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-43682

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2026
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answer expected on 26 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the escalation status of NHS Ayrshire and Arran for finance.

Question reference: S6W-43668

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on ScotRail fares for 2026.

From 1 April 2026, all ScotRail fares will be frozen for the financial year 2026-2027, including Season Tickets and Flexipass.

This will be welcome news for passengers as we aim to make Scotland’s Railway as affordable as possible to maintain the attractiveness of rail as a travel option and encourage new passengers onto our railway. That is why we also removed peak fares from ScotRail services for good in September last year.

Question reference: S6W-43656

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further the Scottish Funding Council report, College Statistics 2024-25, which was published on 4 February 2026, what assessment it has made of the impact that enrolling primary and secondary 1 to 3 pupils with colleges has on colleges’ capacity to meet demand from senior-phase pupils and young people aged 16–24, including in regions where colleges report unmet demand.

Question reference: S6W-43666

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its publication, Our Health and Social Care App: MyCare.scot - National Rollout High-Level Summary, what the total annual estimated cost is of building and operating the MyCare.scot app in each financial year from 2025-26 to 2029-30.

Question reference: S6W-43650

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the draft Scottish Budget 2026-27 and the level 4 tables that were published in conjunction with it, whether it will provide a breakdown of the £1,275.1 million in funding set aside for NHS Delivery.

Question reference: S6W-43647

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost is of a (a) Hospital Specialty and (b) General Practice Specialty Training Programme place.

Question reference: S6W-43665

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the budget for the Young Patients Family Fund being reduced by almost £2 million since its launch, what action it will take to ensure that sufficient resources are available to expand the fund’s eligibility criteria to include all children and under 25s, as proposed by the charity, Young Lives vs Cancer, and the UK Government accepting the charity’s proposal for a £10 million young cancer patient travel fund.

Question reference: S6W-43658

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will take steps to establish the number of (a) Network Rail Scotland full-time equivalent employees and (b) Network Rail Scotland supply chain contractors allocated to drainage works on track infrastructure in Scotland since 2024 to date.

Question reference: S6W-43660

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional full-time equivalent employees have been employed by Network Rail Scotland in each year since 2024, including tier 1 and 2 contractors in Network Rail Scotland’s supply chain.