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-03341

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 29 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government and British Steel regarding a secure supply of slab to Dalzell, and whether it considers reliance on imported slab from Kazakhstan to be a sustainable basis for the operation of Scotland’s last plate mill.

Question reference: S7W-03363

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 29 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action VisitScotland is taking to promote Scottish cruise tourism in international markets, including in the US and Germany.

Question reference: S7W-03347

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 29 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when ministers last visited Dalzell, what observation were made during the visit, and whether they will make a statement to Parliament on the future of steel plate production in Scotland before the October 2026 recess.

The former Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work visited the Dalzell steelworks on 8 August 2018.

Ivan McKee, Minister for Public Finance made a statement to Parliament on 11 September 2025 regarding GFG Alliance operations in Scotland, including Dalzell.

The priority of the Scottish Government is to see the plant operational and Ministers are committed to updating Parliament on developments.

Question reference: S7W-03334

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 29 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Retail Consortium’s suggestion, in its Budget 2027-28 recommendations paper, that Primary Authority should be implemented to aid regulatory consistency across all 32 local authorities.

There are no current plans to implement a Primary Authority system for devolved regulation. However, as part of Programme for Government we have set out our approach to regulation. We will work with stakeholders to consider how regulation can be used to support economic and societal aims and use this work to continuously improve the approach to regulation in the future. Existing powers and processes will be considered to identify where changes could be made to support both businesses and regulators in achieving our strategic aims.

Question reference: S7W-03430

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Simita Kumar on 29 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland to become an established organisation.

Question reference: S7W-03372

Asked by: James Adams, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 29 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will respond to the letter from Aberdeen City Region Deal Joint Committee following its meeting on 4 September 2026 regarding unsuccessful attempts to access the Housing Infrastructure Fund portion of the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding, and whether it will set out a guarantee that this fund will continue beyond March 2027 and until an eligible project has been approved.

On 12 September 2025, the Aberdeen City Region Deal Joint Committee, wrote to me to discuss the £20m portion of the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding for Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) projects across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. This included potential projects and how to access the funding to address issues arising from reinforced autoclaved concrete (RAAC) in the Torry Area of Aberdeen City.

On 23 October, I responded explaining the RAAC proposal was not eligible for HIF Funding and that agreement had been reached with Aberdeen City Council to offer flexibility and apportion an appropriate share up to £10 million of the MoU commitment and to re-purpose this towards meeting the cost of delivering new-build social housing projects through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme. This would free up an equivalent amount of their own resources to tackle RAAC issues they face. The response also confirmed that projects approved through this route would reduce the notional commitment entered into through the MoU.

HIF continues to operate and remains open for applications. Any correspondence received from the Aberdeen City Region Deal Joint Committee will be considered and responded to in the usual way.

Question reference: S7W-03443

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 29 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what financial and technical support it is providing to local authorities to progress the heat network opportunities identified in their local heat and energy efficiency strategies into investment-ready projects.

Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) identify opportunities for heat network development, and the Scottish Government supports local authorities to progress these opportunities into investment-ready projects through the Heat Network Support Unit (HNSU).

The HNSU provides grant funding and specialist advice to support the pre-capital stages of project development, including feasibility studies, Outline Business Cases and the strategic and commercial planning required to deliver large-scale heat networks. To date, it has formally supported projects across 18 local authority areas.

Technical support is provided by Zero Waste Scotland on behalf of the HNSU, with successful applicants also able to access specialist consultants for technical studies. For legal, financial and commercial matters related to projects, Scottish Futures Trust provides support and performs a “critical friend” role on behalf of the HNSU. Additional support is available through the District Heating Mentoring Scheme, which connects local authorities with experienced officials from Denmark to build capacity and skills. Twenty-one local authorities currently participate in the scheme.

Question reference: S7W-03432

Asked by: Adam Harley, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 18 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether, under NHS Circular PCS(DD) 2025/1 Addendum 2, NHS boards should be permitted to apply administrative arrangements that financially disadvantage resident doctors whose progression does not align with the standard August progression timetable.

NHS Scotland Boards have implemented the NHS Circular PCS(DD) 2025/1 Addendum 2 in accordance with the pay agreement.

The 2-year pay agreement was accepted by the BMA Scottish Resident Doctors Committee following a successful ballot of its membership.

The agreement included specific implementation dates for pay uplifts and contractual investment. These implementation arrangements have been applied by NHS Scotland Boards as set out in the agreement.

Question reference: S7W-03591

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 29 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many Scottish Cabinet meetings have been classified as "Travelling Cabinets" and held at locations outwith Edinburgh since May 2024, broken down by venue, and what the total cost associated with each meeting was.

Question reference: S7W-03483

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 29 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its answers to question S6W-44443 by Natalie Don-Innes on 19 March 2026 and question S7W-03030 by Siobhian Brown on 18 September 2026, whether it has undertaken or commissioned an estimate of the annual cost of providing 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare from the age of two to children in families with multiple births and, if not, whether it will undertake such an assessment before finalising its forthcoming childcare blueprint.

Full assessment of future childcare delivery options and costs will be undertaken as part of the parliamentary and budgetary processes. While a definitive assessment of scope or costs of any new policy position is not available at this time, information relating to previous limited considerations of this matter was released as part of a Freedom of Information request in May 2026. It can be found in the following document (document 33):

FOI+202600511271+-+Information+Released+-+Attachment+3.pdf