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-40068

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will specify the use of Scottish-grown and manufactured cross-laminated timber (CLT) in the building standards technical handbooks and supporting documents.

Question reference: S6W-39712

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commission a new design options appraisal for the cancelled Edinburgh Airport Rail Link (EARL) project as a means of providing a direct heavy rail connection between Edinburgh Airport and Glasgow Queen Street Station.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to investigate a new rail link connecting Edinburgh airport to the current Edinburgh to Glasgow rail line.

The second Strategic Transport Projects Review, published in 2022, did consider this but did not identify this as a priority for investment given the current opportunities that exist for air passengers travelling by rail from Glasgow and the west, to interchange with the Edinburgh Tram service to the airport.

The Government remains committed to supporting sustainable and integrated transport solutions that strengthen Scotland’s connectivity and economic resilience.

Question reference: S6W-39959

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendations in the recent Strategic Defence Review, particularly those contained in chapter 6 (Home Defence and Resilience: A Whole-of-Society Approach) and chapter 7.2 (Maritime Domain), whether it will consider the potential designation of future vessels procured by Scottish Government-owned public corporations and executive agencies, including roll-on/roll-off ferries and marine protection and research vessels, as necessary for national security purposes and apply the exemption from the provisions under section 45 of the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

Question reference: S6W-39999

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its policy to not use public money to support the manufacture of munitions or weapons, what its position is on whether an SSN submarine is a weapon in itself, as opposed to a naval vessel that may be used as a platform to carry conventional non-nuclear weapons or munitions.

Question reference: S6W-39946

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take in response to reported concerns that low-level fraud has effectively been decriminalised, with there being no one to report it to and the platforms that enable it not taking any action to stop it.

Question reference: S6W-40000

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer (KLTR) will publish a list of all the ownerless property that it currently holds within the Glasgow City Council area by virtue of (a) ultimus haeres (estates of people who died without heirs or a will) and (b) bona vacantia (property last owned by dissolved companies).

Question reference: S6W-39998

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will engage with partners on the proposed AMIDS South transport links project in Paisley to promote the integration of a Very Light Rail (VLR) shuttle line between the Glasgow Airport terminal building and Paisley Gilmour Street railway station, in light of the proof of concept achieved by the Coventry Very Light Rail (CVLR) project.

Question reference: S6W-39958

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-39238 by Richard Lochhead on 18 August 2025, whether it will seek consent from firms to publish the name of their businesses in future publications and rankings, such as Businesses in Scotland, to improve the quality of analysis, in a similar manner to the annual published list of the 300 highest income charities on the Scottish Charity Register.

Question reference: S6W-39833

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any impact on its National Strategy for Economic Transformation, what its response is to reported comments by tech entrepreneur, financier and co-founder of Arm, Hermann Hauser, that there are three litmus tests for tech takeovers, whether control of the technology is still in the UK, whether there is access from other countries, and, if not, whether the UK seller has guaranteed, unfettered, secure access, and that, if the answer to all three is no, then the "danger is of becoming a new vassal state to these tech giants… of a new kind of colonialism”.

Question reference: S6W-39733

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government to what extent Kaldor's growth laws are considered in its policies for economic growth and industrial development.

Kaldor’s growth laws align with the Scottish Government’s economic and industrial strategies through emphasis on sectoral growth as a driver for overall economic progress. The National Strategy for Economic Transformation outlines a ten-year plan to build a fair, green and growing economy, focusing on entrepreneurship, new markets, productivity, skills and equitable opportunities. The Green Industrial Strategy, published in 2024, identifies wind, carbon capture, professional and financial services, hydrogen, and clean industries as priority sectors, with targeted investment in these areas to maximise benefits from the global move to net zero.

Furthermore, the 2025 Programme for Government sets out investment in priority sectors such as renewable energy and advanced manufacturing.