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: S5W-34927

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 11 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish an updated Ferries Plan.

Question reference: S5W-34928

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 11 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when the CalMac vessels that are beyond their 25-year life expectancy will be replaced, and when the replacement vessels will be in operation.

Preparatory work is underway on our next Vessel Replacement and Deployment Plan and, as set out in the Programme for Government 2020-21, we will consult on and ultimately finalise a long-term plan and investment programme for vessels and ports as part of the Islands Connectivity Plan, by the end of 2022.

Our Infrastructure Investment Plan, published on 4 February 2021, allocated a total of £580 million on ferries investment over the next 5 years. We are currently engaging with our stakeholders on specific proposals for vessel renewal on a number of routes.

Question reference: S5O-05037

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 February 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the draft bill for an independence referendum announced in its Programme for Government for 2020-21.

Question reference: S5W-34929

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 10 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in the absence of the delivery of the MV Glen Sannox, what action it will take to improve the reliability of Arran ferry services, in order to reduce the risk of disruption.

The MV Glen Sannox will be delivered and, based on the work programme shared with Parliament by the Turnaround Director of Ferguson Marine Port Glasgow, Mr Tim Hair, the vessel should be delivered to CalMac for deployment on services on the network by April-June 2022, following sea trials.

We continue to invest in the reliability of vessels in Clyde and Hebrides network through the Resilience Fund which was set up to improve the future reliability and availability of vessels, including both vessels operating on the Ardrossan to Brodick route and for ensuring the resilience of the Lochranza service.

This funding has been in place since 2018 and has been used to upgrade or replace key systems and equipment on the vessels throughout the CalMac fleet to reduce the risk of breakdowns.

Question reference: S5W-34926

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the delivery timetable for Hull 802.

Question reference: S5W-34939

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to concerns raised by the Institute for Fiscal Studies that the long-term closure of schools could lead to a “lost generation” of pupils.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) observation report, published on 1 February, summarises the impact of the pandemic across a range of factors including the impact on learners from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Our 2021 budget plans set out more than £127 million in pupil equity funding to go towards supporting learners from disadvantaged circumstances and a further £30m to support schools to cope with the ongoing effects of Covid.We will continue to engage with professional associations, teachers and education experts as we develop and refine our recovery plans. Our approach will be guided by a range of reports, including the Scottish Government’s Equity Audit (published in January 2021).

The IFS report itself does not refer to a "lost generation" and the Scottish Government does not view the current generation of learners as a lost generation. The government will continue to take every necessary step to ensure that all of our learners, whatever their background or circumstances, are supported to re-engage with their learning and to obtain the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to succeed.

Question reference: S5W-34924

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the delivery timetable for the MV Glen Sannox, and whether the vessel will be operating the Ardrossan-Brodick route by the end of 2022.

Question reference: S5W-34932

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 10 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Retail Consortium's call for a national strategy to support the sector, given that retailers reported a loss of 13,000 jobs and £3.5 billion in annual turnover between 2016 and 2018.

Question reference: S5W-34941

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 9 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to distribute the proposed £26.5 million allocated for International and European Relations in the draft Budget 2021-22, including the proposed increase of £2.1 million from last year’s respective funding.

The International and European Relations draft budget of £26.5m for 2021-22 will be spent pursuing our engagement at home and internationally to enhance Scotland's reputation and increase sustainable economic growth, and promote Scotland as a great place to live, visit, work and do business. A breakdown of how this has been distributed has been published on the Scottish Parliament website

The increase of £2.1m from the 2020-21 budget is due to the Migration Strategy budget moving from the Finance Portfolio into the Constitution Europe & External Affairs Portfolio.

Question reference: S5W-34940

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 February 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether prelim exams will go ahead in March 2021 and, if so, how these will take account of any disruption resulting from the long-term school closures.

Supporting the health and wellbeing of our teachers and lecturers, other school and college staff and learners is of paramount importance and we are committed to ensuring that learners can be fairly assessed this year. The National Qualifications 2021 Group has clarified that there is no expectation that schools or colleges hold prelims. It is for schools and colleges to decide on the best assessment approaches, and timings, for gathering learner evidence. This approach provides local flexibility to plan assessments against local circumstances in these unique times.

I am aware that some schools and colleges will already have held prelims, and these may contribute towards evidence and teachers’ and lecturers’ determination of the provisional results for National Qualifications courses. However, while results from prelims which have been held or which are planned can contribute to learner evidence, schools and colleges will be drawing on a wider range of evidence in arriving at the provisional results for individual learners this year. These results will be subject to local and national quality assurance. These provisional results are to be submitted to the Scottish Qualifications Authority by the later date of 18 June 2021.

The priority for schools and colleges at this time should be to maximise learning and teaching, and consolidate learning, with final assessments of learner attainment to inform the provisional results taking place later in the 2020-21 session.