate Investment Programme continued their development activities while the funding process was being assessed.

This included a range of work specific to each location, for example, site selection, surveys and tests, community consultation, brief development and early design work.

As there is no reason for this work to have been delayed by the announcement, no additional anticipated costs have been reported.

All projects have confirmed that they are working towards the same Phase 3 operational completion date of December 2027 as previously required.

To maximise the efficiency of delivering the Phase 3 projects, collaboration has been encouraged. For example, 5 local authorities in the north of Scotland have formed a group to share learning. In addition, a joint workshop with all local authorities who have Phase 3 projects has been held to ensure they have knowledge of all projects and can identify common challenges and opportunities.

Question reference: S6W-23848

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants are working on preparations for a National Care Service, and what the cost of these civil servants is on (a) an annualised and (b) a cumulative basis.