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-43488

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 13 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether operating costs, including energy and staffing costs, are taken into account in the valuation of licensed hospitality premises for non-domestic rates calculation purposes.

The valuation of all non-domestic property is a matter for the Scottish Assessors who are independent of central and local government. By law, Assessors must ascertain a Net Annual Value (NAV) for all subjects entered on the Valuation Roll. This is defined as “the rent at which the lands and heritages might reasonably be expected to let from year to year” under section 6(8) of the Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act 1956.

Scottish Assessors produce Practice Notes for different types of subjects and these are accessible at: 2026 Practice Notes – Scottish Assessors. The Practice Note for Licensed premises can be found at Licensed Premises.

The essence of the valuation scheme for licensed premises is the Hypothetical Achievable Turnover (HAT). Assessors identify the relationship between available rents and turnovers for licensed premises at the relevant valuation date. This relationship can then be used to derive a scheme of value which can be used to value all licensed premises. The calculation of HAT does not incorporate operating costs such as energy or staffing costs.

Question reference: S6W-43615

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported concerns regarding a greater need for agility and clear information, whether it will support SCOTS (Scottish Collaboration of Transportation Specialists) and others to develop a database of equipment, including vehicles and other kit, that can be mobilised to support local responses to severe weather events.

Question reference: S6W-43614

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether a public dental service adhering to minimum NHS guidelines regarding the frequency of routine dental appointments is available to residents in Uist and Barra, where there is reportedly no access to a general dental service.

Question reference: S6W-43612

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many onshore energy generation project applications are currently live and awaiting determination by the Energy Consents Unit, broken down by capacity of (a) under 50MW and (b) 50MW and over.

Question reference: S6W-43611

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 06 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work to reduce waiting lists for cardiology outpatient appointments.

Question reference: S6W-43613

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many Section 36 onshore energy generation project applications are currently live and awaiting determination by the Energy Consents Unit, broken down by (a) technology type, including onshore wind, solar and battery energy storage systems, and (b) local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-43610

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 06 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the response of the Scottish Funding Council Apprenticeship Committee is to the recommendations of the Commission on Race in Apprenticeships, including how it will implement these.

Question reference: S6W-43598

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2026
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on discussions with the UK Government in relation to The Hughes Report.

Dr Henrietta Hughes published her report, which was about financial and non-financial redress for persons affected by transvaginal mesh or the medicine sodium valproate, on 7 February 2024. The report was commissioned by the previous UK Government, but the present UK Government has undertaken to consider and respond to it. Regrettably, it has not yet responded.

Dr Hughes is the Patient Safety Commissioner for England and her report and recommendations were concerned in the first place with affected persons in England, but both Dr Hughes and the UK Government have acknowledged that people across the UK have been affected, and also that issues relevant to the report, notably the regulation of medicines and medical devices, concern UK-wide responsibilities of the UK Government.

Since the publication of the Hughes Report the Scottish Government has been working closely with the other Devolved Governments to seek a response from the UK Government. Scottish Government Ministers wrote to Ministers of the present UK Government about the report in October 2024, in February 2025 and again in July 2025, to seek meetings and assurances that the Devolved Governments would be consulted about any potential UK Government response. Ministers from the other Devolved Governments wrote in similar terms, also on a number of occasions.

A meeting between the four UK Health Ministers was finally agreed to in December 2025, and took place last month. Despite this meeting, it remains the case that the UK Government has made no substantial proposals about how it might respond to the recommendations concerned with financial redress; nor so far has it stated a date by which it might seek to publish a response.

Whilst the UK Government published a spending review on 11 June 2025 setting out plans from financial year 2026-27 to the end of 2028-29, there was no specific provision to respond to the Hughes Report.

The second anniversary of the Hughes Report’s publication approaches and anyone affected will have wholly reasonable expectations that the UK Government would have responded to the report by now, and in a substantial way. I consider it unreasonable and unfair that they have had to wait for two years and possibly now for even longer.

I therefore wish to note in particular that, to date, the Scottish Government has received no proposals from the UK Government for any schemes of financial redress that would constitute a substantial implementation of the recommendations made by Dr Hughes. We stand ready to consider any proposals from the UK Government, but we do not consider we are able to make proposals independently of them.

I appreciate that this information will be disappointing for those affected, but I wish to assure the Parliament that I will continue to push for a resolution.

Both the Scottish Government and the NHS in Scotland will continue to offer help and assistance to women affected by transvaginal mesh and people affected by sodium valproate. We will continue to offer mesh removal surgery, both in the NHS and with independent sector surgeons, if that is what patients prefer. We also continue to explore how support for people harmed by valproate might be organised in Scotland. Public Health Scotland has established a National Medicines in Pregnancy ‘surveillance asset’ focussed on anti-seizure medicines, including valproate, that are known or suspected to have potential to increase the risk of birth defects and development disorders when taken during pregnancy.

The Scottish Government appreciates that there is interest in these issues and support for people affected among members in all the parties represented in the Parliament. We will continue to keep Members informed about significant developments.

Question reference: S6W-43609

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2026
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support people to access affordable home ownership in rural and island communities.

The Scottish Government is taking a range of actions to support people to access affordable home ownership in rural and island communities.

We operate the Low Cost Initiative for First-Time Buyers (LIFT), which includes:

Open Market Shared Equity (OMSE) Scheme – helping eligible purchasers buy a home available on the open market.
New Supply Shared Equity (NSSE) – enabling people to buy a newly built home from a housing association or local authority.

At the National Farmers Union Conference later today, the First Minister will also make clear his intention to develop a Rural and Island Housing Grant Scheme (RIHGS) in collaboration with the rural and housing sectors. The scheme will have an indicative budget of up to £20 million over four years and will provide modest capital grants to help people secure properties as permanent homes in rural and island communities.

We recognise that access to good-quality, affordable housing is essential to attracting and retaining people in rural and island areas. The new RIHGS will complement the Rural and Islands Housing Action Plan, published in October 2023, which was shaped through strong partnership working with stakeholders across rural and island communities.

Question reference: S6W-43461

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what recent analysis it has undertaken of recruitment and retention challenges in NHS Grampian.

The NHS Grampian Assurance Board was established in July 2025. It commissioned an independent diagnostic review to help inform NHS Grampian’s approach to system redesign and service transformation.

A sub-group of the Assurance Board has been established to advise on the Board’s approach to a strategic review of their workforce planning. This work is in the early stages of development, and the Assurance Board is expecting to consider the approach and associated work plan in the coming weeks.