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-00184

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of ministerial comments regarding concerns about the discharge of licensing functions by Highland Council, whether it plans to review the governance arrangements under which local authorities discharge civic licensing functions.

Question reference: S7W-02482

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Friday, 14 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 1 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the construction of purpose built rental homes, in light of recent figures indicating that 1,466 such homes were under construction in 2026, representing a 27% decrease compared with the previous year.

The Scottish Government has taken significant action to support the Build to Rent sector.

During the previous Parliament the Scottish Government brought forward regulations which exempt mid-market rent and build-to-rent properties from any rent control restrictions, introduced using powers in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025. Laying these regulations demonstrates our commitment to providing policy certainty which the sector made clear was required.

The Scottish Government is in regular contact with both Real Estate: Scotland and providers to monitor how the sector is responding. Ministers will continue to work closely with industry to ensure the conditions are in place to support continued investment in more quality homes.

Question reference: S7W-02378

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Monday, 10 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 31 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting charity groups such as Mesothelioma UK, the Scottish Mesothelioma Network and Action on Asbestos.

Scottish Government is committed to and has a strong record of working with a range of third sector organisations to help shape cancer services and support people affected by cancer.

The Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 and Cancer Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026 set out a number of ambitions premised on third sector partnership working and delivery.

We recognise and value the important contribution of organisations such as Mesothelioma UK, the Scottish Mesothelioma Network, Action on Asbestos, the Clydebank Asbestos Group and the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce in supporting people affected by mesothelioma and other asbestos-related conditions.

The Scottish Government supports Mesothelioma UK's Action Mesothelioma Day campaign, which plays an important role in raising awareness of mesothelioma and asbestos-related disease. In recent years, we have supported this through a parliamentary debate on mesothelioma, and by lighting up blue St Andrew's House and Victoria Quay buildings to join the campaign to 'Go Blue for Meso'.

Question reference: S7W-02376

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Monday, 10 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 31 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many dedicated mesothelioma nurses are currently employed in Scotland, and whether this number has increased over the past 20 years.

Question reference: S7W-02325

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 31 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government for a progress update on the National Hospital Flow Plan which it committed to producing within the first 100 days of the 7th Session of the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Government is today publishing the Health and Care Improving Flow Plan 2026-2031, delivering our commitment to publish a National Flow Plan within the first 100 days of this administration.

The Plan sets out our ambition for one connected system, simple routes to care, ensuring every person receives the most appropriate response as quickly as possible. It outlines action to improve navigation into care, expand home and community-based services, strengthen discharge arrangements, improve acute hospital flow, and tackle overcrowding and corridor care.

The Plan has been developed jointly with Scotland East and Scotland West Sub-National Planning Committees and informed through engagement with NHS Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships, clinicians, national agencies, care providers and other partners. Detailed operational implementation arrangements an collaboration with partners will continue to be developed following publication.

Through delivery of this Plan we will improve access to care, support more care closer to home, reduce delays and improve outcomes for people across Scotland.

Question reference: S7O-00168

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take in response to the joint statement from all local authority chief social work officers declaring an emergency in the social care system, particularly in relation to the shortage of homes and social care for vulnerable children.

Question reference: S7W-02125

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 26 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent surveys by Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) Fife, which indicate that safe and essential educational provision has been compromised by restrictive school budgets across Fife, and whether it plans to provide emergency support to local authorities experiencing difficulties in supplying basic education supplies for classrooms, including jotters and chairs.

The Scottish Government provided record funding of £15.7 billion in the Local Government Settlement for 2026-27, including a quarter of a billion pounds of unrestricted General Revenue Grant and full flexibility on council tax.

In 2026-27, Fife Council will receive £998.3 million to fund local services which equates to an extra £49.7 million or an additional 5.2% compared to 2025-26.

However, it is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on education, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Question reference: S7W-02415

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Simita Kumar on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to provide financial assistance to the Church of Scotland for the maintenance and upkeep of its church buildings, in order to ensure that they are safe for parishioners.

The Scottish Government recognises the important role that church buildings play as places of worship and as valued community assets. Responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of Church of Scotland buildings rests with the Church of Scotland and its congregations.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Scotland's Places of Worship Fund announcement by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) on 18 August 2026. This new pilot scheme for 2026-27 will provide up to £1 million to help eligible listed places of worship across Scotland recover VAT costs associated with repair and conservation works.

The Fund has been developed in direct response to the closure of the UK-wide Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme and is expected to open for applications in autumn 2026.

The Scottish Government and HES have worked closely to explore options to ensure that Scotland's listed places of worship are not disproportionately affected by the withdrawal of the UK-wide scheme. This pilot scheme will help assess demand and gather evidence to inform consideration of future arrangements.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with faith and belief organisations, heritage bodies and other partners on issues affecting places of worship, including the sustainability and preservation of historic church buildings.

Question reference: S7W-02126

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce centralised data collection regarding the numbers of reported potholes on roads and public pathways across Scotland.

Transport Scotland is responsible for the management and maintenance of the strategic trunk road network, including motorways, on behalf of Scottish Ministers. It operates a centralised database system for the use of term maintenance contractors to record potholes on the trunk road network.

Local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads in their area and duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic.

Local Authorities hold information on defects recorded on their roads and the Scottish Government has no plans to collect centralised data with regards to the number of potholes on the local road network.

Question reference: S7W-02327

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in response to reports that supply chain spending on offshore wind farms has fallen by 29%, and overall projected wind farm spending has reduced from 45.9% to 26.1%, what it is doing to ensure security of the electricity grid.

The 2026 ScotWind Supply Chain Development Statement updates show that overall projected supply chain spend in Scotland has increased between 2023 and 2026 by nearly £2.3bn for the 16 projects included in the updates, from an estimated £23.3bn to an estimated £25.6 billion.

The reported total ScotWind portfolio project expenditure for the 16 projects has increased by £23.4bn between 2023 and 2026 to £88.6bn. Average spend in Scotland per project has increased overall, however the relative proportion committed in Scotland has decreased from 36% to 29%. This information can be verified on the Crown Estate Scotland supply chain dashboard [https://crownestatescotland.com/supply-chain-information].

Legislation and regulations relating to electricity networks are reserved to the UK Government, with security of supply being a reserved matter that the National Energy Systems Operator (NESO) is responsible for. While decisions on security of supply are reserved, Scotland continues to play an important role in enabling the infrastructure needed for a secure and resilient electricity system through planning and consenting decisions for renewable energy projects, electricity networks and energy storage developments.