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-42490

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact of the 2026 revaluation of eligibility for the Small Business Bonus Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-42489

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the reported average 120% increase in draft rateable values for self-catering businesses, and what assessment it has made of any potential implications for the financial sustainability of the sector and any impact on the rural economy.

Question reference: S6O-05290

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the long-term impact of battery energy storage systems on biodiversity and fire safety, and the long-term landscape and visual impact.

Question reference: S6O-05240

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding the illegal use of adapted e-bikes and e-scooters.

Question reference: S6O-05220

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on any potential negative impacts for local communities when asylum seekers are housed in large-scale sites in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-41824

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the introduction of an age-related automatic system of regular screening for prostate cancer.

Question reference: S6T-02762

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that its core operating costs have increased by £53 million between 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Question reference: S6W-41593

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 17 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its paper A Fresh Start with Independence and its proposed strategy for establishing a new currency in an independent Scotland, whether its policy for such a currency would include a formal convertibility guarantee to ensure that a Scottish pound would be exchanged at a fixed rate for sterling.

The Scottish Government’s proposals for the currency of an independent Scotland are highlighted in A Fresh Start with independence , and set out in detail in the Currency and fiscal policy section of Building a new Scotland: A Stronger economy with independence.

On independence, Scotland would continue to use the pound sterling for a period, before moving to the Scottish pound. The decision about when to do this would be taken by the Scottish Parliament, guided by transparent criteria and economic conditions, rather than a fixed timetable.

Decisions about the Scottish pound would also be made by the elected government and parliament at that time. Those would include the precise form of the currency regime for a Scottish pound including a fixed or floating exchange rate, informed by analysis and advice from the Scottish Central Bank.

Question reference: S6W-41588

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 11 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Retail Consortium’s suggestion, in its Delivering Real Growth manifesto, that there should be no new levies or taxes on the retail industry.

Question reference: S6W-41587

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Retail Consortium’s suggestion, in its Delivering Real Growth manifesto, that local referenda should be held whenever a local authority proposes an excessive increase in council tax.

The Scottish Government encourages local authorities to carefully consider the impact of council tax increases on local residents and their household finances.

Engaging with council taxpayers on the levels of tax proposed is a matter for local authorities. The Scottish Government is aware that local authorities often do so with residents in their areas, including formal consultation as part of annual budget-setting processes.

The Scottish Government’s means-tested Council Tax Reduction scheme continues to provide vital support to eligible households, helping to mitigate the impact of council tax increases on household budgets.

The Scottish Government recognises how vital the retail sector is to Scotland’s economy. It is committed to supporting the industry and will continue to engage directly with the sector, monitor the evolving impacts of the ongoing cost crisis and work with the UK Government to support Scottish businesses.