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-42512

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact on rural and island communities in Scotland of any reduction in digital terrestrial television coverage.

Broadcasting is a reserved issue, and the Scottish Government has long been clear that it should be devolved, so that services can meet the needs of Scottish audiences. We join the public service broadcasters and other stakeholders in urging the UK Government to ensure that the future of digital terrestrial television is considered carefully, and any future switch-off of services is managed inclusively, and does not unfairly impact vulnerable people, including those in rural communities and from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone in Scotland has the skills, confidence, and access they need to participate fully in the digital world. In addition to digital inclusion programme delivery, the Scottish Government has commissioned and published research on a Minimum Digital Living Standard for Scotland, which will inform our future digital inclusion policy.

Question reference: S6W-42514

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact on household costs if access to public service broadcasting were to require a broadband subscription.

As I have said in my response to Parliamentary Question S6W-42512 on 12 January 2026, broadcasting is a reserved issue, and the switch-off of television transmitters - leading to internet-only access to television services - is a matter for the UK Government. We are clear on the importance of people in Scotland being able to continue to access the high-quality broadcast TV and radio services they rely on and enjoy, and we urge the UK Government to engage with all relevant parties to ensure that remains the case into the future, and to be particularly cognisant of inequitable impacts on vulnerable people, including those in rural communities and from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

To support connectivity and digital access, the Scottish Government has invested over £600 million in our Reaching 100% (R100) programme to deliver future-proofed broadband infrastructure, particularly in many of Scotland’s most hard-to-reach communities. Through our Connecting Scotland programme, we have also provided over 61,000 devices and, since 2023, delivered more than £389,000 in grant funding for local digital inclusion projects. In October 2025, we introduced two new funds worth £1.4 million to further support digital inclusion work. We also continue to work with partners to raise awareness of affordable connectivity options.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Question reference: S6W-42598

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 9 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what additional funding it has provided to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service Office of the Public Guardian in each of the last three years to support improvements in the processing of power of attorney applications.

The Office of the Public Guardian is part of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS). As a non-ministerial public body, decisions on the allocation of the SCTS budget are a matter for the judicially led SCTS Board.

In recognition of the ongoing pressures on SCTS, including the Office of the Public Guardian, in each of the last three years additional funding has been provided by the Scottish Government.

In addition to the funding allocation in the Budget Bill, the SCTS receives income primarily from civil court fees and retained fines; in-year funding from the Scottish Government related to non-baseline areas; and through the Recovery, Renewal and Transformation (RRT) budget.

Within the 2023-24 Budget, the Scottish Government provided additional funding through RRT to SCTS totalling £26.8m which included £0.3m for OPG recovery. The Scottish Government also provided SCTS with £4.7m in additional capital funding, on top of their £8m baseline capital allocation. The additional £4.7m was to support a number of priority SCTS capital projects, including towards the costs in 2023-24 of the replacement of the Office of the Public Guardian IT system.

In the 2024-25 Budget an additional £9.7 million resource funding and £3.9 million additional capital budget was provided to SCTS.

In the 2025-26 Budget an additional £11.5m resource funding and £2.0m capital funding has been provided to the SCTS (compared to the 2024-25 budget bill allocation).

Question reference: S6O-05385

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with Transport Scotland and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S6W-42603

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 7 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact that delays in registering power of attorney applications have on (a) families, (b) legal practitioners and (c) healthcare decision-making.

The Scottish Government has acknowledged that, while the current system for Powers of Attorney (PoA) generally functions well, certain elements require improving and updating.

As part of the Adults with Incapacity reform programme, the Expert Working Group and the Minister-led Oversight Group are developing proposals to strengthen and streamline the Power of Attorney framework (Part 2 of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000), including registration processes.

Where there is an urgent medical, financial or welfare need, it is possible to request expedited processing of a power of attorney (PoA) from the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland). The expedited service can register a power of attorney within 5 working days.

Question reference: S6W-42601

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many power of attorney applications have been expedited in each of the last three years, and what the average turnaround time was.

Question reference: S6W-42597

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reasons for any recent increase in waiting times for power of attorney registrations.

Question reference: S6W-42602

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates that waiting times for power of attorney registrations will return to pre-backlog levels.

Question reference: S6W-42599

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the current staffing complement is in the Office of the Public Guardian, and what its position is on whether this is sufficient to meet demand for power of attorney registrations.

Question reference: S6W-42600

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what performance measures it uses to monitor the timeliness of power of attorney registrations, and how often the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) reports progress to ministers.