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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-43288

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42412 by Gillian Martin on 16 December 2025, what guidance it provides to officials on whether information that is available for release through Freedom of Information legislation should also be provided in response to a parliamentary question.

Question reference: S6W-43290

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what training it provides to its officials responsible for drafting answers to parliamentary questions, and whether this includes training delivered by officials responsible for responding to Freedom of Information requests.

Question reference: S6W-43292

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42412 by Gillian Martin on 16 December 2025, whether it held the total cost information relating to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy’s attendance at the COP30 UN climate summit at the time that the answer was provided.

Question reference: S6W-43293

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the role of parliamentary questions in enabling parliamentary scrutiny in instances where information that is available through administrative processes such as Freedom of Information requests is not provided in answers to similar parliamentary questions.

Question reference: S6W-43291

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government who is responsible for deciding whether detailed cost information is included in an answer to a parliamentary question, and what criteria are applied when determining whether such information should instead be released through proactive publication or in response to Freedom of Information requests.

Question reference: S6W-43289

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42412 by Gillian Martin on 16 December 2025, and in light of the information provided in the response to a request under Freedom of Information (FoI) legislation, dated 20 January 2026, what steps it takes to ensure consistency between information released by officials responding to parliamentary questions and those responding to FoI requests.

Question reference: S6W-43286

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was of each night of the accommodation for the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy while attending the COP30 UN climate summit.

Question reference: S6W-43296

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether alternative accommodation options were considered for the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy’s attendance at the COP30 UN climate summit, and, if so, what the cost range was of these options.

Question reference: S6W-43295

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many nights of accommodation were booked for the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy for her attendance at the COP30 UN climate summit, and what the total accommodation cost was.

Question reference: S6W-43135

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the evidence given by the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee on 14 January 2026, what records it holds of occasions, since 2021, on which a planning decision by a local authority was called in by the Scottish Ministers.