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-02089

Asked by: Sanne Dijkstra-Downie, MSP for Edinburgh Northern, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether the supply chain commitments made by ScotWind developers are delivering the industrial, economic and employment benefits originally envisaged.

The SCDS updates make clear the level of projected spend in the Scottish supply chain is very substantial. These projects will spend millions of pounds throughout their development, through activities such as surveys, engineering and construction, which will support jobs across Scotland and the rest of the UK.

We expect developers to help build the resilience of our domestic supply chain and deliver on their SCDS commitments. Failure to do so can trigger remedies ranging from financial penalties to an inability to progress to a seabed lease.

The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit and Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Economics recently published a report showing Scotland’s net zero economy contributes £10.2 billion GVA and supports more than 105,000 jobs, accounting for 4.9% of Scotland’s economic output and 3.9% of employment (The Scottish Net Zero Economy in 2025, CBI).

ScotWind projects have already delivered over £750 million in revenues to the public purse.

Question reference: S7W-02182

Asked by: Heather Anderson, MSP for Dundee City West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the introduction of a ban on the sale and possession of snares, in light of the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission's recommendation that such a ban be introduced.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission’s recommendations, following its review on snaring, recommended that the use and sale of snares be prohibited.

A complete ban on the use of snares, as provided for in the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024, came into force on 25 November 2024.

Section 11(3C) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (the 1981 Act” already prohibits the possession and sale of self-locking snares.

In our consultation document ‘Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill: use of snares and powers of Scottish SPCA inspectors’, published in August 2023, we proposed not to extend the offence to possess or sell any other type of snare other than those already prohibited under section 11 of the 1981 Act.

This is because many snares that were set were made by practitioners using readily available materials and therefore a ban on the sale of snares would have a limited affect.

Question reference: S7W-01989

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to (a) develop and (b) improve agricultural education during the current session.

The Scottish Government is taking forward a range of actions to develop and improve agricultural education, learning and skills during this Parliamentary session.

This includes implementing the recommendations of the independent Commission for the Land-Based Learning Review, all 22 of which were accepted or accepted in principle by the Scottish Government. In March 2026, the Scottish Government reported that actions relating to 14 recommendations had been completed, with work continuing on the remainder.

The Scottish Government is also supporting agricultural learning and skills development through Scotland’s Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS), including investment in the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund, the Next Generation Practical Training Fund and the Land-Based Pre-Apprenticeship Programme. Together, these initiatives support vocational training, practical skills development and pathways into agricultural careers, helping to develop the skilled workforce needed by Scotland’s rural economy.

The Scottish Government also funds Lantra Scotland to promote careers, learning and skills development across the land-based sector.

Question reference: S7W-01780

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of secondary school pupils eligible for free school meals has been recorded as being persistently absent from school in each year since 2017-18, and what analysis it has commissioned or carried out on the impact that this might have on the likelihood of them subsequently having the status of being classified as not being in employment, education or training (NEET) aged 16 to 24.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on pupil’s eligibility for free school meals (FSM). However, data on pupils eligible for, and in receipt of, free school meals are held.

The following table sets out the percentage of secondary school pupils each year where data was available who were persistently absent, by their free school meal registration status.

Table 1. Percentage of secondary school pupils persistently absent by free school meal registration, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.

FSM Registration	2018-19	2020-21	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25
Not Registered	26.4	21.5	35.9	35.2	31.9
Registered	53.8	47.9	64	64	61.4

Prior to 2022-23, absence data was only published every 2 years.

These statistics exclude pupils whose attendance records could not be matched to a pupil census record.

Pupils who are eligible but not registered for free school meals will be included in the not registered figures.

The Scottish government is clear that attendance is linked in many ways to attainment and thus to achieving positive outcomes. We welcome recent statistics that demonstrate 95.7% of young people are in a positive destination 3 months after leaving school and that the poverty related attainment gap has narrowed by almost two thirds for initial destinations in the last 15 years.

Question reference: S7W-02494

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to local authorities to ensure that any disbursement of public funds for retail improvement schemes is conditional upon adherence to high-quality, traditional materials, traditional skills and design codes.

Question reference: S7W-02491

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to establishing a dedicated national grant scheme to support the reinstatement of traditional shopfronts, to ensure equitable access to funding outside of existing, localised Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) boundaries.

Question reference: S7W-02492

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider ringfencing a proportion of the Place Based Investment Programme, or similar town centre regeneration funds, specifically for heritage-led commercial facade improvements.

Question reference: S7W-02485

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it has considered commissioning a Scottish Parliament challenge coin for members to present to hosts during official international visits and to members of visiting delegations, in light of the increasing use of such coins by legislatures and public bodies across the Commonwealth, the United States and elsewhere.

Question reference: S7W-02102

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-00806 by Angela Constance on 16 June 2026 whether it will to set out a timetable for the national evaluation of the GP walk-in clinics programme.

Question reference: S7W-02132

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has undertaken a value-for-money assessment of issuing bonds under the Scottish Government bond programme, and whether it will publish the assessment.