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: S6T-02302

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of unauthorised absences from schools.

Question reference: S6F-03773

Asked by: Collette Stevenson, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2025

To ask the First Minister, in light of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, UK Poverty 2025, whether he will provide an update on the Scottish Government's actions to tackle poverty in Scotland, including in relation to any potential impact of planned UK Government welfare reforms.

Question reference: S6F-03764

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2025

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the recent CBI report, which reportedly suggests that businesses are preparing to “cut staff and raise prices”.

Question reference: S6F-03762

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2025

To ask the First Minister whether he will join HM The King and other world leaders in commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz extermination camp and offer his reflections on the theme of this year's Holocaust Memorial Day, "For a Better Future".

Question reference: S6F-03751

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2025

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6F-03745

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-03746

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-33784

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided to (a) Police Scotland and (b) other agencies in each of the last five years to safeguard defence-related companies against any criminality arising from protests in relation to their operation.

It is for the Chief Constable, working with the working with the Scottish Police Authority, to determine how to allocate its budget to meet policing priorities including any safeguards any criminality arising from protests. In 2025-26, the Scottish Government will increase police funding to £1.62 billion to support police capacity and capability. This includes almost £57 million in additional resource funding – an increase of 4% compared to 2024-25 published budget.

Question reference: S6W-33698

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting research and innovation in optometry to improve the early detection of eye conditions.

Under General Ophthalmic Services arrangements in Scotland, all community optometry practices are required to have a range of equipment (including a digital retinal imaging equipment) to support the early detection of eye disease.

The SCONe project (https://clinical-sciences.ed.ac.uk/ophthalmology/scone) is a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh, Glasgow Caledonian University and the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. It brings together the retinal images taken during an NHS eye examination with other routinely-collected healthcare data within Scotland’s NHS National Safe Haven. The first aim of SCONe is to analyse these images in order to evaluate changes in the macula and age-related macula degeneration.

Question reference: S6W-33684

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact of community optometry services on reducing hospital referrals for eye-related conditions.