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-01601

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment in the Scottish National Party manifesto to enact a statutory price cap on essential food items, what additional resources will be required for local authority trading standards to (a) monitor and (b) enforce the policy.

Question reference: S7W-01681

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to reforming permitted development rights in order to accelerate the deployment of mobile telecommunications infrastructure.

Question reference: S7W-01304

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 6 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many premises it anticipates will be excluded from non-domestic rates relief as a result of the proposed exclusion of vape shops, including how many of these premises are specialist vape retailers as opposed to mixed-use convenience stores or other types of retailer.

As announced in Parliament by the Deputy First Minister on 23 June 2026, from 1 April 2027, we will remove non-domestic rates relief from vape shops. We want to ensure vape shops are contributing to the high street, recognising the growth of the sector in recent years and ensuring rates relief aligns with our public health commitments. We will confirm the details of the policy in the Budget, which will be followed by the regulations setting out the scope and definition of the measures, including the definition of a vape shop.

Question reference: S7W-01307

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 6 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it plans to provide to local authorities and assessors regarding the classification of premises that sell vaping products alongside groceries, newspapers, confectionery or other retail goods.

Question reference: S7W-01309

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 6 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what appeals process will be available to a business that has been classified as a vape shop and excluded from non-domestic rates relief.

Question reference: S7W-01306

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 6 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has set a threshold for the proportion of a retailer’s turnover, floor space or product range that must be attributable to vaping products for a premises to be classified as a vape shop and therefore excluded from non-domestic rates relief.

Question reference: S7W-01305

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 6 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government's statement to the Parliament on 23 June 2026 on Non-domestic Rates, how it will define a vape shop for the purposes of determining eligibility for non-domestic rates relief and what criteria will be used to distinguish a vape shop from other retail premises that sell vaping products.

Question reference: S7W-01308

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 6 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the risk that retailers offering a limited range of vaping products could be excluded from non-domestic rates relief, even where such products represent only a small proportion of their overall business activity.

Question reference: S7O-00080

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 June 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address workforce planning challenges in staff recruitment and retention for health and social care services in Orkney.

Question reference: S7W-00633

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 5 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what timeline has been agreed for the £500 million investment to extend free childcare to children aged between nine months and 12-years-old that it announced in March 2026.

The Scottish Government is in the early stages of work to develop a future childcare expansion. This will draw on learning from the delivery of the expansion to 1140 hours, insights from our work in Early Adopter Communities, and the experience and voices of the childcare sector, parents, carers and children. Any expansion should be firmly focused on the needs of children and families.

As set out in Parliament, detailed design, delivery approaches and timelines are still being developed but our commitment is to expand childcare provision over the course of the current parliamentary term. Given the scale and complexity of the programme, further information on scope, costs and phasing will be set out as work progresses.