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-41295

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to encourage organisations to buy from Scotland's social enterprises.

Question reference: S6W-41280

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether there should be trade union representation on the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council.

Question reference: S6W-41284

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to ensure that Scotland's pathway networks are accessible and safe.

Question reference: S6W-41283

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will support Glasgow City Council and Glasgow's 59 housing associations to establish a Common Housing Register to improve the efficiency of housing stock allocation in the city.

Question reference: S6W-40704

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason no UK-based shipbuilding firms have reportedly been invited to tender for the two new freight flex vessels for the Northern Isles.

Question reference: S6W-40706

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the procurement process for the two new freight flex vessels to serve the Aberdeen-Kirkwall/Lerwick route has been aligned with the recommendation in the March 2022 publication, National Shipbuilding Strategy - A refreshed strategy for a globally successful, innovative and sustainable shipbuilding enterprise, that "a minimum 10% social value weighting should be applied to evaluations in new competitions...in line with HM Treasury Green Book guidance and the Cabinet Office Social Value Model" so that a 30-year cross-government shipbuilding pipeline is framed to encourage participation from the UK supply chain.

Community benefits and social value are part of the ground-breaking Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 which the Scottish Parliament passed over a decade ago. That Act requires public bodies to consider how procurement exercises can improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of their areas, facilitate the involvement of SMEs, the third sector and supported businesses, and promote innovation. It also required them to specifically consider whether to include community benefits in contracts worth £4 million or more.

The £16.6 billion of Scottish public procurement spend in 22-23 is estimated to have generated around £13.7 billion of economic activity for Scotland, contributing £7.5 billion to Scottish GDP, and supporting around 120,000 full time equivalent jobs. £3.3 billion of public sector procurement spend was with suppliers based within the local authority area of the purchasing body. During 23-24 alone, Transport Scotland contracts achieved 613 new entrant positions, 72 graduate positions and 36 apprenticeships.

CMAL as procuring authority look to secure benefits for local communities including local training and employment opportunities.

Question reference: S6W-40707

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will apply section 45 of the Subsidy Control Act 2022 to the procurement of two new freight flex vessels to serve the Aberdeen-Kirkwall/Lerwick route, in light of their reported critical national security role in the maintenance of a lifeline link between the Northern Isles and Scottish mainland in the case of a national emergency or attack on critical infrastructure and, if so, whether it will withdraw the invitations to tender from non-UK shipbuilding firms and issue invitations to tender to UK-based businesses only.

Ferries, although vital to the islands communities and businesses, do not meet the definitions required to apply Section 45 of the Subsidy Control Act. I would also refer the member to the answer to S6W-40705 on 3 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Question reference: S6W-40705

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what expressions of interest have been received from UK-based shipbuilding firms for the design and build of the two new freight flex vessels to serve the Aberdeen-Kirkwall/Lerwick route.

Question reference: S6W-40708

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will disregard bids for the two new freight flex vessels to serve the Aberdeen-Kirkwall/Lerwick route from companies from countries that do not have a free-trade agreement with the UK, in line with the provisions in the Procurement Act 2023 and the Scottish regulations.

Question reference: S6W-40644

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what body currently provides practice-level oversight of private dental practices in Scotland, and if no such body exists, whether it has considered creating one.