Parliamentary questions
Douglas Lumsden
1,891 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has evaluated the accessibility and clarity of the information provided to bereaved families in relation to the fatal accident inquiry process, and, if so, what potential improvements it identified.
Answer · Dorothy Bain: COPFS regularly invites and receives feedback from nearest relatives of their experience of the death investigation and Fatal Accident Inquiry processes. That feedback is carefully considered to identify any improvements that can be made. As an example, feedb…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of the effectiveness of fatal accident inquiries in preventing similar fatalities.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government supports the independent judiciary's careful examination of matters in FAI determinations and believes that valuable learning is offered through the process.
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered any reforms or changes to the fatal accident inquiry system, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government has acknowledged that there are concerns about the operation of the FAI system. In January of this year, following publication of the determination of the FAI into the deaths of Katie Allen and William Brown at Polmont Young Offenders …
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to fatal accident inquiries (FAIs) in each of the last five years, what the total cost of conducting FAIs was; how many FAIs were (a) mandatory and (b) discretionary; what the average time taken was from the conclusion of the investigation to the commencement of an FAI; what…
Answer · Angela Constance: Not all of the data requested is recorded centrally. The Scottish Government publishes statistical data on FAIs annually on its website. The latest data is reproduced in the following table:REPORTING YEARNUMBER OF CONCLUDED FAISMANDATORY FAISDISCRETIONARY FAI…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in each of the last 10 years, how many discretionary fatal accident inquiries have been requested but not held, and what the reasons were for its position on each such request.
Answer · Dorothy Bain: COPFS does not record this information. There is no formal process that requires to be followed to request that a Fatal Accident Inquiry is held. The views of nearest relatives will be obtained during the death investigation process and taken into account whe…
18 Mar 2025 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it will give to expanding the scope of statutory grounds for holding a fatal accident inquiry.
Answer · Angela Constance: The statutory grounds for a Fatal Accident Inquiry were carefully considered by Parliament in 2016 following a review of the law conducted by Lord Cullen. There are no plans to look at this aspect of FAI legislation, although the member will be aware than in …
13 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recently reported concerns raised by an MSP about Scottish Parliamentary Pension Scheme investments in Tesla shares, whether it (a) has undertaken a review of its ownership of Tesla vehicles and (b) will sell its fleet of 10 Tesla cars.
Answer · Ivan McKee: We have not undertaken a review of ownership, but in line with all fleet vehicles, replacement will be considered when the Tesla’s reach the end of their operational life cycle.
13 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the UK Government's consultation, Building the North Sea’s Energy Future, regarding the potential impact in Scotland, whether it has assessed the consultation’s proposals for supporting oil and gas workers in transitioning to new ener…
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders on energy policy matters, including business and industry, trade unions and communities.Offshore oil and gas licensing, as well as consenting and the associated fiscal regime, are all…
13 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its engagement with the UK Government on proposed reforms to electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland, what its response is to the reported suggestion that accelerating the end-to-end electricity consenting process risks undermining thorough scruti…
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The proposed reforms are about making the determination process more efficient – not making it easier for projects to get consent or undermining thorough scrutiny of environmental impacts. Decisions will continue to be taken by Scottish Ministers on a c…
13 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its engagement with the UK Government on proposed reforms to electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland, how many electricity consents it has suspended, revoked or corrected in each of the last five years, and how it took account of any concerns abou…
Answer · Alasdair Allan: Legislation does not currently allow for modifications, suspensions or revocations consents when errors in consents are found. Should any issues arise, an applicant must apply for a section 36 consent variation and go through the full variation process, inclu…
13 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its engagement with the UK Government on proposed reforms to electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland, how it will address reported concerns that statutory consultees may be placed under additional pressure from new time limits, potentially weakeni…
Answer · Alasdair Allan: It continues to be critical that statutory consultees need to be adequately resourced and have a skilled workforce to carry out their responsibilities. The Scottish Government will engage and work closely with these bodies as it develops proposals for seconda…
13 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its engagement with the UK Government on proposed reforms to electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland, how many requests for variations to section 37 consents were received in each of the last five years, and whether it will provide the data that i…
Answer · Alasdair Allan: Legislation does not currently allow for variations to section 37 consents. Therefore, it has not been possible for the Scottish Government to receive such requests.The proposed reforms mirror section 36C of the Electricity Act 1989 which makes provision for …
13 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its engagement with the UK Government on proposed reforms to electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland, what evidence it considered in developing the “Acceptance Stage” for section 36 and 37 applications, and whether it will publish data…
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The proposed reforms will make pre-application consultation for electricity infrastructure projects a statutory requirement and also introduce an Acceptance Stage when Scottish Ministers can decline to accept applications which have not fulfilled the necessar…
13 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its engagement with the UK Government on proposed reforms to electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland, how many applications for electricity infrastructure developments it projects will be submitted annually from 2025, and whether it has made …
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The proposed reforms will apply to applications for consent under section 36 and section 37 of the Electricity Act 1989 made to Scottish Ministers. Section 36 applications made to Scottish Ministers have a capacity of over 50MW. Therefore, it is not anticipat…
13 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its engagement with the UK Government on proposed reforms to electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland, what its position is regarding reported concerns that the reforms to pre-application consultation for electricity infrastructure projects wi…
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The proposed reforms will make pre-application consultation for electricity infrastructure projects a statutory requirement. This will increase opportunities for meaningful community input.
