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-36664

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 25 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered launching a national campaign to encourage people to sign up to be an on-call firefighter.

Decisions concerning the recruitment of on-call firefighters is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Changing demographics can make the recruitment and retention of on-call firefighters particularly challenging in some communities. However, this picture is not replicated across the whole of Scotland which means a national campaign may be of limited benefit and a more targeted approach might be more appropriate.

Question reference: S6W-36763

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 25 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made any assessment of the reported competitive disadvantage faced by west coast fishermen following changes to the minimum landing size for lobster.

Scotland’s diverse fishing industry is subject to a variety of management measures including temporal and spatial restrictions on gear deployment, vessel type and catch. As with the 2017 change to minimum landing size for lobster, there are instances where management measures vary between areas, to help ensure sustainable fisheries. It should be noted that the 2017 measures were informed by scientific advice, a 12-week public consultation and engagement with our Regional Inshore Fisheries Group (RFIG) network.

Decisions made regarding the management of Scotland’s commercial fisheries are based on stock assessment advice provided by our scientific advisors and we recently shared updated reports based on landings from 2020 – 2023 with our stakeholders.

In addition, the Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics publication has information on landings and sales data, and can be accessed through the Scottish Government website. This can be used to compare the landings of different species and different geographic areas.

Question reference: S6W-36662

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service requires new equipment to fight wildfires.

Question reference: S6W-36658

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any discussions with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service regarding the condition of fire stations, and, if so, what the outcome of any such discussions was.

The Minister for Victims and Community Safety regularly meets with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) Chief Officer and Board Chair where a wide range of issues are discussed, including the capital budget allocation and the SFRS estate. The Scottish Government is aware of the condition of fire stations and has increased the capital funding for SFRS from £32.5m in 2023-24 to £43m in 2024-25 and to £47m in 2025-26. The allocation of resources is a matter for the SFRS Board.

Question reference: S6W-36663

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to recruit more (a) on-call and (b) full-time firefighters.

Question reference: S6W-36660

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered reforms to the fitness test for new firefighters.

Question reference: S6W-36661

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any discussions with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service about providing extra funding for the purchase of new equipment to fight wildfires, and, if so, what the outcome of any such discussions was.

The Scottish Government’s budget for 2025-26 includes £412.2 million for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) which is an increase of £18.8 million. This will enable SFRS to continue to deliver the high standard of services required to keep communities safe. This includes an increase from £43 million to £47 million in capital funding which will allow the service to invest more in property, fleet and equipment. The allocation of resources is a matter for the SFRS Board.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with SFRS to ensure continuing priority is given to the implementation of its wildfire strategy. The Service’s planned spend is circa £1.6 million over the course of the 3 year roll-out of its strategy. New equipment, vehicles and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) continues to be rolled out and SFRS will fully implement its wildfire strategy during the course of 2025. As part of its strategy SFRS is adopting ‘burn suppression’ techniques such as those in use in the new Mediterranean-style specialist wildfire units. Due to extensive training and the use of new techniques, SFRS’s ability to tackle wildfires has never been so advanced.

Question reference: S6W-36659

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs has had with the (a) Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, (b) Fire Brigades Union and (c) Fire and Rescue Services Association since 29 March 2023, and what was discussed.

Question reference: S6O-04601

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve public transport connectivity in south west Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-36420

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35953 by Natalie Don-Innes on 27 March 2025, whether it will publish the minutes of these meetings, and those of any subsequent meetings that the National Bairns’ Hoose Governance Group has held since July 2024.