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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

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 4 May 2021
  6. Session 6: 13 May 2021 to 8 April 2026
  7. Current session: 14 May 2026 to 30 August 2026
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Question type

Displaying 750 questions Show Answers

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Question reference: S7W-02728

  • Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 27 August 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential contribution of areas in which only static fishing gear is permitted ("static-gear reserves") to the recovery of inshore fish populations, particularly through reducing (a) seabed disturbance and (b) bycatch.

Question reference: S7W-02736

  • Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 27 August 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Consumer Scotland's briefing, An equitable postal service for the islands, what its position is on the need for (a) tailored Quality of Service standards for deliveries to island postcode areas, and (b) mobile and community-run post offices that complement existing services.

Question reference: S7W-02735

  • Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 27 August 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Consumer Scotland's briefing, An equitable postal service for the islands, what steps it is taking to ensure that third-party parcel delivery operators provide clear consumer rights information.

Question reference: S7W-02734

  • Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 27 August 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Consumer Scotland's briefing, An equitable postal service for the islands, what steps it is taking to improve engagement between postal operators and island communities.

Question reference: S7W-02636

  • Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
  • Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment in the 2026 Scottish National Party manifesto to continue Scotland's '"land reform journey" in a new Rural Renewal Bill, what its position is on reviewing the historic right to ferry in Scots law as part of the Bill, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Question reference: S7W-02675

  • Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
  • Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK Government's joint committee report on biodiversity collapse, what progress has been made toward reaching a decision on the planning application for the proposed golf development at Coul Links since the report was submitted to the Scottish Ministers on 29 August 2025, and by what date that decision will be issued.

Question reference: S7W-02635

  • Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
  • Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has given any consideration to reviewing the historic right to ferry in Scots law and, if so, what reforms it has considered.

Question reference: S7W-02315

  • Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 06 August 2026
  • Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reasons why Good Environmental Status was not achieved for seafloor integrity by the statutory deadline of 2020, and by what revised date it expects this status to be achieved in Scottish waters.

Question reference: S7W-02317

  • Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 06 August 2026
  • Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it will complete and publish a quantitative and spatially specific assessment of the contribution that measures in the 2025 Programme of Measures under the Marine Strategy Regulations 2010 are expected to make towards Scotland's agreed share of UK-wide seafloor integrity targets.

Question reference: S7W-02316

  • Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 06 August 2026
  • Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the timetable for implementing outstanding seafloor integrity measures from the 2015 Programme of Measures and the relevant measures in the 2025 Programme of Measures, as recommended by Environmental Standards Scotland in its report Protecting Scotland's seafloor.