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-04923

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage increase in re-determinations of Pension Age Disability Payment assessments there has been since January 2025.

Question reference: S6O-04870

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the economy secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the economic impact of any increased taxation by UK, Scottish and local governments on people and businesses across the Highlands and Islands.

Question reference: S6O-04839

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what restrictions it places on the use of its overseas aid.

Question reference: S6W-37729

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average weekly number of care-at-home hours delivered has been, and how this compared with assessed need, in each of the last five years, also broken down by NHS board.

Information on Care at Home hours is not held centrally. Instead, Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) submit data to Public Health Scotland (PHS), detailing the number of hours of Care at Home services received. This data is published annually and can be accessed via the following link: Dashboard - Care at Home Hours Planned/Received.

The Scottish Government does not centrally hold information on assessed needs. In addition to the annual data, HSCPs also provide PHS with a weekly snapshot of the current demand for Care at Home services. This includes information on the total number of care hours people are waiting to receive following an assessment of their needs. This data is available at: Dashboard - People requiring a social care assessment and care at home services.

Question reference: S6W-38230

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the vessels engaged in the Scottish squid fishery have an Inshore Vessel Monitoring System (I-VMS) installed.

Question reference: S6O-04817

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what new measures it has introduced in relation to supporting improved community engagement and respecting local democratic decision-making, when section 37 applications for energy infrastructure are considered.

Question reference: S6W-38233

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the predominant areas are of Scotland’s inshore waters where squid fishing has taken place in each of the five years up to 2024, and what seasonality the fishery exhibits.

Squid fishing is a sporadic fishery with the majority of landings of squid occurring between May to October. Historically squid has been present in the Moray Firth and is becoming prevalent in Shetland.

The information you have requested to do with the areas of Scotland’s inshore waters where squid fishing has taken place is not held by the Scottish Government. It is not possible to separate landings of squid between inshore and offshore waters and so it is not possible to provide a breakdown of squid fisheries within inshore waters.

Question reference: S6W-38234

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any assessment has been made of squid bycatch by the inshore Nephrops fisheries.

Question reference: S6W-38226

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many fishing vessels registered in Scotland participated in the squid fishery in each of the five years up to 2024.

Question reference: S6W-37730

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any NHS boards have reported difficulty in commissioning external care providers in each of the last five years, and, if so, what impact this has had on (a) service delivery and (b) waiting times.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. This information would therefore need to be requested from the Health Boards. There have been no national tenders since the pandemic, during which time private hospitals supported with cancer treatment. Whilst the Scottish Government works with Health Boards through planning to make best use of existing NHS resources and capacity, it is for Health Boards locally to determine how they use the private sector and to agree any contractual arrangements. The Scottish Government no longer provides direct funding for planned care for private providers.

Health Boards are encouraged to improve waiting times through engaging with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery, a national unit designed to sustainably improve and transform Scotland's health care system through innovation, collaboration and clinical leadership.

year	Number of vessels landing squid catch or bycatch, including under 10metre and over 10metre
2020	258
2021	231
2022	228
2023	226
2024	204