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-40965

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Treatment Time Guarantee can be meaningfully enforced in cases where NHS boards are unable to measure full patient pathways, and what assessment it has made of compliance under such circumstances.

Question reference: S6W-40953

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an an update on its public consultation on the role of Permitted Development Rights in delivering more high-quality homes.

Question reference: S6W-40963

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards are currently unable to link outpatient and inpatient data in order to provide a complete record of patient pathways from referral to treatment.

Question reference: S6W-40964

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that all NHS boards can accurately measure total patient waiting times for treatment and what the timeline is for implementing systems that allow full patient data linkage.

Question reference: S6W-40966

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average and longest waiting times are for cataract surgery, when calculated from initial referral to completion of treatment, in the most recent year for which data is available and broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-40988

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support responsible adventure tourism events, such as the ITERA Adventure Race, in light of the international visitors and reported economic benefits they bring to rural Scotland, while taking environmental protection into account.

Question reference: S6O-04988

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with community groups that have raised concerns regarding the proliferation of energy infrastructure, including pylons, battery energy storage systems and wind farms.

Question reference: S6O-04959

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its ongoing review of the guidance on the mothballing of nurseries.

Question reference: S6W-39101

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund has been allocated to the Scottish Borders.

Since 2011, the Scottish Government has provided over £65 million to support the development of public EV charging across Scotland. As a direct result of this funding, and increasing private sector investment, Scotland now has over 6,900 public charge points, a target for 6,000 public charge points was met in October 2024, two years ahead of schedule. Scotland has one of the most comprehensive public charging networks in the UK, with, on a per head of population basis, more rapid public EV charge points than any other part of the UK except the South East of England.

Through our £30 million EV Infrastructure Fund, we continue to support local authorities to work in partnership with the private sector to expand public EV charging across Scotland. With public funding prioritising those areas of Scotland less likely to benefit from stand-alone private sector investment in public EV charging infrastructure, including our rural and island communities.

To date Scottish Borders Council has received £137,000 in funding from the EV Infrastructure Fund to support the development of an EV Infrastructure Strategy and Expansion Plan covering the Scottish Borders. Scottish Borders Council has also bid for project funding from the EV Infrastructure Fund as part of a partnership which also includes City of Edinburgh, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Falkirk, Fife, Midlothian and West Lothian Councils. The project funding awarded to this partnership through the EV Infrastructure Fund to expand public EV charging across the South of Scotland is due to be announced later this year.

Question reference: S6W-38994

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 22 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many new build homes have been (a) started and (b) completed in the Scottish Borders in each year since 2003.

The Scottish Government publishes quarterly figures on all homes started and completed throughout Scotland, which can be found online here: Housing statistics quarterly update: new housebuilding and affordable housing supply - gov.scot

Figures specific to new build homes started and completed, broken down by local authority area and by financial and calendar year, can be found in the table ‘New house building – All sectors starts and completions’