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-35948

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 31 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the findings and recommendations in the Shelter Scotland report, In Their Own Words: Children’s Experiences in Temporary Accommodation, what steps it will take to ensure that families in temporary accommodation do not face additional financial penalties as a result of becoming homeless.

The Scottish Government is taking wide-ranging action to support low income families and to help those in temporary accommodation to live dignified lives.

As part of over £3 billion of investment to tackle poverty and the cost of living for families in 2025-26, we have committed £644 million in our package of benefits and payments only available in Scotland. Among these, the Scottish Child Payment is forecast to be supporting the families of around 333,000 children. We are also continuing to invest around £1 billion a year to provide 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare to all three and four year olds and eligible two year olds, helping children to get the best start in life and parents to work and earn more, and supporting families through free bus travel for all under 22s, and free school meal provision for all children in primaries 1 to 5.

We have committed to strengthening the support available to families by further expanding free school meal provision, investing to enable the expansion of breakfast clubs across Scotland, and by developing the systems needed to scrap the impact of the two-child cap by April 2026.

In 2025-26, the Scottish Government will allocate at least £15.8 million for the provision of free income maximisation support, welfare and debt advice, an increase on our allocation for these services in 2024-25.

Scottish Government modelling, published on 27 March 2025, showed that on average, households with children in the poorest 10% of households are estimated to be £2,600 a year better off in 2025-26 as result of Scottish Government policies, with this value projected to grow to an average of £3,700 a year by 2029-30.

A household offered temporary accommodation can be asked to pay a reasonable charge for any accommodation provided directly by the local authority, or a reasonable amount for accommodation supplied by another provider but paid for by the local authority. In deciding what is reasonable, the local authority should take account of the household’s earnings and what the household can afford to pay.

If the household has no income or a low income, the local authority must help the applicant apply for Housing Benefit to help cover the cost of temporary accommodation.

We recognise that there are other costs households may face when living in temporary accommodation, including travel, energy and household equipment costs.

The Scottish Government funds local authorities to administer and disburse the Scottish Welfare Fund. The fund provides emergency support and a lifeline to people in need, through crisis grants to help meet immediate short-term needs arising from exceptional circumstances and community care grants to help eligible people establish or maintain a settled home.

Question reference: S6O-04513

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is engaging with Highlands and Islands communities on the future of land reform policy.

Question reference: S6W-35570

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the £750,000 that it provided for aid in Gaza, what its response is to the Israeli government's reported decision to block such aid for people in Gaza, and what information it has on whether any aid that it has provided or funded will be impacted.

Since the current escalation began, Scottish Government has provided £1m to support humanitarian response efforts in Gaza and the wider region. £750k of this was channelled through the UN Relief and Works Agency in November 2023. These funds have been fully used to provide food, medicine and shelter for displaced people in Gaza.

We provided a further £250,000 to the Disasters Emergency Committee, Mercy Corps and SCIAF in November 2024. I am concerned that the current Israeli blockade of aid entering Gaza, now in its third week, could lead to delays in this lifesaving support reaching the men women and children who so desperately need it.

I urge all parties to reengage in negotiations in good faith and with due regard to their obligations under international humanitarian law which requires the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief.

Question reference: S6O-04314

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its policies on land reform and land use, what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding any action that can be taken to tackle land banking investment scams in the Highlands and Islands, in light of the reported impact that such scams can have on the right of a community to have more of a say in how the land that they live on is used.

Question reference: S6O-04265

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to the Scottish Prison Service to help give people in custody the best chance of reintegrating into the community at the end of their sentence.

The Scottish Government provides funding to local authorities and third sector delivery partners to provide throughcare support to people leaving custody to help them transition back into the community.

This includes over £3 million a year to support short-term prisoners address essential needs such as healthcare, social security payments, housing and employment opportunities. This support is available across the prison estate and begins 12 weeks before an individual is released.

We will be building on this existing support by funding a new national throughcare service for all short-term prisoners and those on remand, commencing in April 2025.

Question reference: S6W-34323

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jim Fairlie on 28 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to bring forward legislation to change the close season for female deer.

The Scottish Government consultation “Managing deer for Climate and Nature” proposed implementing the recommendation from the independent Deer Working Group’s report of January 2020, to make changes to the close season for female deer. These changes may be made by order under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996. However, following consultation with stakeholders, I have concluded that, in most cases, the cull levels required to reduce the overall deer population to support nature and climate objectives can be achieved within existing deer seasons. Where it is necessary to cull outwith existing seasons, there will continue to be the ability to apply to NatureScot for authorisations. In coming to this decision, I have taken careful note of the potential distress caused to many stalkers by being required routinely to shoot heavily pregnant female deer and I have decided against any wider change to the timings of the female close season.

Question reference: S6W-33123

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether funding can be made available from its More Homes budget to support registered social landlords to bring Gypsy/Traveller sites up to standard.

Question reference: S6W-33122

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what funding is currently available for registered social landlords responsible for Gypsy/Traveller sites to bring sites up to standard.

Three Social Landlords, Clackmannanshire Council, Highland Council; and Perth and Kinross Council, have been allocated a total of £5,826,765 in 2024-25 from the Gypsy/Traveller Accommodation Fund to re-build their Gypsy/Traveller sites. Nearly £15 million of the Fund has been spent or allocated between 2021-22 and 2024-25 to allow a total of six Social Landlords to progress projects.

In addition, the formula for the Local Government block grant for 2024-25 included an element of £0.7 million that took account of the number and size of Gypsy/Traveller sites within each local authority. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them (including through the block grant in relation to Gypsy/Traveller sites), on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Question reference: S6W-32396

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the outcome of its review into its target to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.

Work to finalise the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) Review is ongoing and at present no publication date has been set. The key purpose of the Review is to consider the responsiveness, impact, efficiency, value-for-money and deliverability of the AHSP. It is not a Review of the 110,000 affordable homes supply target. The Scottish Government remains committed to achievement of this target and we have increased the affordable housing budget by over £200m in 2025-26 to ensure we continue to deliver the homes Scotland needs.

Question reference: S6O-04193

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it prioritised funding for affordable housing when drafting its Budget for 2025-26.