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: S7W-04104

Asked by: David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kirsten Oswald on 22 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the experiences of neurodivergent people, including those with ADHD and autism, when accessing Scotland's justice system.

We are committed to ensuring that the voices of people with lived experience help shape policy.

As part of the work developing possible proposals for a Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence (LDAN) Bill, including on access to Scotland's justice system, we engaged with neurodivergent people, people with learning disabilities, organisations representing them and practitioners working across the justice system. This included our Bill Advisory Panels, organisations such as ARC Scotland and People First (Scotland), which co-run the lived experience group of the SOLD Network, and justice agencies including Police Scotland and the Scottish Prison Service. We also sought views through a public consultation.

While the Bill is not being progressed, the lived experience evidence gathered through the development of its proposals, including for the justice system, will continue to shape future policy and delivery.

Question reference: S7W-04271

Asked by: David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will undertake a full public consultation on the proposed national planning guidance for data centre developments exceeding 50MW power capacity, and if so, whether it will commission an independent analysis of the responses to the consultation.

Question reference: S7W-04276

Asked by: David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make funding available for new applications to the Nature Restoration Fund during 2026–27 and, if so, when NatureScot will open a new application round.

Question reference: S7W-04103

Asked by: David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS), Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) regarding their current policies and practice, and how each of these organisations ensure that requests for reasonable adjustments made by neurodivergent people are not interpreted as evidence that they lack capacity to participate in legal proceedings.

Question reference: S7W-04105

Asked by: David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) and justice agencies concerning what actions, if any, they are taking to ensure that requests for reasonable adjustments made by neurodivergent people are implemented consistently.

Question reference: S7O-00367

Asked by: David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that vehicles seized by the police in connection with criminal or antisocial use are disposed of in a way that prevents them from re-entering circulation and being involved in further offending.

Question reference: S7O-00310

Asked by: David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of its support for local authority acquisition and buy-back schemes in reducing homelessness and the use of temporary accommodation.

Question reference: S7W-02873

Asked by: David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 18 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether any changes are being considered to simplify and speed up the business rates appeals process, and what steps are being taken to reduce the administrative burden and costs associated with lodging an appeal.

Business owners and tenants who consider their property’s rateable value to be inaccurate should have access to timely recourse, and a two-stage appeals system was introduced in 2023 to incentivise early information-sharing and quicker resolution between parties.

Scottish Ministers also introduced a number of reforms to increase transparency in the non-domestic rates system at the 2023 revaluation and make it easier for ratepayers to understand how the rateable values of their properties have been determined. This includes the publication of draft valuations on 30 November the year before revaluation, and of lists of comparable properties, the rents of which were used to derive the basic rate applied in the valuation of many property types, as well as the introduction of the opportunity for property owners and occupiers to pre-agree their rateable values in legally binding arrangements, before revaluation.

All ratepayers who believe their rating valuation is incorrect, may lodge an evidence-based proposal with the Assessor within prescribed timescales, and may in some cases appeal the outcome of the proposal to the Local Taxation Chamber, first-tier Tribunal, also within specified timescales.

Proposals against the 2026 revaluation could be lodged until 31 July 2026, and Scottish Assessors have compiled a list of Non-domestic Proposal Disposal Dates relating to these proposals. The details are published at the Scottish Assessors’ Portal.

We want to ensure that the appeals process has the capacity to deliver timely outcomes and are committed to examining how the Government can support increasing the capacity of the Local Tax Chamber to support that process.

Question reference: S7W-02874

Asked by: David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the preferred funding approach for the Lochgelly Medical Centre.

There is no further update at this time as work continues to a standardised approach to delivery across the programme. As set out in the answer to S7W-00342 on 5 June 2026, a further announcement on programme priorities and funding approach will be provided once available to follow. 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: S7O-00221

Asked by: David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the criminal trade in counterfeit cigarettes in local communities, including what support it provides to trading standards departments.