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-01702

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact on children and young people of approximately 42,000 nationally waiting for a neurodevelopmental assessment since March 2025, and what action it is taking to reduce waiting times, in light of available NHS board data suggesting median waits ranging from 22 to 141 weeks.

Question reference: S7W-01748

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce stricter penalties for antisocial behaviour on buses.

Question reference: S7W-00603

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 10 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to produce specific guidance on and to make regulatory changes to the approval of data centres within current or future planning frameworks.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of data centres to Scotland’s digital infrastructure and is engaging with planning authorities, the energy sector and other stakeholders to understand emerging development trends. Whilst there are no current proposals for sector-specific guidance or regulatory changes, the need for further guidance will be kept under review and considered as part of ongoing work, and the National Planning Hub will continue to work on Data Centres, developing knowledge, capacity and understanding with Local Government.

Question reference: S7W-00262

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 9 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the budget gap forecast by COSLA in its report, National Strategy and Guidance - Charges Applying to Social Care Support for people at home, in which it projects the gap to increase to £528 million in 2026-2027.

Local Authorities are legally required to set a balanced budget for each upcoming financial year and all 32 councils agreed balanced budgets for 2026-27, ahead of the statutory deadline of 11 March 2026.

The Scottish Government appreciate the pressures facing Local Government and that’s why the Local Government Settlement provided record funding of £15.7 billion for 2026-27, including a quarter of a billion pounds of unrestricted General Revenue Grant and full flexibility on council tax. The vast majority of funding allocated by the Scottish Government is provided by means of a block grant and it is then for individual Local Authorities to allocate the total resources available to them, on the basis of local needs and priorities, including for Social Care Support for people at home.

The Scottish Government has a long history of working with COSLA and Local Authorities to make sure council finances are sustainable and that available resources can meet long-term commitments. Decisions on future Local Government Settlements will be the subject of negotiations with COSLA on behalf of all 32 Local Authorities and announced as part of the outcome of future Scottish Budgets.

Question reference: S7O-00052

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update regarding the future of the Elmwood Campus of Scotland’s Rural College in Cupar.

Question reference: S7W-00261

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 3 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to fund local authorities to enable them to fulfil their social housing stock obligations to make every property net zero compliant by the relevant deadline.

Since 2021, we have provided almost £90 million of funding to social housing providers, including local authorities, through the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund (SHNZHF). This has supported the installation of clean heating and energy efficiency measures to over 13,000 homes, helping tenants reduce their energy bills and emissions, while addressing poor energy efficiency as a driver of fuel poverty.

In our 2026-27 budget, we committed over £300 million to Heat in Buildings capital programmes for retrofit and energy efficiency improvements, including in social housing. I can confirm that the SHNZHF opened to new applications on 23 March and closed on 11 May, with the appraisal of the applications received now underway.