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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 1376 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-37961

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it evaluates the effectiveness of Transport Scotland’s delivery and oversight of the Blue Badge scheme across local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-37952

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to local authorities on enabling people to apply for a Blue Badge without using an online application, and how it ensures that non-digital routes are clearly publicised and accessible.

Transport Scotland is responsible for Blue Badge legislation. However, local authorities are wholly responsible for the scheme from application, administration through to enforcement.

While Transport Scotland does not explicitly define the way in which local authorities must publicise these services, Transport Scotland continues to work closely with local Blue Badge teams and reiterates the need for paper application forms, and for local authorities to raise the awareness of help offered locally to those who may need additional support during the application process.

Question reference: S6W-37955

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what qualifications, professional registrations or training are (a) required and (b) recommended for staff undertaking initial or face-to-face Blue Badge assessments, and whether it collects data on how many assessors across Scotland have received training in assessing non-visible disabilities such as Parkinson’s disease, autism and dementia.

Transport Scotland considers it good practice for local authorities to refer applicants for an independent mobility assessment, if that is required to make a clear and robust decision on eligibility.

An independent mobility assessment should be conducted by a regulated healthcare professional, such as an occupational therapist, who acts upon the instruction of the local authority to provide an assessment of blue badge entitlement.

Occupational therapists or physiotherapists are best placed to assess an applicant's eligibility, (independent of the applicants GP) due to their specific training courses, accredited by their professional bodies and subsequent registration with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC).

Transport Scotland does not collect data on the numbers of assessors or their training records. This information would be held by individual local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-37960

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on what role the Transport Accessibility Steering Group plays in evaluating the operation of the Blue Badge scheme, and whether this includes assessing how well local authorities implement the scheme.

Delivery of the Blue Badge scheme is the responsibility of local authorities. Transport Scotland does not formally evaluate local authority operations surrounding the scheme.

The National Transport Accessibility Steering Group brings together Transport Scotland officials and stakeholders (Regional Transport Partnerships, Community Planning Partnerships, transport operators and Disabled People’s Organisations) to support the delivery of the Accessible Travel Framework (ATF). Workstream 4 of the ATF delivery plan seeks to ensure there is continuous improvement in the delivery of the Blue Badge policy.

Question reference: S6W-37963

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to run a public awareness campaign on how to access the Blue Badge scheme and the eligibility criteria for it.

Question reference: S6W-37954

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of Blue Badge applications submitted to Scottish Borders Council in 2024 were (a) approved, (b) rejected and (c) referred for further assessment, based solely on the initial application form.

Question reference: S6W-37957

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many face-to-face assessments for Blue Badge applications were conducted in the Scottish Borders in 2024, and how many of these resulted in a badge being issued.

Question reference: S6W-37956

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which professional health or care disciplines are commonly involved in the Blue Badge application assessment process, and whether it holds any data on professional representation across local authority areas.

Occupational therapists or physiotherapists are the professions involved in Blue Badge assessments and are best placed to assess an applicant's eligibility, due to their specific training courses, accredited by their professional bodies and subsequent registration with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC).

Transport Scotland does not collect data on the numbers of assessors or their training records. This information would be held by individual local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-37959

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to expand the eligibility criteria for the Blue Badge scheme, particularly for people with non-visible or fluctuating conditions.

A core principle of the Blue Badge scheme in Scotland is that access to the scheme is based on the applicant’s functional mobility, whether visible or not, and it is important to note that people with fluctuating conditions or hidden disabilities can apply under the eligibility criteria in the same way as people with visible disabilities. There are no plans to change or expand the eligibility criteria for Blue Badge.

Question reference: S6W-38131

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 9 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review the rateable value threshold for business rates relief, in light of reported concerns that approximately one third of grassroots music venues in Scotland will not qualify for relief under the current £51,000 threshold.

The Scottish Government has no plans to revisit the non-domestic rates relief policies announced for 2025-26.

In recognition of the challenges faced by smaller music venues, and the crossover with parts of the hospitality sector such as pubs and nightclubs, the Scottish Budget 2025-26 announced that music venues with a capacity of up to 1,500 will be eligible for the new 40% hospitality relief from 1 April 2025 where the property meets the other eligibility criteria for this relief, including the £51,000 rateable value threshold which aligns with the threshold for the Basic Property Rate. We estimate that up to 13,000 properties in Scotland could benefit from hospitality reliefs this year.

In addition to hospitality reliefs, the package of reliefs available in 2025-26 also includes the Small Business Bonus Scheme which remains the most generous relief of its kind in the UK. Around half of the properties in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are expected to be eligible for 100% Small Business Bonus Scheme relief this year.