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-38948

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will rule out using income generated from any new or increased taxation to fund a minimum income guarantee.

We have no plans to change tax policy in Scotland to finance a Minimum Income Guarantee. As part of Scotland's Tax Strategy, the Scottish Government has committed to exploring the reforms needed to continue to deliver sustainable and growing tax revenues in the future.

The independent Minimum Income Guarantee Expert Group commissioned a range of research to support their recommendations. We thank them for this work and will take the time to respond in due course.

Question reference: S6W-38936

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 16 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Alexander Dennis and NFI Group regarding the company's reported proposed relocation of manufacturing to England.

Question reference: S6W-38792

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 16 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the Chief Scientist Office’s budget for excess treatment costs has been in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-38818

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many children and young people living in temporary accommodation have been required to move school in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-38791

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 16 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has undertaken with stakeholders regarding a workable solution to enable patients in Scotland to take part in proton beam therapy clinical trials, and what the estimated timeline is for the conclusion of any such work.

Scottish Government Officials have held 2 stakeholder meetings including representatives from the NHS Boards to discuss access for patients in Scotland to Proton Beam Therapy clinical trials delivered at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust Proton Beam Therapy Centre in Manchester.

These meetings took place on 23 January 2025 and 23 April 2025. In addition officials have held numerous calls with individual stakeholders.

Question reference: S6W-38758

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the report, Older People’s Economic Wellbeing Index: Scotland 2024–25, by Independent Age, which found that almost one in four (24%) older people with a health condition are not aware of Pension Age Disability Payment or its predecessor, Attendance Allowance, how it will raise awareness of the financial support available to older disabled people.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone takes up the support to which they are entitled and has worked closely with stakeholders in designing Pension Age Disability Payment and promoting take-up.

This includes ensuring that people can apply in the way that suits them best, including online, by phone, through paper form or in person through our Local Delivery service, and an extensive marketing campaign, including through social media, paid advertising and engaging directly with people in their communities. This summer Social Security Scotland will carry out a further marketing campaign to reach older people who may be eligible for support.

Question reference: S6W-38895

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the total current round of funding for the Housing Infrastructure Fund has been distributed to date.

Question reference: S6W-38884

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the use of bioenergy fuels, such as renewable liquid gases, in heating systems will be permitted as part of its proposed Heat in Buildings Bill.

The provisions of our proposed Heat in Buildings Bill will take a technology-neutral approach to decarbonising Scotland’s buildings, enabling building owners to choose the technology which is right for them. While not appropriate for most homes, bioenergy – as a low carbon, renewable energy source – can be the best solution to decarbonise heating heat homes in some communities. We intend to ensure that sustainable bioenergy and biofuels remain an option for these communities.

Question reference: S6W-38903

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is any statutory impediment to Glasgow City Council or any of its network of wholly and partly owned arm's-length external organisations (ALEOs) becoming a registered social landlord.

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2010 sets out the legislative criteria for becoming a Registered Social Landlord (RSL) and the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) sets regulatory criteria under section 25 of the 2010 Act. A prospective RSL must meet both sets of criteria to be eligible for registration. The SHR have set out their registration criteria and constitutional requirements for social landlords in their Regulatory Framework. They will assess each application to determine whether the applicant body will be a viable organisation that can meet the demands of managing a social landlord’s business and providing services to tenants.

Question reference: S6W-39087

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Scotland in each of the last 10 years have been mergers and acquisitions of Scottish-headquartered businesses.

The Scottish Government uses a variety of sources to measure Scotland’s inward investment performance, including data from Scottish Enterprise and independent analysis published annually in the EY UK Attractiveness Survey for Scotland. Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) is not a classification that the Scottish Government or Scottish Enterprise use when measuring the performance of inward investment projects into Scotland. Scottish Enterprise classifies projects as new, expansion and safeguarding projects and as such, does not collect information on M&A activity. The UK Government’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) provides estimates for M&A activity in Scotland based on their own internal definitions, classifications and methodology.

Scotland continues to attract new high quality investment projects, according to the latest EY survey published in June 2025. Scotland has maintained its position as the top performing region or nation of the UK for foreign direct investment (FDI) projects outside of London, for a record tenth year and is the sixth best performing region in Europe.