13 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its engagement with the UK Government on proposed reforms to electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland and in light of reported criticism from stakeholders, what its reasons are for including the proposed powers for the Scottish Government…
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The scope of the proposed reforms to vary consents without an application will be limited to variations and will not include suspension or revocation of consents. Interested parties will be notified of the proposal and given the opportunity to make representa…
13 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its engagement with the UK Government on proposed reforms to electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland, what its position is regarding reported concerns that the proposed statutory appeal process will make it harder for communities and individuals to cha…
Answer · Alasdair Allan: At permission stage of the statutory appeals process, it will continue to be the case that any applicant who demonstrates sufficient interest and that their claim has a reasonable prospect of success can bring a challenge on decisions for onshore electricity …
13 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its engagement with the UK Government on proposed reforms to electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland, how it plans to respond to reported objections that introducing new fees for pre-application functions and necessary wayleaves could disadvantage…
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The proposed reforms will apply to applications for consent under section 36 and section 37 of the Electricity Act 1989 made to Scottish Ministers. Section 36 applications made to Scottish Ministers have a capacity of over 50MW. Therefore, it is not anticipat…
13 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its engagement with the UK Government on proposed reforms to electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland, what its response is to reported criticisms that replacing automatic public inquiries with an “examination” process in cases whe…
Answer · Alasdair Allan: Where a planning authority objects to an application made under the Electricity Act 1989 and that objection is not withdrawn, the Scottish Ministers must appoint a reporter to examine the application. Before determining whether to give consent, the Scottish M…
13 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its engagement with the UK Government on proposed reforms to electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland, what data it reviewed on how introducing fees for necessary wayleaves and pre-application services might affect smaller community-led development…
Answer · Alasdair Allan: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35885 on 1 April 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/…
13 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the implementation of each of the 55 recommendations in the report, Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland, which was published on 25 August 2023, broken down by what (a) action it has taken in each case and (b) date each will be fully …
Answer · Jenni Minto: A significant amount of work has been undertaken to date, to progress the implementation of the 55 recommendations made as part of the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland, involving a wide range of stakeholders across the public and third sec…
5 Mar 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of referrals to audiology services at NHS Grampian are seen within the 18-week target.
9 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what financial modelling has been done to evaluate any economic benefits of the proposed investment zone for the North East Scotland region.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish and UK Government jointly developed an evidence-led and objective place selection methodology for Investment Zones, adapting the approach taken by the UK Government in England when selecting Investment Zone regions.As part of the place selection …
9 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the investment zone for the North East Scotland region to be in place.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government is actively working with partners to establish the Investment Zone for the North East region. There is a jointly agreed and delivered Gateway process for the Investment Zone to follow through to delivery. This is currently underway, an…
9 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it has given to the Aberdeen Energy Transition Zone in each of the last three financial years.
Answer · Gillian Martin: A breakdown of the funding support provided by the Scottish Government to the Energy Transition Zone project over the past three financial years is provided in the following table. 2022-232023-242024-25TotalEnergy Transition Fund£9,000,000£5,…
9 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the UK Government regarding the proposed investment zone for the North East Scotland region.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Investment Zones in Scotland are being jointly delivered by the Scottish and UK Governments. The Scottish Government engages regularly with the UK Government regarding the proposed Investment Zone for the North East region. Weekly progress meetings are held b…
5 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to expand support and funding for video game development.
Answer · Angus Robertson: The Scottish Government provided £49,425 in 2022 and £40,000 in 2023 to support Scottish Games Week as the platform to bring industry together to showcase talent, share learnings, build networks, and highlight the potential of the sector.Further t…
5 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what funding is available to support access to training pathways for careers in video game development, including apprenticeships and further education courses.
Answer · Angus Robertson: Video games development covers a range of skills and careers from the technical to the creative development so there are multiple routes into the industry. A college or university course in Computer Games Development is one pathway into the sector, but Appren…
5 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with video game industry representatives in the last 12 months regarding future funding and support.
Answer · Angus Robertson: The Scottish Government has engaged with video game industry representatives, with Ministers attending the Industry Conference and Scottish Games Awards at the most recent Scottish Games Week. Further engagement over the past 12 months has primarily been betw…
5 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what specific support it provides to independent video game developers.
Answer · Angus Robertson: The Scottish Government does not provide specific support to independent video games developers. Developers can access bespoke business advice and support through our enterprise agencies.