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-38199

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what alternative environmental taxes, such as those related to incineration, have been considered to replace the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund.

The Scottish Landfill Communities Fund remains operational. A public consultation closed on the 6 June, which will inform decisions on the future of the fund. There are no current plans to introduce a new incineration tax. However, the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) Authority, made up of the Scottish Government, UK Government, Welsh Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in the Northern Ireland has announced the intention to expand the ETS scheme to cover waste incineration from 2028.

Question reference: S6W-38141

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider commissioning an independent review of the consistency and transparency of decisions made by ministers in cases where public inquiry recommendations have been decided against in favour of renewable energy development.

Question reference: S6W-37944

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider progressing a Dundee Northern Relief Road to reduce conflict between strategic and local traffic in Dundee, and to improve the connectivity of Aberdeen to the Central Belt, including Edinburgh, and what it estimates the cost of such a project is.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to take forward a Dundee Northern Bypass or Relief Road. The A90 is an important part of Scotland’s Trunk Road network and passes through suburban Dundee, thus serving both strategic need through traffic and the need for local accessibility.

An upgrade to the A90 Kingsway or a possible Dundee northern bypass was considered as part of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2), published in 2022. After careful analysis and assessment of the evidence, the national level appraisal concluded that a bypass could provide accessibility benefits for Dundee’s northern communities and reduce journey times for through-traffic on the A90.

However, the scale of these benefits was relatively modest in comparison to the significant environmental and financial costs of a new road. Further, this option did not score well with Transport Scotland’s Sustainable Investment Hierarchy, where the rationale for investment in transport infrastructure projects is to maintain and make best use of our existing transport assets, over building new infrastructure. Taking the totality of the evidence, it was considered that the case for investment in a relief road for Dundee was therefore not sufficiently proven.

Further analysis also noted that major on-line changes to the A90 through Dundee were not considered feasible and reallocation of road space to other purposes was likely to have adverse consequences for traffic routeing. Therefore, the recommendation from STPR2 was that further, more detailed work was required, in the form of an Integrated Transport Plan, to develop a solution that delivered for local residents and strategic through-traffic alike.

A preliminary construction cost estimate for a potential bypass was developed for the STPR2 transport appraisal in 2021. However, given the intervening period and the resulting construction price inflation that has occurred since, these estimates are now out of date.

Question reference: S6W-37978

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that Creative Scotland maintains political neutrality in its grant-making.

Creative Scotland assesses all applications made - irrespective of theme, subject matter or artform - in accordance with the published criteria and guidance for each funding stream. This guidance states explicit restrictions on the use of funding provided by Creative Scotland for party political activities. The terms and conditions of the agreements entered into with successful applicants further support this position, making clear that funding awarded cannot be used for such activities.

Question reference: S6W-37977

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the independent review of Creative Scotland will include scrutiny of all funding decisions over the last five years.

I agreed the remit of the Review of Creative Scotland with the independent Chair, Angela Leitch, and it is available on the Scottish Government’s website at the following link: Independent Review of Creative Scotland: remit - gov.scot

The review will include consideration of Creative Scotland’s finances and distribution of funds.

The Review is independent of the Scottish Government and will deliver its recommendations in November.

Question reference: S6W-37636

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of potential job losses in the north east that could result from a possible “presumption against new exploration for oil and gas", as set out in its Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.

Decisions on offshore oil and gas licensing, as well as on consenting and the associated fiscal regime, are matters currently reserved to the UK Government.

The Scottish Government is clear in its own support for a just transition for Scotland’s valued offshore oil and gas sector, which recognises the maturity of the North Sea basin and is in line with our climate change commitments and energy security.

Question reference: S6W-37829

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of daily water production is lost due to leakage, and how this compares with the rest of the UK.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

Annual leakage levels are published in Scottish Water’s annual report and accounts which are routinely laid before Parliament and available online at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/Help-and-Resources/Document-Hub/Key-Publications/Annual-Reports. Data for England and Wales is published by Ofwat at https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/publication/leakage-dataset-june-2025/

The leakage figure reported by Scottish Water currently equates to circa 24.7% of water supplied. Leakage is a function of an ageing asset base, and rates are affected by the increase in extreme weather conditions.

If seeking to compare leakage in Scotland with other parts of the UK, it should be noted that Scottish Water’s network is different to many others due to the remote nature of many rural and island communities, as well as the topography and length of pipework used. Direct comparison is difficult due to the very localised nature of how leakage is calculated. When all the various factors are considered, Scotland’s leakage rate appears marginally higher than the average for the UK, however it is still comparable.

Overall, Scottish Water has made great progress and since 2007 has reduced leakage by some 58%.

Question reference: S6W-37891

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will track progress towards net zero in the agriculture and land use sectors.

I refer the member to our recently published Climate Change Plan Update Monitoring Report for 2025, which shows our progress against the individual policies in the agriculture and land use sectors.

The most recent Scottish Greenhouse Gas Statistics from 2022 show that, compared to the 1990 baseline, emissions in land use are down 96.3% and agriculture is down 11.9%. The Climate Change Committee’s recent carbon budget advice to the Scottish Government projects that agriculture will form a part of our residual emissions to 2045, to be offset by land use sinks and engineered removals.

Question reference: S6W-37846

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people with autism who are currently detained in hospital have been for over 10 years, and whether it plans to review any such cases.

The Dynamic Support Register (DSR) provides a mechanism for national data collection relating to people with learning disabilities and complex care needs. However, the DSR does not include data broken down by specific conditions or diagnoses, including autism.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) collect and publish the DSR data quarterly, with the most recent collection for the quarter ending 26 December 2024, published in March 2025. This publication reported that forty people with learning disabilities and complex care needs in Scotland had been in hospital for ten years or more. The DSR full March PHS report is available here: Insights into learning disabilities and complex needs: statistics for Scotland - 18 March 2025 - Insights into learning disabilities and complex needs: statistics for Scotland - Publications - Public Health Scotland. The next DSR data collection will be published by PHS in June 2025.

In 2024, we asked the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland (the Commission) to review the care and treatment of people with learning disabilities and complex care needs who had been in hospital for over ten years. The Mental Welfare Commission Report is available here: Hospital is not home

We are continuing to engage with the Commission and system leaders to address these delays and ensure that people’s human rights are upheld.

Question reference: S6W-37844

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Human Rights Commission’s reported view that the treatment of autistic people resembles that of a “bygone era”.

The Scottish Government is firmly committed to building a country that ensures equality of opportunity for all by embedding equality, inclusion and human rights into everything that we do. That includes ensuring that the rights of all neurodivergent people, including those with autism, are respected, protected and championed.

We are continuing to deliver work across government and with national and local partners, combining a national focus with strong local leadership.

Work is continuing on the proposed Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence (LDAN) Bill, which presents a unique and world-leading opportunity to help create a society where being neurodivergent or having a learning disability is as accepted as being neurotypical.