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 43870 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-34360

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any impact in Scotland, what its position is on the finding of the UK Government consultation, Review of the ban on the use of combustible materials in and on the external walls of buildings, that hotels, hostels and boarding houses presented an “equivalent, or greater, sleeping risk” and as such should be captured within a ban on combustible façade material.

Question reference: S6W-34359

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will (a) publish the phase 1 research and (b) commit to publishing the phase 2 research carried out by the Building Research Establishment in support of the consultation document, Scottish Building Regulations: Proposed review of fire safety topics including Cameron House Hotel recommendations: Fire safety risks in traditional buildings used as hotels, review of current provision on fire suppression, combustible cladding and other issues.

Question reference: S6W-34141

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions for speeding on trunk roads led to a (a) conviction and (b) acquittal in each year since 2018, broken down by (i) trunk road and (ii) court location.

(a)The latest available information on convictions is for the financial year 2022-23.

Number of people convicted for speeding offences on trunk roads, where main crime, in Scottish Courts, by court location (LA), 2018-19 to 2022-23.

	2018-19	2022-23
	West Lothian	East Ayrshire	Highland	Perth & Kinross	West Lothian
TRUNK ROADS (S) TEMP RESTRICT TRAFFIC & OVERTAKING 30,40,50MPH (S) ORDER 1992	-	-	1	-	-
TRUNK ROADS (S) TEMP RESTRICT TRAFFIC & OVERTAKING 30,40,50MPH (S) ORDER 1994	1	-	-	-	1
TRUNK ROADS IN SCOT (TEMP PROHIBITIONS & TEMP SPEED RESTRICTIONS) ORDER 1996	-	1	-	1	-

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database.

Some speeding offences that occurred on trunk roads may have been prosecuted under more general speeding offence charges.

Please note: data for 2021-22 and 2022-23 are affected by the pandemic, subsequent court closures, reduced court capacity due to physical distancing measures and delays to cases where key participants were forced to self-isolate after testing positive for COVID-19, and may not be considered indicative of long term trends.

(b) There were no cases resulting in acquittal not guilty or acquittal not proven verdict under the legislation related to speeding on trunk roads (where main crime), between 2018-19 and 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-34136

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many penalties were issued for drink or drug driving offences on each trunk road, in each year since 2018.

Question reference: S6W-34528

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards the ambition to achieve Fairer Funding for the voluntary sector by 2026, and how progress towards this ambition will be scrutinised.

The Scottish Government recognises that the third sector needs stability and certainty in order to thrive and to help the Government to deliver on its policy agenda. We have listened to the views of the Sector and have committed to progress Fairer Funding within the bounds of affordability. This includes implementing a multi-year funding pilot totalling over £120 million for 2025-26 and 2026-27, making improvements to the grant making process, providing more timely notifications, rationalising reporting requirements, improving grant conditions and securing better grant management data. In conjunction with third sector umbrella bodies and grantee organisations, officials are developing a system for evaluating the effectiveness of the Fairer Funding pilot with a view to identifying learning and making continuous improvement.

Question reference: S6W-34215

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants are employed by Food Standards Scotland at its headquarters in Aberdeen, broken down by grade and role.

