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: S7W-02948

Asked by: Jamie Langan, MSP for South Scotland, Reform UK
Date lodged: Friday, 04 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that more than 1,200 farmers might be affected by a backlog of Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS) evidence verification checks, (a) when ministers first became aware of the backlog, (b) what contingency planning was carried out to ensure that FFIS evidence verification could be completed in a timely manner, given that it knew the number of FFIS grants awarded and (c) what assessment it has made of concerns that issues previously identified in the administration of agricultural support schemes might not have been fully addressed in the management of the current process.

Question reference: S7W-02972

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comments by the First Minister during First Minister's Questions on 3 September 2026 that "green data centres must be powered from renewable energy sources, make use of energy-efficient technologies, seek to minimise water consumption and support the reuse of excess heat", (a) in which document or documents those requirements are specified, (b) what proportion of a data centre's energy consumption must be from renewable sources, (c) what level of energy efficiency is required, (d) what level of water consumption is permitted, and (e) how it enforces the requirement for the reuse of excess heat and the terms on which it is supplied.

Question reference: S7W-02414

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 4 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to support listed places of worship with the costs of repairs.

Question reference: S7W-02413

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 4 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to reinstate a Scottish VAT grant scheme for listed places of worship, similar to the scheme administered by the UK Government in England, to assist with the costs of repair and maintenance.

Question reference: S7W-02344

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-01921 by Angela Constance on 3 August 2026, how many individual buildings within the NHS estate in the Highlands and Islands region have been assessed as category C or D in relation to (a) Condition and (b) Functional Suitability, broken down by health board.

Question reference: S7W-02361

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 4 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has undertaken workforce planning for educational psychology services.

Question reference: S7W-02362

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 4 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of future demand for educational psychologists.

We continue to work with the National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychologists (NSSGEP) on workforce planning to achieve a sustainable supply of educational psychologists to meet future demand.

Through robust workforce planning with partners we will ensure, as far as possible, that numbers trained under the Scottish Government and COSLA partnership funding approach match demand across Scotland, so that there is neither shortage nor unemployment of those trained.

Question reference: S7W-02452

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 4 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the timetable for rolling out the £2 bus fare cap in (a) Stirling, (b) Fife, (c) Perth and (d) Clackmannanshire.

Question reference: S7W-02562

Asked by: Yi-pei Chou Turvey, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether any assessment has been made of the human rights and privacy implications of combining Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) data with other datasets held by Police Scotland or other public authorities.

The deployment of resources is a matter for the Chief Constable based on operational priorities. This is also very clearly set out in the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012.

The consideration to use data acquired by Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology in combination with facial recognition and other biometric technologies would be an operational matter for Police Scotland, under the scrutiny of the Scottish Police Authority.

Question reference: S7W-02550

Asked by: Yi-pei Chou Turvey, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras are in operation in Scotland, and which organisations are responsible for operating them.

The Scottish Safety Camera Programme is a partnership between Transport Scotland and Police Scotland and deploys automated road traffic offence cameras which use ANPR technology only once a speed or red traffic light offence has been detected. These cameras are procured by Transport Scotland for use solely by Police Scotland and cannot be used for any purpose other than automated road traffic offence detection. There are currently 119 fixed camera locations, 18 temporary average speed cameras and 132 average speed cameras across Scotland.