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-39157

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 18 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it (a) can do and (b) is doing to support the Type 26 and Type 31 frigate orders being delivered at the Clyde shipyards.

The shipbuilding sector plays a vital role in supporting jobs and driving economic growth across Scotland. We are committed to promoting manufacturing and innovation, and Ministers continue to engage with businesses in the sector as part of that commitment.

We are investing up to £2 million to develop engineering skills in the Glasgow City Region. This initiative has been designed by the Clyde Maritime Cluster in partnership with Skills Development Scotland.

In addition, Scottish Enterprise has recently provided a £7.4 million Research and Development grant and a £1.8 million Training Aid grant to BAE Systems to help them maximise skills development and support the establishment of a collegiate training facility which will provide access to the broader industry through the Applied Shipbuilding Academy, which is overseen by BAE Systems as custodians of the Glasgow shipyards.

Question reference: S6W-39148

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reform Social Security Scotland in order to deliver better value for money.

Social Security Scotland is successfully delivering 16 benefits - seven of them only available in Scotland. Since it was established in 2018 it has provided essential support to help more than one million people heat their homes, feed their families and meet the additional costs of disability.

The importance of value for money is clearly stated in the unanimously agreed Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 and was reiterated by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance in her Medium Term Financial Strategy statement on 25 June where she set out Social Security Scotland’s “focus on how to process and deliver benefits with dignity, fairness and respect, while driving important efficiency savings and ensuring that people access the support they are entitled to.”

Question reference: S6W-38901

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 18 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of eligible businesses have accessed each of its national support schemes since 2020, broken down by (a) sector and (b) business size.

Our Programme for Government 2025-26 sets out a range of actions to make it easier for businesses in Scotland to grow and prosper, secure investment and compete globally. Working in tandem with the Scottish Government, our enterprise agencies are focused on helping businesses to grow. They provide financial support to businesses in the form of grant funding, equity investments and loans. They also provide a broad range of expert support and advice, including helping businesses to access finance and attract other investment to support their growth. Information on the enterprise agencies’ support for businesses within the last 5 years can be found in their annual reports and accounts, which are published on their websites.

Businesses in Scotland of all sizes, and in all sectors, can access support from the enterprise agencies and other public sector organisations through the ‘Find Business Support’ website. The Scottish Government does not collate information on the percentage of eligible businesses accessing public sector support.

Question reference: S6W-38835

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 18 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many tonnes of waste it has directly generated in each of the last five financial years; how many tonnes of this waste were sent to landfill; how many tonnes it estimates it will generate in 2026, and how many tonnes of this waste it estimates will be sent to England from January 2026.

The Core Scottish Government reports the following figures for waste generated by its operations across premises over the past five financial years:

2019-2020: 1,497 tonnes total waste , includes 92.76 tonnes of landfilled waste
2020-2021: 867 tonnes total waste, includes 128.94 tonnes of landfilled waste
2021-2022: 1,648 tonnes total waste, includes 136.72. tonnes of landfilled waste
2022-2023: 1,760 tonnes total waste, includes 69.28 tonnes of landfilled waste
2023-2024: 1,127 tonnes total waste , includes 58.61 tonnes of landfilled waste

No landfilled waste was sent to England during this period.

The Core Scottish Government does not forecast future waste generation. Waste data is reported retrospectively after the end of each financial year.

The Core Scottish Government remains committed to reducing all forms of waste across its operations and continues to implement measures to improve sustainability and resource efficiency.

Question reference: S6W-39419

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 14 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what specific actions it is taking to reduce waiting times for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments (a) across Scotland and (b) in the NHS Ayrshire and Arran area.

Question reference: S6W-39416

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 14 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what communication and engagement plans it has in place to ensure that families, individuals and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) support groups are regularly updated on the development of the national ADHD strategy.

Question reference: S6W-39422

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 14 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to publish national minimum standards for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) post-diagnostic support.

Question reference: S6W-39428

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 July 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answer expected on 14 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will carry out assessments of new shareholders of ScotWind projects for developer information, such as their capability, experience and financial resources, as carried out during the initial leasing process.

Question reference: S6W-39432

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 14 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when details of the 2025-26 Bus Infrastructure Fund will be published.

Question reference: S6W-39408

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 14 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS staff have been assigned to support parents who have experienced a (a) pregnancy loss, (b) stillbirth and (c) neonatal death in NHS (i) Highland, (ii) Western Isles, (iii) Orkney, (iv) Shetland, (v) Western Isles and (vi) Grampian in each year since 2021.