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-42749

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected 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.

Question reference: S6W-42750

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

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will undertake an analysis of the operation of the thrice-weekly rail link between the Port of Liverpool and the Mossend EuroTerminal in North Lanarkshire since it was established in 2018, regarding what effect it has had on displacing container shipping volumes from the Port of Greenock on the River Clyde, which reportedly has the capacity to handle a throughput of 100,000 TEU per year.

Question reference: S6W-42680

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will request that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde commission a plan for the disposal and marketing of the category A-listed East House at Gartnavel Royal Hospital for residential conversion, if it is no longer required for any clinical purpose.

Question reference: S6W-42399

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 17 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported announcement on 3 December 2025 by Micron, which is one of the largest suppliers of memory chips, that it would no longer be selling to the consumer market from February 2026, what work it is undertaking to protect consumers and small businesses dependent on affordable computer parts.

We are proud of Scotland’s world class strengths in semiconductors technologies which form a part of our critical technologies supercluster. We are committed to supporting its growth through our national cluster building initiative to support economic growth and resilience. The supercluster is a significant economic asset of strategic importance for both Scotland and the UK and is on track to reach £10 billion turnover by 2035.

As global leaders like Micron focus on advanced memory and AI chips, there will be rising demand for high-end packaging, testing, and integration. This is a Scottish strength and makes the new National Advanced Semiconductor Packaging and Integration Centre (NASPIC) under NMIS more important and valuable.

The global semiconductor market has long been vulnerable to market fluctuations and we believe there is much the UK Government can do to strengthen national supply chain sovereignty, particularly on energy costs and greater capital investment in semiconductor fabs.

Question reference: S6W-42431

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 17 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has engaged with the Home Office about the UK Government exercising its break clause in the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract with Mears in Scotland from March 2026 and exploring an alternative model for delivery of asylum accommodation and support with local authorities and charities.

Question reference: S6W-42397

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6O-05245 by Kate Forbes on 4 December 2025, whether it will confirm the (a) expected timetable for the laying before Parliament of the proposed legislation to create legal identities for Scotland's city regions, (b) powers that these new legal entities will have and (c) systems that are being considered to ensure that decisions are made by those with democratic mandates and not unelected city region officials.

We are committed to enabling regional co-operation, which is why last month the First Minister announced a plan to bring forward legislation in the next parliament to allow Regional Partnerships to become legal bodies. As is normal practice, we will provide details of the timetable for the next legislative programme in the next Parliament.

We are proposing a flexible approach, in which different Partnerships can ask for different powers at a level that works best for them. This will create a dynamic model of implementation which recognises Scotland’s regional differences. We intend to develop our approach in partnership and will engage with COSLA, regional groupings, and other interested stakeholders on the range and scope of powers.

We want to create a system that works for Scotland and accountability is an important part of that. However, this does not mean that we should directly copy the May oral model from England.

Question reference: S6W-42405

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 15 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what further action it plans to take to tackle the problem of underage vaping, in light of the report from the Faculty of Dental Surgery suggesting that 7.4% of 11- to 17-year-olds vape regularly.

Our Tobacco and Vaping Framework launched in November 2023 recognises the need for action to prevent young people using vapes and becoming addicted to nicotine. Up-to-date information on vapes is available from NHS Inform, Young Scot and third sector partners. It also forms one strand of the Curriculum for Excellence Health and Wellbeing Guidance in our schools.

The Framework also recognised price as a tool to reduce appeal of tobacco products and inappropriate use of vaping products by children and young people. Single use vapes (SUV) have been linked to a rapid increase in the number of young people vaping, particularly due to their low price. The SUV ban came into force from 1 June 2025 in line with the rest of the UK.

Taking forward actions from our Framework, we have worked closely with the UK and Devolved Governments on the development of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. The UK-wide Tobacco and Vapes Bill will introduce new restrictions on the advertising, sponsorship, free distribution and nominal pricing of vaping products across the 4 nations.

New powers in the Bill will include regulation of displays of vaping products, product features, packaging, ingredients and flavourings in relation to vaping products across the UK.

Alongside this activity, we continue to work closely with the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) to support enforcement of existing legislation, including checks on sales of tobacco and vapes to under 18s, and advice to business.

Question reference: S6W-42582

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to make the recognition of qualifications and re-accreditation processes more accessible and affordable for displaced Ukrainians living in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-42584

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made with delivery partners on implementing action 3.4 of the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy Delivery Plan 2024-2026 on promoting better understanding of qualification recognition pathways.

Question reference: S6W-42583

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on implementing the recommendations of the independent review of community learning and development on the effective delivery of ESOL classes for displaced people, particularly in relation to expanding community-based language learning.