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-00198

Asked by: Kayleigh Kinross-O'Neill, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will set out how, as participants in the Accessible Vehicle and Equipment Scheme, customers who receive their allowance through Social Security Scotland might be affected by changes to the Motability UK scheme from 1 July 2026.

The Scottish Government is working with Motability Operations to understand how any changes stemming from UK Government tax changes in its November 2025 Budget might affect its customers in Scotland who use the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment (AVE) Scheme.

We are aware of the upcoming changes announced by Motability to new and renewing lease customers elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Motability will separately set out in due course how any changes will apply to its future provision in Scotland under the AVE Scheme.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the AVE Scheme and ensuring that eligible clients get the right vehicle to meet their needs and to allow them to remain independent.

Question reference: S7W-00195

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that female witnesses involved in serious criminal cases are provided with appropriate protections and support throughout court proceedings, including safeguards relating to single-sex spaces and facilities.

There are various measures in place to ensure that female witnesses involved in serious criminal cases are provided with appropriate protections and support throughout court proceedings.

The Scottish Government recognises that some witnesses may find it difficult to give evidence and may be particularly vulnerable because of their circumstances or the nature of their evidence. The court can take extra steps - called special measures - to help vulnerable witnesses give the best evidence they can. Special measures can include giving evidence from behind a screen or remotely via a TV link to the court, to prevent the witness having to attend the court building. Further information on special measures is available at https://www.mygov.scot/witness/help-support.

The Vulnerable Witnesses (Criminal Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2019 introduced a presumption that children and vulnerable witnesses in the most serious criminal cases should be able to have their evidence pre-recorded instead of testifying in court. Pre-recording evidence reduces the risk of re-traumatisation for witnesses and supports them to give their best possible evidence, earlier in the process and in a victim-centred way.

The Scottish Government is rolling out the legislation in stages, to give the criminal justice system time to prepare and to make sure the right facilities are in place for witnesses - and will extend the presumption to vulnerable adult witnesses in the most serious cases following the roll out to child witnesses. Vulnerable adult witnesses can still apply for their evidence to be taken in this way and accordingly, pre-recorded evidence is currently used a great deal for adult complainers of sexual offences, particularly in the High Court.

Other sources of support include the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s Victim Information and Advice (VIA) Service for all vulnerable victims and those involved in the most serious cases. The VIA service can provide information about how the justice process works, and on key court dates and decisions. It will also work with victims to understand if they would benefit from special measures when giving evidence. Furthermore, the Scottish Government provides funding to Victim Support Scotland (VSS) which provides the VSS Court Service. The VSS Court Service supports victims in a range of ways including through court familiarisation visits, virtual court tours, support in court and for writing a victim statement.

Matters regarding the management of the court estate are, of course, for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) and the Lord President. In partnership with justice partners, SCTS is committed to clear standards of service for victims and witnesses (available at https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/rvrdro0w/standards-of-service-for-victims-and-witnesses-2025-26.pdf). This includes ensuring that witnesses who require to attend court will be placed in witness rooms designated for prosecution or defence. In addition, toilet facilities within the SCTS buildings are clearly designated as male and female. Accessible toilet facilities are available and may be used by any individual, regardless of gender.

Question reference: S7W-00209

Asked by: Kate Nevens, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve medical and support services for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) in Edinburgh and Lothians East.

Question reference: S7W-00208

Asked by: Kate Nevens, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of its £4.5 million for myalgic encephalomyelitis and long COVID services has been allocated to NHS Lothian.

We have allocated funding to all territorial NHS boards as part of the recurring £4.5 million investment to support the development of specialist support for people with long COVID, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)/chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and other similar conditions.

Allocation of this funding to boards has been informed by the National Resource Allocation Formula (NRAC). This formula is designed to take into account key determinants in the variation of healthcare need in populations, including population levels and measures of relative deprivation, to inform the allocation of funding in an equitable manner.

A breakdown of funding shares by NHS boards is as follows:

NHS Ayrshire & Arran	£327,482
NHS Borders	£99,208
NHS Dumfries & Galloway	£133,076
NHS Fife	£307,495
NHS Forth Valley	£246,390
NHS Grampian	£437,038
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde	£991,544
NHS Highland	£300,399
NHS Lanarkshire	£561,378
NHS Lothian	£676,576
NHS Orkney	£21,985
NHS Shetland	£21,466
NHS Tayside	£346,825
NHS Western Isles	£29,138

Question reference: S7W-00739

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, following its withdrawal from the Home Office and National Crime Agency Wastewater Analysis for Narcotics Detection (WAND) Programme, how will it coordinate and gather intelligence with the rest of UK to tackle the increasing availability of synthetic opioids, which can be significantly more powerful than heroin.

Question reference: S7W-00744

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic on 2 June 2026 on phone-free classrooms, whether it plans to limit the extent of any ban to classrooms and/or formal classroom time, or whether it plans to implement a ban across the whole school day and/or campus.

Question reference: S7W-00753

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has carried out of trends in productivity in Scotland’s construction sector, including what information it holds on output per (a) worker and (b) firm, and what analysis it has made of the relationship between growth in the number of construction businesses and overall sector output.

Question reference: S7W-00751

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what modelling it has carried out of the construction sector’s capacity to deliver housing at scale, including what estimate it has made of the number of firms capable of delivering developments of (a) 50 to 99 and (b) 100 or more homes, and how this has changed over the last decade.

Question reference: S7W-00768

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether rent increase notices issued through online document portals meet the legal requirements for valid service under section 22 of the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 and the Private Residential Tenancies (Prescribed Notices and Forms) (Scotland) Regulations 2017.

Question reference: S7W-00755

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-00001 by Neil Gray on 28 May 2026, whether it will provide the names of the SFRS Retained fire stations that have had a first pumping appliance unavailable for 50% of the time or more, in each of the last five years.