Total number 288
Head Office 158
Field 130
Grade	Head Office Job title	No. in post	Field Job Title	No. in post
A3	2		1
	IT modern apprentice	1	Feed Administrator	1
	Admin assistant	1
A4	5		5
	Admin Officer	2	Trainee MHI	5
	Finance assistant	3
B1	20		67
	Audit assurance support officer	1	Approvals Executive	1
	BMPU coordinator	1	Meat Hygiene Inspector	63
	Comms Executive	1	Operational Support Officer	1
	Enforcement Support Officer	1	Operations Technical Administrator	2
	Executive Officer	1
	Finance Business Partner	2
	HR Coordinator	1
	Incidents Officer	1
	Intelligence Officer	1
	Intelligence Researcher	1
	Nutrition Advisor	1
	Office and Admin Coordinator	1
	PA to DCEO	1
	Policy Advisor	2
	Procurement Officer	1
	SFELC secratariat & LA training	1
	Social Media Executive	1
	Stakeholder Database Manager	1
B2	55		41
	Engagement Policy Advisor & Co-ordinator	1	Feed Officer	3
	Project Support Officer	1	Feed Operations Coordinator	6
	Records Management Support Officer	1	Field Veterinary Coordinator	1
	Intelligence Development Officer	1	Official Veterinarian	30
	Meat Charging Officer	1	SLA & Contracts Coordinator	1
	Scientific Advisor	5
	Lead Incident Officer	1
	Marketing Manager	2
	Public Health Nutrition Advisor	4
	IT Project Support Specialist	1
	Policy Advisor	12
	Learning & Development Advisor	1
	Lead Investigator	3
	Intelligence Development Officer	2
	Lead Incidents Officer	1
	Learning & Development Business Partner	1
	Resilience Manager	1
	Facilities and Admin Manager	1
	Communications Manager - Press & Media	1
	Intelligence Analyst	2
	Events Manager	1
	Enforcement Delivery Project Manager	2
	Application Developer	1
	HR Business Partner	1
	Private Secretary to CEO	1
	Incident Support Officer	1
	Board Secretary	1
	Business Planning and Reporting Officer	1
	Data Manager	1
	Senior Finance Business Partner	1
	Assistant Financal Accountant	1
B3	43		12
	Information Systems Delivery Manager	1	Field Veterinary Manager	1
	Analyst	1	Operations Manager	3
	BMPU Manager	1	Senior Feed officer	2
	Digital Delivery Manager	1	Vet advisor	3
	Finance Manager	1	Vet Auditor	2
	Financial Accountant	1	SLA & Contracts Manager	1
	Head of Marketing & Publications	1
	Head of Private Office	1
	HR Manager	1
	HSE Manager	1
	Incidents Manager	1
	Intelligence Manager	1
	Regulatory Strategy Workstream Manager	1
	Senior Assurance Auditor	4
	Senior Business Analyst	1
	Senior Enforcement Manager	5
	Senior Intelligence Analyst	1
	Senior Investigator	1
	Senior Policy Advisor	8
	Senior Public Health Nutrition Advisor	2
	Senior Scientific Advisor	4
	SFCIU Support Manager	1
	Sustainability Workstream Manager	1
	Team Leader - Food Borne Illness Control	1
	Work Stream Manager - Digitalisation and Technology	1
C1	23		3
	Data Scientist/Statistician	1	Head of Field Operations	1
	Head of Communications & Stakeholder Engagement	1	Head Veterinarian	1
	Head of Content and Digital	1	Lead Feed Officer	1
	Head of Corporate Support	1
	Head of Crime Operations	1
	Head of Digital Transformation	1
	Head of Domestic Assurance	1
	Head of Enforcement Delivery	1
	Head of Engagement & Public Affairs	1
	Head of Finance & Procurement	1
	Head of Food and Feed Safety Policy	1
	Head of Food Protection, Science and Surveillance (FPSS)	1
	Head of Incidents	1
	Head of International Assurance & Inward Missions	1
	Head of Labelling Standards & Regulated Products	1
	Head of Public Health Nutrition	1
	Head of Risk Assessment	1
	Head of Strategic Food and Trade Policy International Trade	1
	Head of Strategic UK Frameworks & Inter-Government Partnerships	1
	Project Manager - SAFER	3
	Social Researcher	1
C2	8		1
	Head of Audit Assurance	1	Head of Operational Delivery	1
	Head of Science Division	1
	Head of Corporate Services	1
	Head of Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit	1
	Head of Policy & Regulatory Affairs	1
	Head of LA Delivery	1
	Chief Nutritionist	1
	Head of Communications and Marketing	1
SCS	2
	CE	1
	Deputy CE	1

Question reference: S6W-34155

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many reported assaults on nurses have resulted in (a) charges being brought and (b) prosecutions, in each year since 2018, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-34133

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many road traffic offences have been recorded on each trunk road in each year since 2018, broken down by type of offence.

Question reference: S6W-34057

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria are used to determine when the the Scottish Government Resilience Room should be activated.

The Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGORR) is the Scottish Government’s central co-ordination mechanism for responding to civil contingencies emergencies. SGORR activates when and for as long as the severity and complexity of an emergency is such that urgent co-ordination, support or strategic direction from or within the Scottish Government is required and cannot be provided effectively through business-as-usual structures or other Scottish Government response mechanisms. Incidents which may meet this threshold include but are not restricted to severe weather events; terrorist attacks; pandemics; significant disruption to the supply of essential services/utilities or large-scale public disorder.

Question reference: S6W-34060

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what resources and facilities are available within the Scottish Government Resilience Room to support decision making during emergencies.

The Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGORR) provides Scottish Ministers and senior officials with situational awareness, enabling them to make informed strategic decisions on the Scottish Government’s response to civil contingencies emergencies. SGORR provides this situational awareness, using relevant facilities, by supplying written and verbal briefings, organising meetings at official or ministerial level and making connections across and outside the Scottish Government, with SGORR working closely with responders at all levels in Scotland and with the UK Government where relevant to the response.