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: S7O-00401

Asked by: David Green, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2026
Current Status: Due to be taken in the Chamber on 28 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve access to chronic pain services.

Question reference: S7W-04329

Asked by: David Green, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 16 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many live homeless applications there were in each local authority area on Christmas Day in 2025, and how many (a) adults and (b) children these related to.

Question reference: S7W-03815

Asked by: David Green, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that the specific needs of the comedy sector are considered in the development and delivery of its cultural funding policies.

Scottish Government will deliver an additional £20 million in funding for culture in 2026-27 as the next major step in honouring its commitment to provide an additional £100m annually for culture by 2028-29. This takes the total annual increase in the culture budget to £70 million since 2023-24 and follows the record increase of over £34 million in 2025-26 which is the biggest rise in culture funding in the history of this Parliament after COVID-19 recovery support.

Creative Scotland, our arts development body, distributes the majority of direct cultural funding in line with Ministerial priorities while operating at arm's length from Ministers which means Ministers cannot intervene in those decisions. Comedians and those working in similar creative roles in the comedy sector are welcome to apply to Creative Scotland's Open Fund, providing they also meet the other criteria for the fund.

The Open Fund for Individuals is designed to support creative activity such as a specific project, production or a period of research and development. It cannot support the general running costs of creative businesses.

Question reference: S7W-03813

Asked by: David Green, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the current health and sustainability of the professional comedy sector.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken a formal assessment of the overall health and sustainability of Scotland’s professional comedy sector. However, we recognise that professional comedy faces many of the same challenges as the wider cultural sector, underlined by our commitment to provide an additional £100 million annually for culture by 2028-29.

Creative Scotland supports comedy practitioners and organisations through funding for creative development, new work, venues and festivals as well as strategic initiatives undertaken by Screen Scotland to support screen-based comedy.

In addition, the Scottish Government is providing £500,000 to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society in 2026-27 to support its digital transformation and wider work supporting artists of all varieties, including comedy, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This investment reflects our commitment to supporting the resilience and long-term sustainability of Scotland’s cultural sector.

Question reference: S7W-03814

Asked by: David Green, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to create career development and progression opportunities for emerging comedians and professionals working in the comedy sector.

The Scottish Government recognises the important contribution that comedy makes to Scotland’s cultural life. While there are no dedicated comedy-specific support programme, emerging comedians and professionals working in the comedy sector can access a range of development opportunities through our wider investment in Scotland’s arts, culture and festivals infrastructure.

Through our continued support for Creative Scotland, funding is made available to individuals and organisations across the performing arts, including those working in comedy, through programmes such as Open Fund for Individuals and Open Fund for Organisations. These funds can support a wide range of research, development and project activity.

The Scottish Government is additionally providing £500,000 to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society in 2026-27 to support digital transformation and its wider work supporting artists and the sector, which includes comedy artists.

More broadly, the Scottish Government's wider investment in culture, fair work, and skills aims to support the conditions for sustainable careers across the creative economy.

Question reference: S7W-03816

Asked by: David Green, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that financial barriers do not prevent people from lower-income backgrounds from pursuing careers in the cultural sector, including comedy.

The Scottish Government is committed to broadening access to creative careers and working to alleviate the financial barriers that often prevent talented people from lower-income backgrounds from pursuing opportunities in the cultural sector, including comedy.

We recognise that entering and sustaining a career in the cultural sector can present financial challenges. Our commitment to Fair Work is central to addressing financial barriers. The Scottish Government welcomed the report published by the independent Culture Fair Work Task Force late last year, and a response will be published in due course. We continue to encourage fair pay and fair working practices across the cultural sector and have embedded Fair Work principles within our funding arrangements through Fair Work First.

We have an opportunity to explore new approaches to supporting sustainable artistic careers through the commitment to pilot a Scottish Artists Minimum Income. We recognise the need for meaningful consultation and co-design with artists and creative workers as part of this process.

Question reference: S7W-03812

Asked by: David Green, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with representatives of the comedy sector regarding the challenges facing comedians, promoters, producers and venues, and what consideration it has given to strengthening the sector’s representation in the development of cultural policy.

The Scottish Government recognises that live comedy makes an important contribution to Scotland’s cultural life and our reputation as a vibrant, creative and innovative nation. Creative Scotland supports comedy practitioners, venues and festivals through a range of funding routes. We continue to consider views from across the creative sectors, including comedy performers, in developing cultural policy, including the minimum income pilot for artists. This will provide opportunities for the experiences and challenges of those working in comedy to inform our approach.

Question reference: S7W-04011

Asked by: David Green, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reported loss of specialist collections, curatorial and learning roles across the museum sector, and what steps it is taking to retain these skills.

Question reference: S7W-04012

Asked by: David Green, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether museum and gallery closures are likely to fall disproportionately on communities outside the central belt.

Question reference: S7W-04009

Asked by: David Green, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will place the Museum Futures programme on a permanent, multi-year footing rather than continuing it as a time-limited programme.