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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 806 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-32124

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 7 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any concerns with the reported lack of ISO standards around ultra-high frequency electronic identification technology in livestock.

Question reference: S6W-32123

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 19 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to conclude its review of the use of ultra-high frequency electronic identification in livestock.

Question reference: S6W-32127

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 19 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on the number of Scottish animals slaughtered in England and vice versa, and what assessment it has made of any impact of its proposal to adopt ultra-high frequency electronic identification technology.

Question reference: S6W-32122

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 19 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of any impact of adopting ultra-high frequency electronic identification technology on the trade of Scottish beef in Europe.

Question reference: S6W-31979

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 19 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether the funding announced in its Budget for Stranraer town centre is money that was originally committed to the town in 2011 as part of the regeneration of the former ferry terminal.

The Scottish Government has continued to engage with Dumfries & Galloway Council and the regeneration funding announced in the draft Scottish Budget will support the delivery of the community's ambitions for the regeneration of the town building on their Local Place Plan - Creating Stranraer.

Funding will be subject to the Scottish Budget being agreed by Parliament and final allocations being agreed by Ministers.

Question reference: S6W-32121

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 19 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of any impact of adopting ultra-high frequency electronic identification technology on the trade of Scottish cattle and beef with England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Scottish Ministers are considering all the available information on bovine EID and technology use across the UK. This includes the ScotEID pilot findings into UHF, the results and analysis of the consultation held on Cattle ID and Traceability earlier this year and ongoing close discussions with the livestock sector. All potential impacts, including those on trade, will be fully considered before a final decision is made.

Question reference: S6O-04180

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to invest in frontline primary healthcare to support rural pharmacies.

Question reference: S6W-32025

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it can provide to the primary care sector in Scotland in response to the impact of the increase in employer national insurance charges.

The Scottish Government has published its estimates of the direct costs to the Scottish public sector from the employers NI change, looking across our health and social care services, education providers, the third sector and others. We have shared those costs with the Treasury and have asked it for urgent clarification on the level of compensation that Scotland will receive.

If the chancellor does not fund that in full, it could be, that despite costs of more than £700 million across all sectors, at best £380 million would be forthcoming; leaving a shortfall of around £400 million. We continue to press for clarification.

Question reference: S6O-04098

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much it will allocate in its Budget to housing associations, including to support them to meet their aids and adaptations targets.

Question reference: S6W-31081

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 20 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to tackle any smuggling of puppies into Scotland at Cairnryan ferry port.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with DAERA NI officials and key agencies through the Paws for Thought Puppy Trafficking Group to disrupt and target those involved in the smuggling of puppies into Scotland from Northern Ireland. The collaborative actions of this Group are delivering significant reductions in the number of pups being trafficked into Scotland, mainly as a consequence of intelligence-led targeting of known or flagged transporters. The Group also continues to raise awareness among ferry passengers of puppy smuggling through the use of flyers, posters and social media, with anyone seeing suspicious activity encouraged to immediately report it.

More widely, the Scottish Government continues to work with the multi-agency Pet Trade Taskforce to share intelligence and target those involved in the illegal breeding and smuggling of puppies for sale in Scotland.