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-44367

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-43887 by Gillian Martin on 5 March 2026, what steps it is taking to work with trade unions to promote Fair Work principles in private contracts for domestic (a) production, (b) transmission and (c) distribution of offshore renewable energy.

Question reference: S6W-44368

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-43888 by Gillian Martin on 2 March 2026, whether it has sought clarification from SSEN that its definition of “specialist” jobs covers all seafarer grades.

Question reference: S6W-44386

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Cabinet Secretary for Transport’s statement to the Parliament on 3 March 2026 on Ferries and Ports, on what date it expects CMAL to sign the legal agreement with Peel Ports for the public purchase of Ardrossan Harbour.

Question reference: S6O-05693

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its cross-government co-ordination on island connectivity, what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues on how to ensure that public transport meets the needs of island communities.

Question reference: S6F-04758

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 March 2026

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that the Scottish Information Commissioner is taking legal advice on further legal action against the Scottish Government and his comments that he “can no longer trust the Government to handle this information unsupervised".

Question reference: S6O-05662

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that its Budget 2026-27 adequately funds health and social care partnerships to deliver services, including social care.

Question reference: S6W-43887

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will undertake an urgent assessment of the five contracted partners in SSEN Distribution’s £950 million framework for improving subsea grid connections for Scotland’s island communities, in relation to upholding the aims of the Fair Work Convention, which was renewed on 19 February 2026.

SSEN’s £950 million framework does not include any public funding, and the Scottish Government does not have the levers to enforce Fair Work conditions on private investments.
Employment law is reserved to the UK Government.
The Scottish Government strongly encourages all employers in Scotland to follow Fair Work principles as part of its wider Fair Work agenda, and is using all the levers available to us to make Fair Work the norm by promoting and embedding Fair Work within every Ministerial portfolio and across the economy, including through our Fair Work First conditionality policy.

Question reference: S6W-43886

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with CalMac regarding any anticipated increase in commercial shipping activity in the west of Scotland over the next five years.

The Scottish Government meets regularly with CalMac to discuss a wide variety of matters related to the Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Services.

For example, SSEN Transmission’s Lewis Hub will lead to an increase in demand for commercial vehicle movements to Stornoway over the next five years. CalMac and Transport Scotland have been working closely with SSEN Transmission to understand their plans to minimise impact on the Stornoway to Ullapool route and ensuring that our lifeline ferry services remain resilient for those who rely on them.

Question reference: S6F-04731

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 March 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 March 2026

To ask the First Minister, in light of the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day being equal rights and equal justice, what action the Scottish Government is taking to improve the legal rights of women and girls.

Question reference: S6W-43888

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 2 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of seafarer jobs that will be created in Scotland by SSEN Distribution’s five-year contract for improving subsea grid connections for island communities in the west of Scotland.

Scotland’s strengths and areas of competitive advantages positions us well to seize the opportunities of net zero.

The Scottish Government welcomes the investment by SSEN Distribution, which will help upgrade the subsea network serving Scotland’s islands, improving its resilience, and supporting Scotland’s net zero ambitions. It will also support thousands of high-quality green jobs and drive growth across the local, regional, and national economies as part of our net zero transformation.

SSEN estimate the investment will support more than 450 specialist jobs for every year the agreements are in place with a minimum contract period of 5 years.