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-43210

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the programme to build three Fleet Solid Support (FFS) ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary is facing early disruption due to a cash flow shortage at Liberty Steel Dalzell in Motherwell, which has left the company unable to purchase steel slab to start production, despite the order to supply 34,000 tonnes of rolled steel plates for the FSS programme, and whether it will engage with Sir David Murray about his reported interest in acquiring the Dalzell Plate Mill with government support.

Question reference: S6W-43181

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42791 by Mairi Gougeon on 13 January 2026, (a) what its position is on whether (i) national security encompasses a wider scope than the matters reserved by Schedule 5, Section 9 of the Scotland Act 1998 and (ii) the recent Strategic Defence Review, in particular chapter 6 (Home Defence and Resilience: A Whole-of-Society Approach) and chapter 7.2 (Maritime Domain), affords significant scope for the Scottish Government to exempt its procurement of vessels under the provision of Section 45 of the Subsidy Control Act 2022, and (b) whether it will agree to discuss this matter with the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Defence.

Question reference: S6W-42844

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the overbridge that carried Gourlay Street over the railway at Cowlairs in Glasgow was removed without replacement in 2016 as part of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) electrification works, and whether it will instruct Network Rail Scotland to commission a replacement footbridge to reconnect Gourlay Street.

The overbridge at Gourlay Street in Cowlairs was removed by Network Rail, as part of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme, as it did not have sufficient clearance for the installation of Overhead Line Electrical Equipment.

Network Rail sought the necessary consents to permit its removal. An alternative crossing point is available at Keppochhill Road overbridge, which crosses the railway approximately 100m south of the former Gourlay Street overbridge.

Transport Scotland has no plans to instruct a footbridge at Gourlay Street.

Question reference: S6W-42931

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to NHS Scotland in relation to utilising its greenspaces, parks and woodlands to improve patients' mental health through nature immersion.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting NHS Scotland to improve patients’ mental health through a range of different resources, including the utilisation of greenspaces.

We are supporting NHS Boards – in their role as ‘Anchor institutions’ within their communities - to increase use and disposal of their land and assets for community benefit, including the use of green space within their estates.

On 17 June 2025, the Scottish Government and COSLA published the Population Health Framework (PHF), which sets out a whole-system, cross-government and cross-sector approach to improving population health and reducing inequalities over the next decade. The Framework builds on existing action in Scottish Government, including the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund.

Among the PHF’s 30 actions is the development of a National Social Prescribing Framework for Scotland. This includes the provision of referral links to health and wellbeing support in local communities, including a wide range of activities in nature. The Scottish Government has committed to strengthening access and ensured sustainability of good quality public and green spaces, green networks, recreational spaces, play and sports amenities. This supports improving physical and mental health, creates healthy and sustainable places by working in and with communities and supports our response to climate change.

Furthermore, we continue to engage with organisations such as Trellis, who provide therapeutic horticulture to improve physical and mental health, while offering a range of additional services including peer support, healthy living activities, community development, and independent advocacy.

Question reference: S6W-43152

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what social value percentage weighting will be applied to bids for phase three of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB3).

Question reference: S6W-43153

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding phase three of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB3), whether it has instructed Transport Scotland to disregard any tenders from any specific non-treaty state suppliers, as defined by s19(3)(b) of the Procurement Act 2023.

Question reference: S6W-43154

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the ongoing investigation by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre in relation to “kill switches” in Chinese-manufactured buses, and how this has informed the design of the procurement regime of phase three of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB3).

Question reference: S6W-42749

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reasons for all-sector new housing completions and starts not having recovered to their pre-2007-08 financial crisis trend of around 25,000 homes per annum.

The Scottish Government works closely with the housing sector to monitor delivery on the ground and to overcome issues where they may arise. Brexit and inflation have had a significantly depressing effect on the economy as a whole and on housebuilding as part of this. Our response to the housing emergency takes a whole-system approach, maximising growth and investment, to alleviate pressures on households to build the capacity needed to deliver.

Our Housing Emergency Action Plan, launched in September sets out our ambition to increase all tenure housing delivery by 10% per annum over the next three years committing up to £4.9bn over the next four years to deliver around 36,000 affordable homes.

Question reference: S6W-42794

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will initiate discussions with Glasgow City Council on jointly acquiring the site of the former ABC venue on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow to facilitate the implementation of the Vision and Delivery Plan for the Golden Z prepared by Stantec, Threesixty Architecture and Kevin Murray Associates, which was approved by Glasgow City Council in August 2023 and proposes that the fire-damaged buildings on the site be cleared for a landscaped terrace, in light of reported concerns that the current planned redevelopment risks undermining the efforts to fully restore the Glasgow School of Art Mackintosh Building.

Question reference: S6W-43076

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the development of an updated National Performance Framework.