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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 43551 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-39630

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what representations it will make to ensure that television coverage of the Tour de France is free to air when the event comes to Scotland in 2027.

Question reference: S6W-39635

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it holds licences for use of (a) Glenigan and (b) BoCreate data collection systems to monitor planning applications and approvals.

Question reference: S6W-39579

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the costs were for the security resources that were dedicated to supporting President Trump’s visit to Scotland in July 2025.

Question reference: S6W-39638

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what data it collects on the number of homes granted planning permission outside of any statistics that are published.

Question reference: S6W-39600

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what enforcement notices or other regulatory actions the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has issued in relation to the Mossmorran natural gas liquids plant since 1 January 2022, and what remedial steps were required in each case.

Question reference: S6W-39526

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to publish its public sector pay award for 2025-26.

At this time there is no agreed pay award for Scottish Government.

Following a period of negotiation the Scottish Government made a formal pay offer to the recognised trade unions (PCS, Prospect, and FDA) on 14 July 2025. The offer was rejected by PCS and Prospect. FDA indicated they could not recommend acceptance to their members. We will continue to explore next steps with the trade unions to find a solution.

Question reference: S6W-39476

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 18 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce an NHS mobile app, similar to the NHS England app, to allow patients to, for example, arrange appointments and repeat prescriptions.

I can confirm that the initial release of an online app for Health and Social Care will be in December 2025. This is set out in our Operational Improvement Plan, as well as in the answer to question S6W-38145 on 11 June 2025.

Secure login using a unique ID through Scot Account

Receive digital letters from the dermatology team
View dermatology appointments
Access personal health information, including demographics, medications and allergies
Use a national service finder to locate health and care services

The online app will be expanded over the next five years with further capabilities as a key component of health and social care access to services.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Question reference: S6W-39430

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its proposed timeline is for bringing forward legislation on the slaughter of farmed salmon, following the publication of official guidance and in line with the recommendations of the Animal Welfare Committee and the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission.

The Scottish Government’s guidance on Welfare at the time of Killing in Salmon Farming, published on 17 July 2025, is based on the recommendations made by the UK Government's Animal Welfare Committee and developed in conjunction with the Scottish farmed salmon industry, Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA) and animal welfare organisations.

The Scottish Government takes the welfare of farmed fish very seriously and the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing is assured by the requirement at Article 3.1 of retained Council Regulation (EC) 1099/2009 that ‘animals shall be spared any avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations’. We have no current plans to introduce further legislation.

Question reference: S6W-39465

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the timeline is for translating the guidance, Scottish Government Guidance on Welfare at the Time of Killing in Salmon Farming, published on 17 July 2025, into legislation, as recommended by the Animal Welfare Committee and the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission.

The Scottish Government’s guidance on Welfare at the time of Killing in Salmon Farming is based on the recommendations made by the UK Government's Animal Welfare Committee and developed in conjunction with the Scottish farmed salmon industry, Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA) and animal welfare organisations.

The Scottish Government takes the welfare of farmed fish at the time of slaughter very seriously. This welfare is assured by the requirement at Article 3.1 of retained Council Regulation (EC) 1099/2009 that ‘animals shall be spared any avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations’. We have no current plans to introduce further legislation.

Question reference: S6W-39443

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff it has qualified to deliver cataract surgery in 2025, and how this compares with 2015.