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-34427

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce specific outreach programmes to increase awareness and the uptake of the Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) among under-represented sectors, such as the agriculture or food production industries.

Question reference: S6W-34431

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to increase the number of social homes available for both construction and purchase.

The budget for 2025-26 proposes planned investment of £768 million in the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, an increase of more than £200m compared to the 2024-25 published budget. This will help tackle the housing emergency while contributing towards our target of delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 of which at least 70% will be social rented homes.

The 2025-2026 budget will help fund the completion of existing new build and rehabilitation project commitments as well as new project approvals, including our targeted £40m voids and acquisitions commitment, and new build site starts.

We have also committed £100 million over the longer term to grow institutional investment to at least £500 million and support the construction of around 2,800 mid-market rent homes.

The Housing Investment Taskforce is progressing its identified priority workstreams so that we can make sure that Scotland has the right conditions to enable investment to flow and deliver the homes that people need. The Taskforce is due to report by the end of March 2025.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) has introduced a more positive, plan-led and all-tenure approach to deliver quality homes, where they are needed and strengthens planning policy for affordable homes, requiring ‘at least 25%’ of the total number of homes on a site to be affordable. This can be varied where either there is greater need or where it may affect the viability of sites coming forward.

As the statutory housing authority for their area, local authorities are responsible for assessing housing need and demand, and for setting out how this will be met through their Local Housing Strategies and Strategic Housing Investment Plans (SHIPs). SHIPs set out local authority strategic investment priorities over a five year period and inform Scottish Government investment decisions.

We continue to work closely with partners to deliver the right homes in the right places across Scotland and since 2007, we have supported the delivery of more than 135,000 affordable homes, over 95,000 of which were for social rent, including over 26,000 council homes. Within this, between 23 March 2022 and end of September 2024, we have delivered 24,382 affordable homes towards the 110,000 target, of which over 18,000 have been homes for social rent.

The Scottish Government regularly publishes figures on homes delivered, which can be found online at:

Housing statistics quarterly update: new housebuilding and affordable housing supply - gov.scot

Question reference: S6W-35284

Asked by: Karen Adam, MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to set out its proposals for the reform of the legal aid system.

The SG has today published a Legal Aid Reform Discussion Paper which sets out the three areas of work the Scottish Government will be undertaking to improve legal aid. We will bring forward Regulations by the end of 2025 to simplify the regulatory framework which governs the eligibility for legal assistance and to improve the application process, reducing the burden on both solicitors and those that need legal services and ensuring funding is provided as quickly and easily as possible.

We will also resume work to conduct research on legal aid fees and to implement changes informed by that research. Both of these areas of work will make it easier for solicitors to work with legal aid funding and for those who need help to obtain it.

Longer-term we will take forward a review of the whole system to ensure that it is adaptable, flexible, affordable and sustainable for the future.

We are committed to working with private sector law firms, third sector organisations and users of legal assistance services to develop that system and identify what primary legislation would be required to deliver it.

Question reference: S6W-34423

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) helps businesses meet their environmental and sustainability targets, and what specific metrics or outcomes are used to evaluate this.

Taking freight off congested roads and moving it by rail or water can have environmental and wider social benefits but it can be more expensive. Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) is therefore available to assist with the extra costs generally associated with moving freight by rail or water by offsetting the capital costs of providing the required freight handling facilities. It is also available to help companies reinvest in existing rail or water freight facilities where the traffic may revert to road transport.

The value of environmental and social benefits is based on calculating the benefits of removing one lorry mile of freight from road and transferring it to rail or water.

Monitoring is undertaken after a facility funded under the grant scheme becomes operational.

Transport Scotland requires applicants to provide a return of traffic passing through the grant-aided facility. Transport Scotland will require verified tonnages reports from the applicant, in cases where the applicant is required to provide evidence to corroborate the traffic the documentation required will be agreed prior to the award of grant.

Monitoring will cover an agreed period of time to allow the required environmental benefits from the grant to be accrued by the applicant.

Question reference: S6O-04396

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported view of the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland that proposed changes to legislation on religious observance diverge from the recommendation by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to allow young people to independently opt out of religious observance at school.

Question reference: S6O-04395

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on state schools of the UK Government's decision to make independent schools liable for VAT, how it plans to use any Barnett consequential funding resulting from this decision to support state schools.

Question reference: S6O-04401

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on Action 20 of the Housing to 2040 strategy to "streamline and accelerate the adaptations system".

Question reference: S6O-04399

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed the future of Greenock police station with Police Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-04394

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how Scotland’s recorded crime rate compares with other areas of the UK.

Question reference: S6O-04400

Asked by: Evelyn Tweed, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will work with the NHS to ensure that infrastructure is in place to meet demand for adult ADHD and autism assessments, in light of reports that NHS Forth Valley has closed its service.