Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

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 ��˿�� 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: S6O-02451

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to mitigate the impact of the cost of living crisis on people across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-19010

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is considering for implementation within any new Investment Zones that may be established in Scotland.

The Scottish Government have been clear that any Investment Zones here must be a good fit for Scotland’s policy, economic and governance landscape; be well aligned to our National Strategy for Economic Transformation, our approach to regional economic policy, and our recently published innovation strategy, and; be taken forward jointly by the Scottish and UK Governments, and in close partnership between government and the relevant Regional Economic Partnerships.

Question reference: S6W-19007

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the possibility of an Investment Zone in Aberdeen.

Scottish Government and UK Government officials are actively discussing a partnership approach to possible Investment Zones in Scotland. The Scottish Government has been clear in these discussions that any Investment Zones must be a good fit for Scotland's policy, economic and governance landscape; must build on, rather than cutting across, existing economic activity; and must be taken forward jointly by the two governments working closely with local authorities and their partners.

Question reference: S6W-19008

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Aberdeen City Council regarding the possibility of an Investment Zone in Aberdeen.

Question reference: S6W-19009

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding potential measures to protect workers’ rights in any new Investment Zones that may be established in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-30419

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland has made recommendations to the Scottish Government about any legislative change required following the recent cases of fraudulent disposition of title.

The keeper has robust measures in place to minimise the effects of fraud, and keeps them under review. She has a designated fraud officer responsible for implementing her fraud prevention and mitigation policies, and for delivering regular staff training. Her staff are encouraged to refer suspicious applications to the fraud officer. In order to aid earlier detection, the Keeper meets with other bodies such as the Law Society of Scotland, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Police Scotland and Revenue Scotland. She also maintains communications with other land registries both in the UK and internationally to monitor trends.

The reply to S4W-30417 on 17 March 2016 sets out the process for fraud discovered after registration. If an allegation of fraud is made before an application for registration has been determined then the keeper will apply her policy on holding applications in abeyance as set out in Registers Update 42 (issued in December 2014)

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

Question reference: S4W-30422

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 22 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce legislation to close any loopholes in the law regarding fraudulent disposition of title to protect the public.

There is already a Client Protection Fund (the operating name of the Scottish Solicitors’ Guarantee Fund) to protect clients who have lost money because of the dishonesty of a solicitor or a member of their staff.

More details about a consultation carried out by the Law Society of Scotland on the Fund are at .

Following cases in Aberdeen and West Lothian, the society commissioned a report by Sheriff Principal Bowen on consumer protection in conveyancing. This report is at

Sheriff Principal Bowen made a specific recommendation on the Guarantee Fund in paragraph 42 of his report.

We will continue to discuss with the Law Society of Scotland and others any steps that can be taken to improve the conveyancing process generally and to improve safeguards for the public, including any need for legislation. When considering any legislation, the Scottish Government will need to bear in mind that consumer protection is a reserved matter.

Question reference: S4F-03326

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 March 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 March 2016

To ask the First Minister what actions the Scottish Government can and will take to create a fairer Scotland, in light of recent UK Government decisions.

Question reference: S4W-30410

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 17 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to (a) property owners and (b) tenants to enforce minor repairs and maintenance in order to prevent essential repairs being needed at a later date.

Assistance for home owners is the responsibility of local authorities. Local authorities have a wide range of powers to assist owners who need help with work needed to look after their home. However, it is for each local authority to decide what kinds of help should be provided in different circumstances and this will be subject to local priorities and budgets.

If occupants are private tenants, the landlord is required to meet their duty to repair and maintain its properties as set out in the repairing standard under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006. Private tenants can apply to the Private Rented Housing Panel for assistance if landlords fail to carry out repairs that are needed to meet the repairing standard. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 introduces new powers for local authorities to raise breaches of the statutory repairing standard for private rented homes directly with the Private Rented Housing Panel on behalf of vulnerable tenants.

If occupants are social tenants, the landlord is expected to meet their duty to repair and maintain property under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 and to ensure that property meets the Scottish Housing Quality Standard. Social tenants have a right of complaint against their landlord to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.

Question reference: S4W-30403

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 March 2016
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 17 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it (a) last reviewed and (b) will next review the legislation on communal repairs and under what circumstances it would consider changing it.

The Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 followed a detailed report on the law of the tenement by the Scottish Law Commission. The Scottish Government introduced new powers amending the tenement management scheme in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014. We made a commitment in the sustainable housing strategy to develop proposals for a working group to consider a single condition standard for all housing tenures to support repairs to common parts in mixed tenure buildings. A stakeholder forum has been established to take this forward with a view to conducting a formal public consultation in 2017.