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: S6W-37334

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has ever been formally approached by Glasgow City Council to adopt the Clyde Tunnel as national infrastructure, and, if so, when any such approaches were made, and what its position is on this.

Transport Scotland was approached by Glasgow City Council in 2008, 2011, 2016 and 2023 in relation to the funding for the Clyde Tunnel and to gauge the possibility of adopting it as a trunk road. The Scottish Government’s position is that the Clyde Tunnel is appropriately classified and will not be adopted by Transport Scotland as a trunk road.

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 the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic.

As the Clyde Tunnel is a local road under the responsibility of Glasgow City Council, neither the Scottish Ministers nor the Scottish Government would become directly involved in their day-to-day duties.

The vast majority of funding to local authorities from the Scottish Government is provided via a block grant and we do not stipulate how local authorities should utilise their individual allocations. It is therefore the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budget and to allocate the financial resources available to them 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: S6W-37335

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on (a) Glasgow, (b) the NHS and (c) emergency services of the reported proposed industrial action by staff at the Clyde Tunnel.

Question reference: S6W-37105

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the upgrading of aviation radar systems to ensure that windfarm developments can proceed without objection, including how the costs incurred by aviation operators can be (a) independently verified and (b) appropriately split between (i) aviation operators and renewable developers and (ii) different renewable developers, as opposed to being only met by the initial developer.

Scottish Government officials are involved in a number of initiatives with UK Government focussed on the interaction between on and offshore windfarms and aviation radar systems.

Officials from the Scottish Government work with stakeholders, including the Ministry of Defence and industry representatives, through the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) Aviation and Radar sub-group. For offshore wind farms, the Ministry of Defence has launched Programme Njord to identify, procure and implement mitigation to resolve issues with military radar. The full costs of the long-term radar mitigation solutions identified by Programme Njord will be funded via an alternative route and the funding requirement is therefore removed from offshore wind developers.

The Scottish Government is also working with UK Government to ensure alignment between the Onshore Wind Sector Deal and the UK Government’s Onshore Wind Taskforce to help develop consistent and transparent aviation mitigation processes and deliver the deployment of onshore wind while ensuring safe aviation operations.

Question reference: S6W-37106

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to reduce any barriers posed by aviation radar issues to renewable energy developments.

Aviation radar issues are a key consideration by Scottish Ministers in determining planning and consenting applications for on and offshore renewable energy developments. Scottish Government officials work with applicants and stakeholders to ensure the potential impacts on aviation radars from the developments are suitably assessed and mitigated.

The Scottish Onshore Wind Sector Deal contains commitments aiming to lower barriers to deployment arising from aviation radar related issues. OnWARD 2030 is the delivery body for commitments related to aviation and it has recently published its recommendations to set out a proactive, transparent, and consistent approach to the management of aviation issues relating to onshore wind developments. The Scottish Government is working with the UK Government to review these recommendations.

Question reference: S6W-37104

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding planning decisions in cases where aviation operators have objected to renewable energy developments, what discretion it has to ensure that financial contributions sought by aviation operators are justified, proportionate and based solely on actual incurred costs.

Depending on the circumstances of the case, financial contributions in connection with planning consent may be secured either by conditions or by planning obligations. The use of both planning conditions and obligations is subject to a series of tests: the former contained in Scottish Government Circular 4/1998; the latter in Circular 3/2012. In summary, the tests provide that any financial contributions must be necessary, relevant to planning, relevant to the proposed development, and reasonable in all other respects. These are matters of judgement for the relevant decision maker, whether the Scottish Government or local authority.

Question reference: S6O-04645

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it anticipates the impact will be on the Scottish film and TV industry of the US President’s intention to impose tariffs.

Question reference: S6F-04054

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-36788

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what communications it has had with the UK Government regarding any negotiations that it has had, or plans, with the USA regarding a potential trade deal between the UK and USA.

The Scottish Government has had regular engagement with the UK Government at both official and Ministerial level on US developments and the implications of tariffs. I met with the UK Minister for Trade Policy twice recently to discuss this, and the First Minister also met with the Prime Minister on 11 April.

Through these engagements we have welcomed UK Government commitments to uphold high food standards and exclude the NHS from any negotiations, however despite our repeated requests, we have not received further details on the scope of trade negotiations with the USA.

Scottish businesses and interests must not be forgotten and we are therefore continuing to call on the UK Government to share details of the negotiations so that we can assess likely impacts on Scotland and ensure our interests are appropriately represented in any final agreement.

Question reference: S6O-04609

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, when authorising fishing licences, what process it follows to comply with any legal duty under section 15 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, and the judgement in case, The Open Seas Trust v The Scottish Ministers, to act in accordance with the National Marine Plan.

Question reference: S6W-36789

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) has carried out and (b) plans to carry out an impact assessment of a potential trade deal between the UK and USA on sectors in Scotland, including farming, food, environmental protection, technology and public services.

The shape of any potential trade deal between the UK and the US remains unclear, which makes analysis of potential impacts challenging.

The Scottish Government is engaging with the UK Government at ministerial and official level to get the details needed to analyse the implications of a potential deal for Scotland. We are also engaging with businesses to understand their views and concerns and, when further details are available, we will closely examine opportunities for Scotland alongside key issues like environmental protection and the protection of our public services.