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-02718

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-01865 by Mairi McAllan on 17 August 2026, (a) what the current minimum level of school clothing grant is for (i) primary and (ii) secondary pupils, (b) when each minimum level was last increased, and (c) whether there are any plans to increase these minimum levels and, if so, when.

Question reference: S7W-02319

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, as part of the process to update the Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments, what (a) regional discussion events and (b) targeted engagement have taken place with (i) community groups and (ii) developers.

The Scottish Government is updating its Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments to reflect how Scotland’s energy landscape has evolved since the last publication in 2019.

To inform this work, and alongside a full public consultation in 2025, officials undertook a programme of engagement during spring 2026 to seek feedback on proposals in Onshore renewable energy - refreshing the good practice principles for community benefits: working paper - gov.scot.

Regional discussion events with community groups consisted of five online events covering the Highlands, Islands, Central Scotland, North East Scotland, and South Scotland. These sessions were attended by representatives of community benefit groups, community councils, development trusts, third sector organisations and local authorities.

Targeted engagement with developers and community groups included two online roundtable discussions chaired by the former Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy. One roundtable was attended by renewable energy developers, trade associations and enterprise agencies. The second brought together representatives from community councils, community development trusts, community benefit funds, regional partnerships and national intermediary organisations from across Scotland.

A youth workshop was also delivered in partnership with the Scottish Youth Parliament as part of the wider programme of engagement supporting the update of the Good Practice Principles.

Question reference: S7W-02321

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its working paper on refreshing the Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy, published on 18 February 2026, when it expects the recommended community benefit fund level for solar developments to take effect.

The recommended community benefit fund level for solar developments will be set out in the refreshed Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments. Decisions on implementation arrangements, including when any revised recommended fund levels should take effect, are subject to Ministerial approval.

The Good Practice Principles are non-statutory guidance and the recommended community benefit fund levels are voluntary. The Scottish Government continues to call on the UK Government to use its reserved powers to mandate community benefits for mature onshore renewable energy technologies.

Question reference: S7W-02320

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish updated Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments.

Officials are currently considering evidence gathered through the 2025 public consultation on the Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments and the subsequent stakeholder engagement undertaken in spring 2026 on the Working Paper: Onshore renewable energy - refreshing the good practice principles for community benefits: working paper - gov.scot. Subject to the completion of this work, the Scottish Government plans to publish the refreshed onshore Good Practice Principles before the end of 2026.

Question reference: S7W-02587

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S7W-02586

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S7W-02588

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects any changes to the recommended level of community benefit for solar developments, as proposed in its working paper, Refreshing the Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy, to take effect.

Question reference: S7W-01941

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 19 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce an equivalent to the UK Government's Places of Worship Renewal Fund for England.

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.

Listed places of worship may also continue to access support through HES's wider grant programmes, details of which can be found on the HES website.

Question reference: S7W-01943

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 19 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-43897 by Angus Robertson on 4 March 2026, how it is progressing work to ensure that listed places of worship in Scotland are not disproportionately affected by the end of the UK-wide Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.

Question reference: S7W-01858

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it maintains, or plans to create, a list of the number, location and size of all current and proposed data centres in Scotland, and whether this is available to the public.

This matter is under active consideration by the Scottish Government, and Parliament will be kept informed of the outcomes of those considerations – including the potential for planning guidance – in due course.

Planning applications for data centres are a matter for the relevant local authority in the first instance. Planning applications and supporting documentation are available to view on the relevant local authority web pages.