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 43237 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-38726

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the number of buses ordered to date under the second phase of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB 2) by (a) manufacturer and (b) place of manufacture.

Through the second phase of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB) a consortium of companies was awarded £41.7 million capital from the Scottish Government to support the purchase of more than 250 vehicles and the installation of their supporting infrastructure.

ScotZEB 2 differs from previous rounds of support by extending the eligible vehicles to include zero-emission coaches. This programme is still in the delivery phase and the final totals of vehicles to be delivered are still subject to change. The consortium aims to deliver at least 252 vehicles by March 2026. The following table sets out the manufacturer. The Scottish Government does not collect data on the locations in which vehicles are manufactured.

Manufacturer	Number of Vehicles
Alexander Dennis	44
Yutong	171
Volvo	28
EVM	3
Wrightbus	4

Question reference: S6W-38739

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the total lease cost is for its offices at (a) Tankerness Lane, Kirkwall, (b) Longman House, Inverness, (c) Marine Scotland (Eyemouth), (d) Marine Scotland (Peterhead), (e) St Andrew's House, Edinburgh, (f) Cadzow Court, Hamilton and (g) 4 Atlantic Quay, Glasgow.

Tankerness Lane, Kirkwall; Longman House, Inverness; St Andrew’s House, Edinburgh and Cadzow Court, Hamilton are all owned under the core Scottish Government core estate.

The lease at 4 Atlantic Quay, Glasgow expired on 14 July 2024. Therefore, there are no lease costs applicable to these properties.

For the remaining properties, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37224 on 13 May 2025. 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-38722

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Transport Scotland publication, Islands Connectivity Plan The Vessels and Ports Plan for the Clyde and Hebrides and Northern Isles networks (2025 – 2045), whether it will list the fleet and port enhancement projects that it anticipates will be completed by 31 March 2026.

The Island Connectivity and Vessel and Ports Plan outlines our investment in new vessels and port and harbour projects that have been delivered within Phase 1 period of 2021-2026 reference to pages 11, 12 and 22 of the VPP.

Whilst we would have liked to have made more progress given the long lead-times for vessel and port projects, it was always known that a number of these projects would require further funding for construction beyond the five-year period of the IIP.

Question reference: S6W-38725

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the number of buses ordered under the first phase of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB 1) by (a) manufacturer and (b) place of manufacture.

Through the first phase of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB) operating companies were awarded £62 million capital from the Scottish Government to buy 273 zero emission vehicles and their charging infrastructure. The following table sets out the manufacturer. The Scottish Government does not collect data on the locations in which vehicles are manufactured.

Manufacturer	Number of Vehicles
Alexander Dennis	109
Yutong	116
Volvo	25
EVM	6
Mellor	3
Wrightbus	10
Switch Mobility	4

Question reference: S6W-35202

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many working groups currently exist within its (a) departments and (b) agencies, and how this compares with each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-38747

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any evidence that shows whether restocking Scottish rivers with brown trout reared in hatcheries is more successful than releasing hatchery reared salmon fry and parr.

Question reference: S6W-38720

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost is of the five-month extension to the time charter of the MV Alfred for CalMac ferry services to Arran.

Question reference: S6W-38579

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many incidents of aggression or violence towards female teachers in schools have been recorded in the past five years.

Question reference: S6W-38734

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it has measured any impact of the women’s health plan’s targeted training for key professionals on women and girls with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the impact of training for healthcare professionals on women and girls with a diagnosis of PMDD.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) published an eLearning module for healthcare professionals on Menstrual Health in September 2024. The module is available on TURAS, the education platform for NHS Scotland. To date, 211 learners have completed the resource with 59% of those completing the module evaluation. A further 728 learners are in progress.

Specific impact data for the section on premenstrual dysphoric disorder(PMDD) is not available. Initial evaluation data of the module as a whole suggests increased empathy and compassion, as well as practitioners reporting plans to change their communication and consultation styles because of the learning.

Question reference: S6W-39124

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to engage with community-led initiatives, such as the Kyles Coastal Community Group’s campaign for clean seas, to ensure that local knowledge and priorities are reflected in marine protection and wastewater management policies.