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: S6W-35514

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance or direction it has offered to its agencies and departments in relation to prioritising community-owned enterprises in arrangements for the generation of electricity on land in their ownership or management.

Land ownership, management and use should deliver a wide range of social, environmental, economic and cultural benefits to the people of Scotland. Community energy has a key role to play in supporting this and we have recently announced £3.5 million in 2025-26 for a new ‘Community Energy Generation Growth Fund’ through our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme. This will support community groups to develop their own renewable energy projects and enable communities to benefit from the energy transition.

Through our Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement and corresponding protocols, we set our vision for the ownership, use and management of land, including recognising that more local communities should have the opportunity to own, lease or use buildings and land which can contribute to their community's wellbeing and future development.

The Energy Saving Trust (EST), on behalf of the Scottish Government, publishes the annual Community and Locally Owned Energy in Scotland (COLO) Report. The latest report states that, as of December 2023, there are 92 MW of operational capacity across 12,110 installations in the Public Sector and Charity category, across a range of technologies.

Question reference: S6W-35374

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) sheriff courts and (b) Police Scotland to ensure that the best pathways are available for providing help to people experiencing alcohol problems in the justice system.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with both the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) and Police Scotland to discuss a range of matters arising in the delivery of justice services.

Specialist or problem solving courts, the establishment of which is ultimately a decision for the judiciary and SCTS, can be an effective way of supporting those with particular needs and positive work is underway in this area.

For example, the Glasgow Alcohol Court opened in 2018 and aims to reduce rates of offending by supporting people who offend with their underlying alcohol issues. Once accepted into the Alcohol Court, participants receive intensive support from their justice social worker and a substance use worker. In 2022, 240 people were accepted into the Alcohol Court.

There are other good practice examples of problem solving courts, including the Pan-Lanarkshire Alcohol and Drugs Problem Solving Court, which secured funding via the CORRA foundation and launched in December 2023.

In terms of court disposals, community payback orders offer a range of potential requirements including a specific alcohol treatment requirement.

Police Scotland, working in partnership with stakeholders, is establishing a working group that will promote best practice and work to drive an increase in referrals from police custody into support for mental health and wellbeing, alcohol and drugs and other relevant services. The new pathway for arrest referrals has now been established, which involved a full review of practices, mapping of services and establishing any gaps in service provision across Scotland. Further work is planned to drive further improvements in the arrest referral service.

Question reference: S6W-35438

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the target in Zero Waste Scotland’s Corporate Plan to reduce Scotland’s extraction of raw materials by one third, what the (a) start and (b) end date is for this target; what data this is based on, and for what reason one third was chosen as the target.

Zero Waste Scotland's (ZWS) Corporate Plan for 2025-2030 includes present and future targets beyond the life of this Corporate Plan.

The reference to seeking reduction of Scotland's extraction of raw materials by one third is based on a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report, which stresses the importance of high-income countries reducing their material footprint by bending the resource use curve to achieve economic growth, reduced inequality, improved quality of life and dramatically reduced environmental impacts.

During the lifetime of the current Corporate Plan, Scottish Government will continue to work with ZWS in developing data and policies required to establish a baseline and trajectory for future target setting to measure progress towards a circular economy.

Question reference: S6W-35702

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding was provided in 2022-23 to deliver work in schools as part of the Equally Safe at School programme, and to which organisations any such funding was allocated.

Between 2022-23 Rape Crisis Scotland were funded £408,675 through the Delivering Equally Safe fund. This funding supports the implementation of the Equally Safe at School whole school approach to preventing GBV and the continued delivery of the national sexual violence prevention programme.

Additionally, Rape Crisis Scotland was funded £43,000 in 2022-23 to fund a prevention and training post which oversees the effective implementation of the Equally Safe at Schools programme.

The Scottish Government also funds and supports other education-based programmes and initiatives aimed at tackling violence against women and girls and the attitudes which perpetuate it such as; the Mentors in Violence peer education programme, the preventing and responding to gender based violence: a whole school framework and Rape Crisis Scotland’s national sexual violence programme for secondary schools.

Question reference: S6W-35703

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many schools were covered by the Equally Safe at School programme in 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-35706

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to issue guidance regarding any increasing need for intelligent policing.

As set out in the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, the Chief Constable of Police Scotland is responsible for the policing of Scotland, and is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority for this, rather than to Scottish Ministers directly.

It is therefore not the place of Ministers to issue guidance on operational policing matters. The member may wish to write to the Chief Constable on this issue.

Question reference: S6O-04465

Asked by: Karen Adam, MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Aberdeenshire Council’s decision to remove the nightwatch service at Macduff Harbour, in light of reported concerns about the economic impact of the decision.

We recognise the importance of this issue to harbour users; however, ports in Scotland are mostly independent statutory bodies – each governed by their own local legislation – and are deemed commercial entities. Therefore, the Scottish Government has no say in the day-to-day running of their business, nor can it dictate business decisions made by a company on how to best utilise its resources. These are matters for the port authority.

Question reference: S6O-04489

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact will be on discretionary funding in the current financial year of the International Financial Reporting Standard 16 changes outlined in its Spring Budget Revision.

Question reference: S6O-04492

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has allocated in its Budget to fund applications to the Rural Affordable Homes for Key Workers Fund, including from housing associations where there have been housing stock transfers from a local authority.

Question reference: S6O-04507

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with representatives from Lothian Buses.