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-35217

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it sought or received any expert advice on construction cost controls for the replacement of HMP Inverness and, if so, whether it will publish this.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The SPS engaged the services of legal advisers and cost consultants to advise on cost controls within the contract. It would not be appropriate for SPS to publish this advice as it is commercially sensitive information, however, SPS will publish a summary of their Business Case on their website.

Question reference: S6W-35250

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it is giving to the reported community concerns regarding the culling of feral goats in Eskdale, and whether a form of protected status is a potential option to preserve their existence.

The Scottish Government understands that feral goat populations may need to be managed as part of a sustainable grazing management plan. Sometimes feral goat numbers need to be reduced to prevent damage to sensitive habitats or forestry interests, in much the same way deer are required to be managed. As the landowners, it is for Oxygen Conservation Limited to consider how any reduction in the feral goat population should be achieved in practice. I understand that the landowner is not calling for eradication of the feral goats but that all future herbivore management will be informed by monitoring the species.

The Scottish Government does not intend to provide feral goats with protected status. Feral goats are a non-native species and it is an offence to release any non-native species without a licence from NatureScot.

Question reference: S6W-35215

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the Shetland Islands Regional Marine Plan to be adopted.

Question reference: S6W-35270

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints regarding quadbikes and off-road vehicles have the police received in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-35185

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients were on waiting lists for rheumatology services (a) in total and (b) for over three months, in each of the last five years.

Public Health Scotland's (PHS) Stage of treatment (Sot) Publication provides statistics on the length of time patients wait to be seen as a new outpatient or admitted for treatment as an inpatient or day case The latest publication release contains data to quarter ending 31 December 2024

Longer trend information can be found in the following tables:

New outpatient appointments (‘1.6 Table’): https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/31761/newop_mar25.xlsx

Inpatient or day case admission (‘2.6 Table’): https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/31760/ipdc_mar25.xlsx

Question reference: S6W-35186

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients were on waiting lists for physiotherapy (a) in total and (b) for over three months, in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-35169

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) contractors and (b) sub-contractors received funding from the £3.7 million it has provided for the Offshore Skills Energy Passport.

Question reference: S6W-35091

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-27451 by Fiona Hyslop on 23 May 2024, what repair works have been completed, broken down by date, and what works (a) are still to be completed and (b) have since been identified, also broken down by the (i) the cost and (ii) date of completion of these works.

A revised version of the maintenance programme listing, updated February 2025, can be found in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 65666).

Table A lists the works completed in 2024-25 with the recorded construction costs indicated against the month in which the works were recorded as being finished, bearing in mind that some works could have taken several months to undertake.

Table B provides an updated listing of works that have been identified and included within the forward maintenance programme along with the current estimated construction costs. Some of works are already underway and others will be programmed over the coming months/years in line with our annual prioritisation process. The timing of these works is also subject to the availability of funding and operational constraints.

Question reference: S6W-35153

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered the impact of the usage of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and similar thermoplastics in the food and beverage industry on the (a) inshore, (b) coastal and (c) offshore deepwater marine environment.

We know the majority of marine litter is plastic and we know that it has a negative impact on the health of our environment and biodiversity. That is why the Scottish Government’s policy is to reduce the consumption of single use materials. This is in line with the waste hierarchy, which prioritises reduction and reuse over all other interventions.

To help tackle the most problematic types of marine litter the Scottish Government published an updated Marine Litter Strategy in 2022 with an action plan, this will drive forward our work from 2022 to 2027 and co-ordinates the efforts of our stakeholders and partners.

Question reference: S6W-35150

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 March 2025

The Scottish Government has not researched the impact of PET on public and children’s health. The Scottish Government’s policy is to reduce the consumption of single use materials regardless of composition. This is in line with the waste hierarchy, which prioritises reduction and reuse over all other interventions.

As a Regulated product, food contact materials need to be authorised before they can be used and placed on the market.

Regulation 178/2002 aims to protect human health and consumer’s interest in relation to food. It applies to all stages of production, processing and distribution of food and feed with some exceptions. Food businesses must comply with food and feed safety law.