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-00342

Asked by: David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when the Capital Investment Group received the full business case for the Lochgelly Medical Centre from NHS Fife, and whether formal approval has been provided.

In June 2022, an outline business case for the replacement of Lochgelly health centre was submitted to the Scottish Government. However, it did not progress to full business case stage and no formal approval to proceed to construction has been provided. In December 2023, all health boards were instructed to pause projects not already in construction due to budget constraints. This included the Lochgelly project, which was therefore not taken forward under previous arrangements.

The Scottish Government is now taking forward a whole-system NHS infrastructure plan to inform future investment priorities. As part of this, a primary care infrastructure investment programme, announced in the Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline (13 January 2026), has identified an initial tranche of 12 priority areas, including Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly.

The programme is focused on areas rather than a fixed number of individual medical centres, the scale and configuration of facilities in each area will be determined through detailed service planning. The inclusion of Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly within this programme supersedes the previous standalone Lochgelly Medical Centre proposal. It may be helpful to clarify that ‘Cowdenbeath’, as referenced in the Infrastructure Delivery Plan, is used in the context of the Scottish Parliament constituency geography, rather than indicating a specific facility such as Cowdenbeath Health Centre. The pilot programme reflects a broader place-based approach, encompassing Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly and surrounding communities. No decision has been taken at this stage on whether elements within priority areas, such as Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly, will be progressed as single or separate projects.

Work is already underway to develop a standardised approach to delivery across the programme, alongside the development of a revenue funding model led by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Futures Trust. This includes consideration of a Scottish variant of the Mutual Investment Model.

Ministers are expected to take decisions on programme priorities and the preferred funding approach during the course of next year, with a further announcement to follow. On current assumptions, construction is expected to begin from around 2031. Funding will be considered as part of these wider decisions.

Question reference: S7W-00556

Asked by: David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 5 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government which organisations are expected to receive the proposed £3 million funding for the Rosyth to Europe ferry link, and what discussions it has had with those organisations to date.

Question reference: S7W-00551

Asked by: David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 4 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the sale of illegal disposable vapes in high street premises, including those that do not comply with safety or nicotine content regulations.

The Scottish Government supports strong alliances to tackle the availability of illicit vapes. This includes working with The Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) and across the 4-nations as part of the Cross Government Vape Enforcement Committee, which is led by the UK Department of Business and Trade.

Local Government have a responsibility to ensure local budget decisions deliver local and national priorities, including enforcement of existing legislation sales, illicit tobacco and vapes, and the single use vape ban.

In 2025-2026, Scottish Government made available an additional £300,000 to local authorities to support implementation of the ban on single use vapes, including storage and responsible disposal of any single use vapes seized. Local authorities now also have powers to issue fixed penalty notices of up to £800 for anyone found to be selling or supplying single-use vapes.

Question reference: S7O-00039

Asked by: David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what work is being done to ensure that regulatory and consenting frameworks support the deployment of low-carbon heat recovery technologies from rivers, estuaries and coastal waters.

Question reference: S7O-00011

Asked by: David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to bring forward the delivery of a new Lochgelly Health Centre before 2031.