Parliamentary questions
Rachael Hamilton
1,432 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
1 Jun 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it expects that the R100 programme will be completed.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The R100 programme is expected to be completed by March 2028 when the final connections in the R100 North contract are delivered. Around 99% of the connections being delivered through the R100 contracts are full-fibre, capable of delivering speeds of 1,000 M…
1 Jun 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in the R100 programme to date.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The R100 programme is one of the most ambitious public investment programmes anywhere in the UK – with the Scottish Government investing over £600 million targeted at homes and businesses with the slowest broadband speeds. As of 8 June 2023, £122.4 million h…
1 Jun 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many homes in Scotland do not have access to superfast broadband.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Based on Ofcom’s latest figures up to the end of January 2023, 5% of all residences in Scotland do not currently have access to a superfast broadband connection of 30 Mbps (megabits per second) or more. Through the R100 programme, all premises without acce…
1 Jun 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is on track to meet its R100 programme targets.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The R100 programme remains on track to meet its current contractual completion dates. The R100 contracts are currently delivering full fibre, gigabit capable connections at pace across the length and breadth of Scotland. For any properties beyond the reach o…
25 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether any of its ministers or civil servants received an invitation to the Food Summit at 10 Downing Street, hosted by the Prime Minister and the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in May 2023.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Director for Agriculture and Rural Economy was the only person from the Scottish Government who received an invite to the “Farm to Fork” Summit at 10 Downing Street on 16 May, and he attended. No Ministers were invited to the event.
11 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Care Inspectorate’s report, Guidance for children and young people’s services on the inclusion of transgender including non-binary young people, which states that "a young person aged 12 and over is presumed to have sufficient capacity to make decisions about …
Answer · Maree Todd: The Care Inspectorate is an independent public body with a duty to support services to ensure high-quality care for all children and young people experiencing care. This includes transgender and non-binary young people. The Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) …
9 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS boards currently have a specialist endometriosis service in operation.
Answer · Jenni Minto: There are currently three specialist endometriosis centres throughout Scotland. The centres are in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Lothian and NHS Grampian. The three endometriosis specialist centres accept patients from across Scotland when specialist su…
9 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many outstanding cases of human trafficking have yet to lead to a prosecution due to court backlogs.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Scottish Government does not hold the requested information. Any form of human trafficking is completely unacceptable. Through the Victim Centred Approach Fund, we are providing record funding of more than £9 million over the period 1 April 2022 – 31 Mar…
9 May 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of human trafficking have (a) been reported and (b) led to a prosecution, in each financial year since 2007-08.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: This information has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre under BiB No 64215. There is no single crime of human trafficking and it may be recoded and prosecuted under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, Criminal J…
31 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that Scotland maintains a viable rental market.
Answer · Paul McLennan: Housing to 2040, sets out our plans to continue delivering quality homes for private rent. Over the next decade, we will continue to support the provision of homes for private rent with a focus on maximising delivery of these homes at the affordable end of ma…
31 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that landlords are divesting from Scottish property markets as a result of the higher rate of additional dwelling supplement compared to England.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The Scottish Government recognises the role that the private rented sector plays in meeting Scotland’s housing need. However, tax is just one of a wide range of financial, regulatory and other considerations that landlords will need to consider when making th…
31 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is, regarding any impact on Scotland, to the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government has made it clear that this agreement, will not compensate for the damaging impact of the UK leaving the EU. The UK Government’s own modelling suggests that CPTPP membership will result in a mere 0.08% increase in UK GDP. In contrast t…
29 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce a rural workers taskforce to support the mental health of isolated workers in rural communities.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Scottish Government are already supporting a range of interventions to help the wellbeing of our rural communities. Between 2021-2023 £36 million was made available to grassroots community groups through the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing fund to he…
29 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with the fishing industry, prior to the opening of the consultation, regarding the introduction of Highly Protected Marine Areas.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: Scottish Ministers remain committed to supporting Scotland’s fishing sector, which plays such a key role in contributing to our economic prosperity - especially in remote, rural and island communities. Our Regional Inshore Fisheries Group (RIFG) Network is o…
29 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to reduce the amount of food internationally imported into Scotland and increase the amount of food produced domestically.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: International trade and import controls are matters reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government has limited powers to reduce the amount of food imported. However, our Vision for Trade strategy clearly shows, we are committed to a balanced and nuanc…
29 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what deer population it considers is sustainable in Scotland, and how it plans to reach this figure.
Answer · Lorna Slater: It is not possible to provide exact numbers on either current deer populations or future sustainable populations. For the purposes of protecting natural regeneration, tree-planting and peatland, in order restore and enhance natural systems that will deliver c…
29 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many deer have been culled under licence from NatureScot in each of the last three years.
Answer · Lorna Slater: Data from cull returns for the last three years is not yet complete, and in particular most of the data for the 2022-23 season is still outstanding. The following table is a snapshot of the latest position. Section of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 Season Ma…
29 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it is considering to tackle rural-specific crime.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government takes all crime, including that committed in rural areas, extremely seriously. One of the key Aims of our Vision for Justice, published in 2022, is to ensure that we have a society in which people feel, and are, safer in their communit…
29 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas since their introduction, and what criteria are used to determine this.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish MPA Monitoring Strategy sets out the Scottish Government approach to MPA related survey and monitoring to meet the requirements of assessing and reporting under a number of legislative and policy drivers including the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. …
29 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of delays in ferry replacements on island economies.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government has not undertaken any specific assessment of the impact of delays in ferry replacement on island economies. The ferries network has seen significant improvements in the last decade a result of the 2013 Ferries Plan. Scottish Governme…
29 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its response to the consultation on its proposed Agriculture Bill.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14178 on 30 January 2023. 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-committ…
29 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce regulations to bring the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 into force.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government will set out its timetable for commencing all sections of the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 in due course.
21 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any funding that it provides to HIV Scotland.
Answer · Jenni Minto: At present, the Scottish Government does not provide any funding to the third sector organisation HIV Scotland. In the last financial year, the Scottish Government provided HIV Scotland with core funding of £45,000. Additionally, we provided £120,000 to cont…
21 Mar 2023 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Green Party.
Answer · George Adam: The First Minister confirmed in the Chamber on Tuesday that the Bute House Agreement will continue. The Scottish Government is committed to working with the Green Party in the coming years to continue to focus on delivering our net zero targets and protecting…
20 Mar 2023 · Topical Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation’s recent warnings about the potential impact of Highly Protected Marine Areas on the fishing industry.
16 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of provisions in the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 ("the Act") requires Scottish Ministers to publish a national good food nation plan. Work on the first iteration of the plan is currently underway. The Scottish Government expects to publish a draft of the national goo…
16 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the establishment of a Food Commission.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 contains provisions to establish the Scottish Food Commission. Establishing a new public body is complex and it takes time to work through the processes associated with setting up a new body. The Scottish Food Commissi…
14 Mar 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to procure a federated data platform for NHS Scotland.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: There are currently no plans to procure a federated data platform for the NHS in Scotland. However, we want to make sure that we have the technology and infrastructure in place to equip health and care professionals to better collect, store and use data. The…
8 Mar 2023 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is, regarding the implications for the food and drink supply chain in Scotland, to the National Farmers Union’s petition on improving food security.
28 Feb 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to implement and raise awareness of current national guidelines on endometriosis.
Answer · Maree Todd: Improving access for women to appropriate support, speedy diagnosis and best treatment for endometriosis is one of the priorities set out in the Women’s Health Plan for 2021-24. The Endometriosis Pathway for Scotland, created by the Modernising Patient Pathw…