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-38915

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 9 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether there has been an assessment of the potential impact on dementia services of any budget reductions by Integration Joint Boards.

Question reference: S6W-38775

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether Flamingo Land Lomond Banks will pay for the land at Balloch, and, if so, how much it will pay.

Question reference: S6W-35411

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 9 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much public money has been spent to date on defending legal challenges related to its policies on gender self-identification.

There have been a number of court cases in recent years relating to gender. Some of them did not relate to gender self-identification. In one of them, the Scottish Government was the pursuer rather than the defender. I list the position in relation to four cases below.

The cost of defending the judicial review of the original definition of “woman” for the purposes of the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018 was £216,063.60.

The For Women Scotland Ltd v the Scottish Ministers case determined earlier this year by the UK Supreme Court concerned the statutory guidance issued by the Scottish Government under the 2018 Act. This guidance referred to the legal sex of persons with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) and the correct interpretation of “woman” in that context. The current system for obtaining a GRC is not a form of gender self-identification. Costs for this case are still being calculated and will be published in due course.

In the judicial review challenging the Section 35 Order made by the Secretary of State for Scotland which prevented the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from proceeding to Royal Assent, the Scottish Ministers were the petitioners rather than the defender. The final costs of this case will be published shortly.

In November 2021, Fair Play for Women brought a judicial review in relation to guidance issued by National Records of Scotland, a non-ministerial department of the devolved Scottish Administration, for the Scotland’s Census 2022 question ‘what is your sex?’. In February 2022, the guidance was found to be lawful. Upon appeal, this decision was upheld. Fair Play for Women were found liable to pay Scottish Ministers’ expenses to the sum of £69,500.

Question reference: S6W-38919

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it can take to ensure that the recognition agreement between Serco NorthLink and the RMT Union for staff on the MV (a) Hrossey, (b) Hjaltland and (c) Hamnavoe ro-pax vessel on the Northern Isles Ferry Services contract is extended to cover seafarers on the MV (i) Helliar and (ii) Hildasay freight vessel on the same contract.

Question reference: S6W-39102

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many publicly operated electric vehicle (EV) charge points have been installed in the Scottish Borders in each year since 2015.

The UK Government regulates public electric vehicle (EV) charging and publishes Official Statistics on public charging infrastructure on a quarterly basis by local authority area. The most recent data was published in April this year and showed 109 public charge points in the Scottish Borders. Further data may be available from the UK Government upon request.

Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electric-vehicle-public-charging-infrastructure-statistics-april-2025

Question reference: S6W-38921

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to assess any merits of activating the break clause in Transport Scotland’s current contract with Serco for the Northern Isles Ferry Services.

Question reference: S6W-38922

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether CMAL is the sole employer of seafarers working on the MV (a) Helliar and (b) Hildasay freight vessel operated by NorthLink Ferries.

Question reference: S6W-39183

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will monitor and enforce the return to use of the reported 43,000 long-term empty properties.

Question reference: S6W-39240

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent from Pupil Equity Funding on additional staffing in schools since its introduction, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S6W-39241

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many recorded accidents there have been on the Edinburgh City Bypass in each year since 1999.