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 MSPs 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: S7W-04294

Asked by: Kate Nevens, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 12 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the University of Edinburgh proposing reductions in Outdoor and Environmental Education provision, how it plans to support the provision of outdoor education across primary, secondary and tertiary education.

As universities are autonomous institutions with responsibility for determining their own academic provision, the Scottish Government has no role in decisions relating to individual courses or programmes. The Scottish government continues to support the provision of outdoor education across primary, secondary and tertiary education by:

Working with partners to implement the Learning for Sustainability (LfS) Action Plan, available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/target-2030-movement-people-planet-prosperity/
Providing £457,400 of funding in 2026/27 to support delivery of programmes and initiatives that help schools provide curriculum linked outdoor learning experiences. This includes the Climate Action Schools programme, maintenance of the Scottish Advisory Panel on Outdoor Education’s Going Out There resource, and roll out of the Nature Discovery Map Scotland tool;
Working closely with Education Scotland as they lead delivery of the Curriculum Improvement Cycle;
Working with key partners to prepare for the commencement of the Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Act 2026; and
Investing over £2.4 billion in 2026-27 in the post school education and skills system, supporting the delivery of outdoor education provision at providers across Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-04292

Asked by: Duncan Dunlop, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 12 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the 591 young people who were eligible for continuing care but were not receiving it on 31 July 2025, (a) how many declined an offer of continuing care, (b) how many were not offered continuing care, and (c) what reasons were recorded for eligible young people not entering continuing care.

The Scottish Government does not hold any information on the reasons behind why young people, who are eligible for continuing care, do not enter it, or whether they were offered it and declined. This information would be held by the local authority responsible for the young person.

The Scottish Government collates data on the number of young people in continuing care, their care setting, age and local authority. These statistics are published in the annual Children’s Social Work Statistics for Looked After Children.

We are aware our data collection on care leavers could be improved and we are considering how to improve the data collection we receive on continuing care. We know that having a better understanding of the reasons behind a young person not entering continuing care will help us to ensure we are removing barriers to entering continuing care, where they exist.

The Scottish Government is pleased to see an increasing number of care leavers taking up the offer of continuing care, but we know that there is further work to do to improve consistency of implementation. We are engaging with young people, carers, and stakeholders to understand the challenges faced in providing continuing care and how to overcome these.

Question reference: S7W-04822

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of total NHS expenditure on medicines that are subsequently unused, returned, expired or otherwise disposed of in the last five years, broken down by NHS board area and financial year.

Question reference: S7W-04872

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its paper, Green Data Centre guidance, which was published on 2 November 2026 in response to FOI/202600522764, what assessment it has made of hyperscale data centres’ energy requirements and their impact on (a) the electricity grid, (b) household energy bills and (c) potential mitigation measures to protect communities from price rises.

Question reference: S7W-04888

Asked by: Amanda Bland, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the setting of a firm timetable to end animal experiments and the acceleration of the adoption of humane alternatives.

Question reference: S7W-04876

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what requirements it places on public bodies responsible for critical devolved services, including Transport Scotland, ScotRail and local authorities, to maintain and regularly test manual procedures, which are independent of any backup IT systems, as part of their business continuity arrangements for cyber incidents or extended losses of power or telecommunications, and what guidance it provides to them.

Question reference: S7W-04889

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when provisions in the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 relating to restrictions on when fireworks can be sold and used, and to training and licensing requirements for people purchasing fireworks, will be commenced.

Question reference: S7W-04875

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of Scottish Water’s ability to supply drinking water safely during any prolonged loss of its digital control systems, including any reliance on the manual operation of treatment works.

Question reference: S7W-04898

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to reassure parents following the recent hoax bomb threats made against some schools in Scotland, and whether it can provide an update as to the origin of this malicious action.

Question reference: S7W-04892

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure, through its proposed restructuring of public services, that infrastructure spending by regional and community authorities is aligned with the preventative agenda of the NHS, particularly in relation to promoting active lifestyles.