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: S6O-04705

Asked by: Roz McCall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will take action to deter wildlife crime on beaches, particularly over the summer months.

Question reference: S6O-04706

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what new action it will take to support fisheries, in light of the EU-UK agreement.

Question reference: S6O-04709

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-04714

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-37596

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide resources to support local authorities to develop a renewable energy mapping tool, enabling residents to understand the cumulative impact of proposed renewable projects across their local authority.

We have taken forward a package of changes to planning fees to better resource the system, however it is a matter for local authorities to determine how their financial resources are allocated based on their priorities. Planning authorities are nevertheless required by legislation to keep a public register of live and determined planning applications for development in their areas, and we welcome where certain planning authorities and developers have already developed renewable energy mapping tools as a complement to this.

Question reference: S6W-37519

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it has adjusted income tax rates and bands since the start of the current parliamentary session.

Please see the following table setting out changes to Scottish Income Tax since the start of this parliamentary session.

Table 1: Scottish Income Tax Policy: Income Tax Rates and Bands, 2021-22 –
2023-24

	2021-22		2022-23		2023-24
Band Name	Income Range	Rate	Income Range	Rate	Income Range	Rate
Starter Rate	£12,571* - £14,667	19%	£12,571* - £14,732	19%	£12,571* - £14,732	19%
Basic Rate	£14,668 - £25,296	20%	£14,733 - £25,688	20%	£14,733- £25,688	20%
Intermediate Rate	£25,297 - £43,662	21%	£25,689 - £43,662	21%	£25,689 - £43,662	21%
Higher Rate	£43,663 - £150,000**	41%	£43,663 - £150,000**	41%	£43,663 - £125,140**	42%
Top Rate	Over £150,000**	46%	Over £150,000**	46%	Over £125,140**	47%

* Assumes individuals are in receipt of the Standard UK Personal Allowance

** Those earning more than £100,000 will see their Personal Allowance reduced by £1 for every £2 earned over £100,000

Table 2: Scottish Income Tax Policy: Income Tax Rates and Bands, 2024-25 –
2025-26

	2024-25		2025-26
Band Name	Income Range	Rate	Income Range	Rate
Starter Rate	£12,571* - £14,876	19%	£12,571*- £15,397	19%
Basic Rate	£14,877- £26,561	20%	£15,398 - £27,491	20%
Intermediate Rate	£26,562 - £43,662	21%	£27,492 - £43,662	21%
Higher Rate	£43,663 - £75,000	42%	£43,663 - £75,000	42%
Advanced Rate	£75,001 - £125,140**	45%	£75,001 - £125,140**	45%
Top Rate	Over £125,140**	48%	Over £125,140**	48%

* Assumes individuals are in receipt of the Standard UK Personal Allowance

** Those earning more than £100,000 will see their Personal Allowance reduced by £1 for every £2 earned over £100,000

Question reference: S6W-37523

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to the Scottish National Investment Bank in the current parliamentary session to date, and how much it estimates it will have provided by the end of the current parliamentary session.

Audit Scotland published a report on the Scottish National Investment Bank’s performance on Thursday 15 May (Scottish National Investment Bank | Audit Scotland). Page 16 details the Capital and Resource allocations by year since the Bank was launched in November 2020:

Financial Year	Scottish Government capital allocation (£m)	Scottish Government resource allocation (£m)
2020-21	£75	£7.1
2021-22	£200	£5
2022-23	£206	£9
2023-24	£263	£5.8
2024-25	£174	£2.8
2025-26 (budget)	£200	£0
Total	£1,118	£29.7

Question reference: S6W-37524

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on infrastructure in the current parliamentary session to date, and how much it estimates it will have spent by the end of the current parliamentary session.

Over the current parliamentary term, we estimate that the total spend through the capital budget will be £31.1 billion. This is based on the latest figures available. The following table sets this out in detail.

Table 1: Total capital spending between 2021-22 and 2025-26, £ millions

Outturn 21-22

£ m

Outturn 22-23

£ m

Outturn 23-24

£ m

Budget Allocated at SBR

24-25

£ m

Budget Allocated at Scottish Budget 25-26

£ m

Total 21-22 to 25-26

£ m

Capital

5,402

6,296

5,953

6,266

7,199

31,116

Question reference: S6W-37448

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-36651 by Kate Forbes on 30 April 2025, whether it will provide further details and updated information on how it evaluates whether its grant conditions are successful in achieving diversification away from arms manufacturing.

Question reference: S6W-37329

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Retrofit Fund has been allocated to be used for businesses in Aberdeen's LEZ since its introduction, and how much of that allocation was distributed to businesses.

£8,100,000 has been allocated to the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Retrofit Fund in Scotland since 2020. There was no allocation per city in order to allow flexibility to respond to demand dependant on applications received each year.

26 applications for this funding have been received from businesses in the Aberdeen area. The majority of applications were rejected due to applicants not meeting the eligibility requirements. 4 applicants were eligible and offered funding, however only 2 accepted these offers. The amount received by these businesses to support retrofitting of vehicles to meet LEZ standards was £14,066 in total.

Over 98% of the vehicles retrofitted through this scheme have been taxis and mostly within Edinburgh and Glasgow. Lower demand retrofit funding in Aberdeen may be attributed to a combination of local taxi licencing conditions and vehicle eligibility, combined with an LEZ exemption for taxis in the city.