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-04595

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Alyn Smith on 10 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what recent engagement it has had with West College Scotland about its Greenock Campus.

The then Minister for Innovation, Technology and Tertiary Education visited West College Scotland (WCS) in July 2026 for a tour of the Greenock campus, in addition to meetings with the College’s staff.

In March 2026, the Scottish Government provided an additional £2 million to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), enabling it to select a first wave of colleges to receive a share of the funding. West College Scotland was among those selected, receiving funding to help address urgent health and safety issues at its Greenock campus. The SFC will continue to work closely with the College and provide ongoing support as it considers its future plans.

Question reference: S7O-00478

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 November 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with registered social landlords operating in Inverclyde, and what was discussed.

Question reference: S7W-03783

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 26 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it will allocate funding to local authorities to enable the payment of the £2,000 Care Leavers Payment to young people leaving care.

Question reference: S7W-03776

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 September 2026
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Gillian Martin on 30 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to approach its engagement with the people of Scotland in meeting the challenges of a changing climate and biodiversity loss.

I am pleased to announce the launch of ‘Our Scotland, Our Future: Public Engagement Strategy for Climate and Nature’. This publication comes at a vital time. The impacts of climate change are with us and are being felt with increasing severity across Scotland. Public engagement is essential to deliver the action we all need to take together, improve our quality of life, reduce future impacts, and contribute to a more prosperous, healthy, fairer and resilient Scotland.

Our public engagement approach seeks to build understanding that motivates, inspires and leads to action across the whole of society, among our urban, rural and island communities. It aims to shift the conversation about climate change and nature loss towards one of hope, honesty, resilience, and shared ownership of solutions, recognising people not only as audiences, but as active partners in re-imagining and shaping Scotland’s future.

This is a public engagement strategy for climate change mitigation, adaption and nature loss together, reflecting how interconnected they are and how people experience their local environment, understand how climate and nature-related risks are changing where they live, and enabling local action that delivers multiple benefits.

Question reference: S7O-00240

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what dialogue it has had with the UK Government regarding Royal Mail's preparations for the 2026 festive season, including how Royal Mail will support businesses in Scotland during their busiest time of the year.

Question reference: S7O-00190

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to allow local authorities to introduce a cruise ship levy.

Question reference: S7O-00141

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what discussions it has had with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde regarding the scheduled replacement of the exterior façade and windows of Inverclyde Royal Hospital.

Question reference: S6F-04772

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 March 2026

To ask the First Minister, following the Union Street fire in Glasgow, what discussions the Scottish Government has had with Network Rail regarding the organisation having a greater say over what types of businesses can be located in close vicinity to key transport hubs such as Glasgow Central.

Question reference: S6O-05591

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any discussions it has had with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde regarding the implementation of the Royal Mail NHS-specific barcode system to ensure that appointment letters, test results and urgent patient correspondence are delivered on time, particularly during service disruptions.

Question reference: S6W-43488

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 13 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether operating costs, including energy and staffing costs, are taken into account in the valuation of licensed hospitality premises for non-domestic rates calculation purposes.

The valuation of all non-domestic property is a matter for the Scottish Assessors who are independent of central and local government. By law, Assessors must ascertain a Net Annual Value (NAV) for all subjects entered on the Valuation Roll. This is defined as “the rent at which the lands and heritages might reasonably be expected to let from year to year” under section 6(8) of the Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act 1956.

Scottish Assessors produce Practice Notes for different types of subjects and these are accessible at: 2026 Practice Notes – Scottish Assessors. The Practice Note for Licensed premises can be found at Licensed Premises.

The essence of the valuation scheme for licensed premises is the Hypothetical Achievable Turnover (HAT). Assessors identify the relationship between available rents and turnovers for licensed premises at the relevant valuation date. This relationship can then be used to derive a scheme of value which can be used to value all licensed premises. The calculation of HAT does not incorporate operating costs such as energy or staffing costs.