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-04888

Asked by: Amanda Bland, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 06 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the setting of a firm timetable to end animal experiments and the acceleration of the adoption of humane alternatives.

Question reference: S7W-04220

Asked by: Amanda Bland, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Reform UK
Date lodged: Monday, 12 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kirsten Oswald on 29 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to comments reportedly made by the Scottish Retail Consortium and published in The Herald on 5 October 2026 that, following a 40 per cent increase in reported thefts since April 2025, funding for Police Scotland’s Retail Crime Taskforce should be increased in the 2027-28 Budget.

A significant rise in recorded shoplifting, driven by the cost of living, is seen throughout the United Kingdom. As Police Scotland takes steps to make reporting of retail crime easier, it is likely that the number of recorded incidents in Scotland will continue to rise.

The Scottish Government's Programme for Government commits to provide £10 million over the next three years to tackle retail crime through Police Scotland’s Retail Crime Taskforce. An additional £3 million has been provided to Police Scotland in 2026-27 to support this work, which helps to target repeat offenders and to drive enforcement in the most affected areas.

The 2027-28 draft Scottish Budget will be presented to Parliament on Thursday 3 December 2026.

Question reference: S7W-04219

Asked by: Amanda Bland, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Reform UK
Date lodged: Monday, 12 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kirsten Oswald on 29 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to comments reportedly made by the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and published in The Herald on 5 October 2026 that the term "shoplifting" underplays both the seriousness of the crime and the cumulative impact on the retail sector, and the SRC's recommendation that the term "shop theft" be used instead across the criminal justice system, including in data collection.

Retail crime causes real harm to businesses, staff and communities across Scotland.

The Scottish Government supports the innovative Scottish Partnership Against Acquisitive Crime and will provide an additional £3 million annually until 2028-29 for Police Scotland’s Retail Crime Taskforce to help target repeat offenders and drive enforcement in the most affected areas.

The term ‘shoplifting’, which describes cases of theft from shops, is a term used routinely, including in England and Wales, and has no impact on how these crimes are investigated or prosecuted.

As the production of Scotland’s crime statistics is undertaken independently of Ministers, any potential changes to the labelling of cases would be a matter for the Scottish Crime Recording Board, and in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Question reference: S7W-04556

Asked by: Amanda Bland, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been provided in each of the last five financial years for (a) assessing, (b) monitoring, (c) researching, (d) preventing and (e) treating diseases and parasitic infestations within the salmon farming industry, including sea lice, broken down by recipient, purpose of expenditure and the public body providing the funding.

Question reference: S7W-04558

Asked by: Amanda Bland, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been provided in each of the last five financial years for (a) assessing, (b) monitoring, (c) preventing, (d) mitigating and (e) cleaning up pollution and environmental damage associated with the salmon farming industry, including pollution from chemicals, pesticides, medicines, sea-lice treatments, fish-farm waste and other contaminants, broken down by recipient, purpose of expenditure and the public body providing the funding.

Question reference: S7W-04557

Asked by: Amanda Bland, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been (a) awarded, (b) allocated and (c) paid to the salmon farming industry in each of the last five financial years, broken down by recipient, type of funding and the public body providing the funding.

Question reference: S7O-00354

Asked by: Amanda Bland, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of local government action to improve road verge management, including by increasing native plant and pollinator habitat, improving ecological connectivity, increasing soil infiltration, reducing surface-water runoff and pressure on drainage infrastructure, and what were its findings.

Question reference: S7O-00319

Asked by: Amanda Bland, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the limited evening and Sunday bus provision in some parts of Central Scotland and Lothians West, whether it will commit to working with local authorities and bus operators to ensure that communities currently without adequate services have access to reliable and affordable public transport throughout the week, including evenings and weekends.

Question reference: S7W-03387

Asked by: Amanda Bland, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 23 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of reports of unsatisfactory outcomes across the justice system, including whether these factors are operational or system-wide in nature.

The Scottish Government draws on a range of evidence to inform its understanding of outcomes across the justice system, including: official statistics, research, inspection findings, stakeholder engagement, lived experience and feedback from those who interact with justice services, as well as information provided by justice agencies.

We recognise that outcomes and experiences are not always as they should be. In some cases, the causes may be operational and relate to the delivery of services by individual organisations. In others they may reflect wider pressures and broader challenges across the system.

That is why we work with justice partners to both identify and address specific issues where they arise; and to collaborate with them to pursue the system-wide reform needed to deliver a more efficient, person-centred and trauma-informed justice system.

Question reference: S7W-02919

Asked by: Amanda Bland, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Reform UK
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that only prisoners who have suitable accommodation, support and supervision in place, will be granted early release, in order to protect public safety and reduce the risk of reoffending.

A range of voluntary processes are in place to assist prisoners to engage with appropriate support services following their release. These include the national third sector throughcare service Upside, who offer support to short sentence prisoners leaving custody, should they wish to receive it.

The SPS notifies each local authority of upcoming prisoner releases to their area twelve weeks in advance, to help inform the future operation of public housing and other local government services and social work activity, including local authority voluntary throughcare services (should the individual request that assistance).

Individuals who have no fixed abode upon release from custody are considered to be involuntarily homeless. It is the responsibility of each Local Authority to address the needs of potential homeless people in their area – balancing local need of all types, to local resources. The Scottish Government, Scottish Prison Service and housing partners developed the SHORE standards (“Sustainable Housing On Release for Everyone”) to highlight good practice in addressing the housing needs of individuals entering and leaving prison.

Prison based healthcare services will notify relevant community-based healthcare services in advance of a prisoner’s release. SPS officers and Prison Link Centre staff will assist individuals who are seeking to engage with public and third sector services prior to their release.

Department of Work and Pensions also deploy staff within prisons to help prisoners with benefit matters, including assistance to obtain their benefit entitlement after their release.

Where a prisoner’s sentence requires them to be subject to mandatory supervision following their release, the necessary preparations will be made by Justice Social Work services to align with the prisoner’s release date.

Prisoners who reach the automatic early release date for their custodial sentence cannot be detained further due to their status regarding accommodation or other forms of support.