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: S6O-05367

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to assist businesses that have seen a significant proposed increase in rateable value as a result of the current revaluation for non-domestic rates.

Question reference: S6W-42834

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comments from the former chair of the Scottish Government’s Retail Industry Leadership Group, Andrew Murphy, in The Times on 22 December 2025, that if Scotland does not follow England and introduce a permanent business rate discount for all retail premises it would be “a huge mistake” and could see existing shops close and fewer new ones open.

Question reference: S6W-42835

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what business and regulatory impact assessment was undertaken prior to the First Minister’s announcement of a new defence sector support policy on 3 September 2025, and whether it will publish this.

Question reference: S6W-42836

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish its current business and regulatory impact assessment in relation to its defence sector support policy, which was updated on 3 September 2025, including the number of any affected companies.

Question reference: S6O-05338

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the use of AI in the composition of judicial judgements.

Question reference: S6W-42268

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comment by the Scottish Retail Consortium in The Herald on 1 December 2025 that if Scotland did not follow England in introducing a retail-specific discounted business rate, it will "become a materially less attractive investment option” and that this could lead to a “shift in investment to other parts of the UK”.

In its 2025-26 Budget, the Scottish Government maintained a competitive non-domestic rates package including the most generous small business rates relief in the UK.

The retail sector continues to be one of the main beneficiaries of the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) with 30,000 shops receiving SBBS relief, reducing their collective rates bill by £86 million as at June 2025. Overall, 34,000 shops receive rates relief worth over £110 million and half of all shops in Scotland pay no rates.

Ministers regularly discuss matters of importance including budget priorities and the views of stakeholders in the run-up to the Scottish Budget. As is normal, decisions on non-domestic rates policy for 2026-27 will be set out on in the budget on 13 January 2026.

Note - These figures relate to the ‘shops’ property class, as defined by the Scottish Assessors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property and does not necessarily accurately reflect the actual use of a property.

Question reference: S6W-42270

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what representations it has received from representatives of the retail industry following the decision in the UK Budget to implement a retail-specific discounted business rate in England from April 2026.

Question reference: S6W-42269

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comment by the Scottish Retail Consortium in The Herald on 1 December 2025 that if Scotland did not follow England in introducing a retail-specific discounted business rate, then it will "be at odds with" the vision of its Retail Industry Leadership Group, which is to make Scotland “the best place in the UK to grow a retail business”.

The Scottish Government offers a competitive non-domestic rates regime to support businesses and communities worth an estimated £730 million in 2025-26, with nearly half of all non-domestic properties in Scotland paying no rates. This includes the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS), the most generous relief scheme of its kind in the UK, which reduces the rates bill for small businesses by nearly £250 million as at June 2025.

The Scottish Government recognises how vital the retail sector is to Scotland’s economy. The retail sector is the largest beneficiary of SBBS relief, with 30,000 shops receiving SBBS, reducing their collective rates bill by £86 million as at June 2025. Overall, 34,000 shops receive rates relief, worth over £110 million, and half of all shops in Scotland pay no rates.

Note - These figures relate to the shop’ property class, as defined by the Scottish Assessors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property and does not necessarily accurately reflect the actual use of a property.

Question reference: S6W-42265

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Ivan McKee on 2 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to amend the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 to provide additional flexibilities for local authorities during the remainder of the current parliamentary session.

The Scottish Government plans to introduce an amending bill to Parliament early in the new year. If passed, the Bill will still allow local authorities to charge a percentage based visitor levy, but for those that require a different model the Bill will introducing additional flexibility to set either a single fixed amount or a range of fixed amounts for different purposes or areas. It will also include provisions to support the implementation of local schemes, including clarifying how the levy is to be charged in third party sales.

Question reference: S6F-04502

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2025

To ask the First Minister what funding is in place to ensure that the A9 dualling project is completed by the target date of 2035.