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: S6W-36046

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what recent estimate it has made of any impact on tax revenue of alcohol purchases made by Scotland residents (a) online from businesses registered in England and Wales and (b) in person when travelling to England, in cases where such purchases are not subject to minimum unit pricing.

Alcohol sales are subject to VAT, whilst any profits made by businesses selling alcohol are subject to Corporation Tax. Both of these taxes remain fully reserved to the UK Government. Scotland receives a share of UK-wide VAT and corporation tax, regardless of the place of purchase of products or location of businesses, as part of the annual block-grant allocation. The Public Health Scotland evaluation of MUP concluded from a range of studies that “some evidence of cross-border purchasing was identified, but its extent was observed to be minimal.

Question reference: S6W-36062

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reviewed the resources allocated to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to manage fatal accident inquiries, and, if so, what its findings were.

I engaged with the Lord Advocate, Solicitor General and the Crown Agent during the 2025-26 budget process which informed the allocation to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. The portfolio received a resource budget of £225.2 million for 2025-26, an increase of 10.7% compared to 2024-25. The funding uplift was allocated to support the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to manage a range of demand led pressures.

Question reference: S6W-36047

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been required to supply the MV Glen Sannox in each month since December 2024, and what its position is on the long-term fuel supply strategy for the vessel.

The following table provides the amount of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) consumed by the MV Glen Sannox for the period covering December 2024 until March 2025.

	December 2024	January 2025	February 2025	March 2025	Total
LNG consumption by the MV Glen Sannox (MWh)	218	1,349	1,209	1,049	3,825

The long-term fuel strategy will be determined following a suitable period of operation to allow gathering of sufficient operational data.

Question reference: S6W-36117

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 17 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it considers appropriate for balancing the cost, visual impact, and safety when assessing major electricity infrastructure projects that run through prime agricultural land.

Question reference: S6W-35891

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 17 April 2025

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 energy sectors; how it plans to engage with stakeholders, including trade unions and local communities, in finalising any policy responses; what assessment it has made of the potential economic and energy security implications of implementing any recommendations arising from this consultation; whether it has had any discussions with the UK Government regarding any reserved or shared competencies relevant to these proposals, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

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 matters that are currently reserved to the UK Government.

The Scottish Government is taking the appropriate time to carefully consider the UK Government’s current consultation on Building the North Sea’s Energy Future, and its potential outcomes.

Question reference: S6O-04566

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it will publish the outcome of the latest A96 corridor review.

Question reference: S6W-36080

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the longest duration has been from the date of death to the conclusion of a fatal accident inquiry since 1999, and what the reasons were for the duration of this process.

COPFS holds records of all concluded Fatal Accident Inquiries dating back to 1 April 2013.

For that period, the longest duration from the date of death to the conclusion of the Fatal Accident Inquiry was in relation to the FAI into the death of Boguslaw Kopec. The date of Mr Kopec’s death was 13 March 2011. A First Notice commencing the FAI process was issued on 24 August 2020 and the Inquiry commenced on 9 November 2020. Evidence was concluded on 3 December 2020 and the Sheriff’s Determination was published on 11 March 2021.

The investigation into Mr Kopec’s death was hampered by difficulties tracing and obtaining the evidence of essential witnesses. In addition, Inquiry proceedings could only be commenced after criminal proceedings had been ruled out. Nevertheless, the Crown at that time acknowledged that the time taken to conduct its death investigation in this case had been far too long and apologised for the fact that its investigation and the Inquiry proceedings were not concluded sooner.

COPFS has significantly reformed its processes in recent years to improve the quality of death investigations and reduce the time taken to investigate deaths and bring FAIs to court. However, in some cases FAIs have taken too long to commence and we understand the impact that waiting for investigations to conclude has on families.

Question reference: S6W-36102

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential environmental impact, whether it has raised or plans to raise any concerns with Ofgem regarding the adequacy of the Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment standards, particularly the minimum height requirement for overhead power lines in areas of prime agricultural land.

Question reference: S6W-36084

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that consistent standards are applied across Scotland in relation to deciding whether discretionary fatal accident inquiries should be held.

COPFS staff take into account the terms of Section 4 of the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc. (Scotland) Act 2016 when identifying cases where it may be appropriate for a discretionary Fatal Accident Inquiry to be held.

In addition, detailed guidance is available for COPFS staff to assist them in identifying such cases. That guidance applies in relation to all deaths in Scotland that have been reported to COPFS.

To further ensure consistency in decision-making, decisions on Fatal Accident Inquiries are taken by a pool of experienced Crown Counsel.

Question reference: S6W-36112

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether safety standards, including minimum overhead clearance heights for new electricity infrastructure, should exceed the statutory minimum requirements to anticipate future developments in agricultural machinery.