- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 18 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to undertake a review of whether existing cancer waiting time standards adequately reflect clinical urgency for rapidly progressing cancers.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02175 on 18 August 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 18 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish guidance on the factors that define a green data centre, and whether, pending publication of that guidance, it will invite planning authorities to defer determining applications for hyperscale data centres.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01691 on 10 August 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
- Asked by: Steven Bonnar, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Ben Macpherson on 18 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding a coordinated oversight framework for large-scale data centre and AI infrastructure developments, in light of the cross-cutting issues that such developments raise across devolved planning powers and reserved matters, including energy and digital infrastructure.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01336 on 17 of July 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Ben Macpherson on 18 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-01102 by Ben Macpherson on 13 July 2026, what oversight it has of colleges' compliance with relevant health and safety legislation and guidance issued by the Health and Safety Executive.
Answer
Responsibility for regulation and enforcement of health and safety requirements rests with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) while the Scottish Funding Council retain oversight of the college sector on key issues of accountability and compliance. The Scottish Government engages regularly with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) on their oversight. The SFC expects colleges to comply with their legal obligations and seeks assurance on this through its ongoing monitoring, and engagement with institutions.
As a result of the measures established by the SFC, the Scottish Government remains assured that appropriate governance and compliance arrangements are in place across the sector.
- Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 18 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether, for planning policy purposes, it considers land on which solar arrays are installed and where livestock grazing continues beneath and between the panels, to be in agricultural use.
Answer
It is for an applicant to accurately describe the proposed development, including whether it is for a mix of uses, such as renewable energy generation and agriculture, or for renewable energy alone. This will determine how the planning application is considered through the planning process.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 18 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many homes have been completed on sites supported through the Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme, and what proportion of these was delivered on sites that had previously been recorded as derelict for more than 25 years.
Answer
524 houses have been built on sites supported through the Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme (VDLIP) since the fund’s introduction in 2021-22. Of these 48 were delivered on sites that had previously been derelict for more than 25 years.
- Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 August 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 18 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing in response to local patients’ reported concerns that cancer and other services have been and are being removed from Stracathro hospital.
Answer
This is an operational matter for NHS Tayside.
The Scottish Government wants all those accessing health services to be treated as close to home as clinically appropriate. Where travel is necessary, the Scottish Government expects NHS Boards to work collaboratively with transport providers to make suitable arrangements to ensure that the necessary treatment can be provided in a patient-centred way.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 18 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it maintains, or plans to create, a list of the number, location and size of all current and proposed data centres in Scotland, and whether this is available to the public.
Answer
This matter is under active consideration by the Scottish Government, and Parliament will be kept informed of the outcomes of those considerations – including the potential for planning guidance – in due course.
Planning applications for data centres are a matter for the relevant local authority in the first instance. Planning applications and supporting documentation are available to view on the relevant local authority web pages.
- Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Ben Macpherson on 18 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many schools use the Gatsby Benchmarks to assess their careers guidance provision, and what the average benchmark score achieved is.
Answer
The Gatsby Benchmarks are a careers guidance framework used in England.
Careers support is devolved and the Gatsby Benchmarks do not form part of Scotland’s approach. While individual schools may choose to use the framework if they consider it useful, the Scottish Government does not collect or hold information on its use. Information on the number of schools using the Gatsby Benchmarks, or on any benchmark scores achieved, is therefore not held centrally.
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 18 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many people it anticipated would be (a) seen and (b) treated at the Cardonald GP walk-in clinic during its first year of operation, and what its position is on whether this will be achieved, based on the latest attendance figures.
Answer
When submitting their proposal for the walk-in service, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde estimated that the Cardonald walk-in service would have capacity for 483 appointments per week. This is a new service, rolled out cautiously and carefully for patient safety. Lower patient numbers in the early stages are not unexpected and should not, on their own, be seen as a measure of success or failure.