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: S6O-05121

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it anticipates to be the baseline figure for its ambition towards all-tenure housing delivery of a 10% increase in housebuilding each year over the next three years.

Question reference: S6W-41394

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 29 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated in each of the last five years to support construction skills training, broken down by how much of this has (a) been directed through (i) colleges and (ii) training providers, and (b) reached small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the construction sector, and what mechanisms are in place to ensure that SMEs can directly access such funding for workforce development.

Question reference: S6W-41181

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to use the powers granted under the Legislative Consent Motion on the UK Government’s Pension Schemes Bill to create pooled investment schemes or “megafunds” similar to the ones allowed in England and Wales, and what assessment it has made of any potential benefits and risks of such funds.

Question reference: S6W-41179

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with stakeholders regarding the use of powers granted under the Legislative Consent Motion on the UK Government’s Pension Schemes Bill, specifically in relation to any potential consolidation or merger of Scottish Local Government Pension Scheme funds.

Question reference: S6W-41180

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, following the passage of the Legislative Consent Motion on the UK Government’s Pension Schemes Bill, what next steps it plans to take, and what timeline it envisages for any reforms to the Scottish Local Government Pension Scheme.

The proposed powers in the Pensions Schemes Bill ensure Scottish Ministers maintain parity of powers with the UK Government for the respective Local Government Pension Schemes.

Our Programme for Government demonstrates our commitment to encouraging investment in Scotland, and we are actively engaging with pension funds, including the local government funds, to collaborate and explore opportunities to support the growth of the Scottish economy.

Question reference: S6W-41178

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of contributions held by the Scottish Local Government Pension Scheme funds are invested in Scotland, and how this compares to the rest of the UK and internationally.

Question reference: S6W-41177

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the total extent of land designated as Green Belt in Scotland is as at 31 March 2025; what percentage of Scotland’s total land area this represents, and what changes have occurred in the total area designated as Green Belt between 31 March 2024 and 31 March 2025, including any changes resulting from updates to local authority boundaries or Local Development Plans.

Question reference: S6O-05044

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Housing Statistics for Scotland Quarterly Update: New Housebuilding and Affordable Housing Supply to end June 2025.

Question reference: S6W-40517

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 30 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what funding is available to support Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) in delivering the next steps of its franchise framework assessment, and whether it will commit to ensuring that adequate resources are provided to support this work.

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) approved the Final Draft of the Strathclyde Regional Bus Strategy on 19 September. A costed programme and timeline for delivery of a Franchise Framework Assessment as required by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019) will be considered at a future partnership meeting.

As this work develops, SPT will be required to undertake more detailed appraisals to determine which of the various bus options they want to progress with. In a climate of increasing fiscal pressure, it is important that the business cases for improving bus services are made robustly and in an evidenced based way to support future decision making on funding.

In 2025-26 the Scottish Government provided record funding of over £15.1 billion to local authorities, a real terms increase of 5.5%. It is, however, the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available, including on support for bus provisions such as franchising in their region, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled its statutory obligations. Ultimately, it is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their local communities.

Question reference: S6W-40486

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what process is in place for a complainant to make representations to the Scottish Ministers following a report from the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) regarding a property factor’s failure to comply with a Property Factor Enforcement Order, and whether it will consider extending the same right of representation to complainants as is currently afforded to property factors under the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011.

During development of the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011, careful consideration was given to homeowner redress. The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland was established as an independent judicial body to hear disputes and, where appropriate, issue Property Factor Enforcement Orders (PFEOs).

Failure to comply with a PFEO is formally notified to Scottish Ministers and informs the assessment of whether a property factor remains fit and proper. Ministers’ initial approach is to work with the factor to restore compliance and ensure service standards are met.

Removal from the register is considered only where compliance cannot be achieved, as this prevents the factor from operating anywhere in Scotland and affects all homeowners they serve. Therefore, full consideration of legal requirements, including Tribunal decisions, is essential.