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: 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-43083

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 it is doing to help local authorities develop best practice for the conservation of badgers.

Question reference: S6W-42925

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the 3-30-300 vision for tree coverage in Scotland, and whether this is a useful mechanism for cities to envisage increased tree coverage.

The Scottish Government welcomes visions that promote the appropriate expansion of tree and woodland coverage across Scotland. We recognise the value of the 3-30-300 rule, alongside other mechanisms for identifying urban areas with low tree cover, as a means to target planting where it can deliver the greatest benefits. This includes building more resilient communities and addressing the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.

Our commitment to increasing access to urban woodlands and trees is demonstrated through support for the Woodlands In and Around Towns grants under the Forestry Grant Scheme, and through funding partnerships such as the Forth, Clyde and Fife Climate Forests that are delivering projects to expand tree canopy cover across towns and cities in Central Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-42974

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to children on CAMHS waiting lists who risk ageing out of being eligible for treatment prior to receiving a diagnosis.

Question reference: S6W-42793

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 14 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider emulating the practice adopted by the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, which is building an entirely open-source, digitally sovereign ecosystem for its public sector to reduce vendor lock-in, enhance interoperability and improve data security.

Question reference: S6W-43006

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the amendment of legislation to enable a smoking and inhalation space at The Thistle drug consumption facility pilot in Glasgow.

Question reference: S6W-43007

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership on the extension of the operating hours of The Thistle safe drug consumption facility pilot in Glasgow, in light of a reported shift in drug use from heroin to cocaine at the facility.

Question reference: S6W-42801

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has taken place with the development of a Product Stewardship Plan, as set out in the Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030.

The Scottish Government has committed to bring forward a product stewardship plan in 2026 that sets out how we will tackle the environmental impact of priority products.

The draft circular economy strategy, which was published for consultation in October 2025, proposes that clothing, mattresses, and at least one other product will be prioritised for further action policy actions, in addition to ongoing action on our existing priorities of packaging, electronics, batteries, vehicles and end-of-life fishing gear. The consultation also sets out proposed principles of alignment with the EU where appropriate, ongoing collaboration across the UK, working with businesses to support innovation and additional voluntary measures, and ensuring end of life products are managed in accordance with the waste hierarchy.

Zero Waste Scotland are conducting research to underpin an evidence-based approach to products based on environmental and economic impact, and potential policy actions. This includes the “Product Stewardship Considerations for Textiles in Scotland” report, published by Zero Waste Scotland in December 2025. The outcome of this work will help inform the priority products identified in the final circular economy strategy, due to be published in March 2026. A product stewardship plan is planned for publication later in 2026 to set out the policy actions proposed over the life of the next Scottish Parliament.

Question reference: S6W-42802

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has taken place in the creation of a model for regional Scottish hubs and networks for the reuse of construction materials and assets, as set out in the Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030.

Zero Waste Scotland is leading on the work to support the development of a model for regional Scottish hubs and networks for the reuse of construction materials and assets.

They are working with a consortium of European partners to undertake an EU Horizon project – Circular Construction Finance (CirCoFin). CirCoFin aims to accelerate the circular transformation of the construction sector by helping cities and regions across Europe to create infrastructure and financial mechanisms to support the reuse of building materials. Example projects are being set up in Munich, Copenhagen, Lisbon and Scotland.

CirCoFin is also working towards creating a common step-by-step approach to developing Circular Construction Hubs through the development of a practical set of tools and templates.

The aim of the Scottish project is to develop a proposal for the Circular Construction Hub model which is tailored to the specific national and regional context of Scotland. The project is divided into phases - Pre-feasibility, Feasibility, Appraisal, Due Diligence and Bankability, and Roll Out. In year one, progress has been made on the pre-feasibility phase, including initial stakeholder engagement and pre-feasibility analysis to help understand key challenges and opportunities and support thinking on potential business models, materials and locations.

Further information on the range of activities undertaken to date is available from Zero Waste Scotland and information on CirCoFin in general is available online at https://circofin.eu/.