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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S7W-04440

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements are in place to ensure that historical medical, psychiatric and safeguarding records that might be relevant to investigations of childhood abuse are appropriately preserved and securely transferred when NHS facilities, residential schools or independent boarding schools close.

Question reference: S7W-04447

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available through its No One Left Behind approach to employability for survivors of childhood abuse and exploitation who require flexible, trauma-informed pathways into employment, including community-based or outdoor projects, and what discussions it has had with the Department for Work and Pensions regarding the interaction between such voluntary support and benefit conditionality.

Question reference: S7W-04443

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to child protection committees on involving grassroots survivor-led organisations in the development and review of local safeguarding and referral procedures, and what assessment it has made of the extent to which this takes place in rural communities.

Question reference: S7W-04441

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what oversight arrangements are in place to ensure that independent boarding schools comply with child protection and safeguarding requirements, including the retention and secure transfer of pupil welfare, disciplinary and safeguarding records.

Question reference: S7W-04456

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it collects data on the number of community venues that have (a) staff or volunteers trained in naloxone use and (b) naloxone kits available on site, and, if not, how it assesses whether coverage of naloxone provision is sufficient across communities.

Question reference: S7W-04427

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of setting Air Departure Tax rates either (a) below or (b) above UK Air Passenger Duty rates from 1 April 2028 on (i) passenger demand, (ii) tourism and (iii) airline investment.

Question reference: S7W-04426

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact that annual inflation-linked increases in Air Departure Tax would have on Scotland's competitiveness compared with European countries that do not uprate aviation taxes annually.

Question reference: S7W-04453

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government which sections of all Acts of the Scottish Parliament passed since May 2007 have not yet been commenced.

Question reference: S7W-04234

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its Rural Affordable Homes for Key Workers Fund, (a) how much has been spent, (b) how many homes have been provided for key workers, and (c) in which local authorities homes have been provided, since 2023, and (d) whether the Fund will be continued beyond 2028.

Since the fund's launch in April 2023 to October 2026, a total of £4.613million has been spent through the Rural Affordable Homes for Key Workers Fund. The Fund is demand-led, with expenditure dependent on project progress and delivery milestones.

As of October 2026, 32 homes have been completed through the Fund in the following local authority areas:

Orkney Islands: 10 homes
Moray: 3 homes
Highland: 14 homes
North Ayrshire: 5 homes

A further 12 homes have been approved for funding, which will raise the total committed SG funding to £9.045 million.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with local authorities to encourage applications to the Fund and help address local housing needs for key workers. In addition, affordable homes in rural areas are also supported through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

The future of the Fund remains under consideration.

Question reference: S7W-04191

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ruth Charteris on 22 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-02843 by Ruth Charteris on 10 September 2026, regarding the code of practice on the investigative functions as set out in section 57 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, (a) for what reason this has not been (i) completed, ten years after the Act received royal assent, and (ii) issued for public consultation and (b) whether it will provide a timeline of the consultation and publication process.

The work to consult and publish a Code has required detailed review and revision, and, during that period, work was reprioritised in response to significant pressures across the criminal justice system, including the Coronavirus pandemic. The extent of changes in law, policy and practice since the Code’s initial development now requires refinement of the earlier draft before public consultation.

Work on the Code has now restarted, including engagement with criminal justice partners. The Lord Advocate has prioritised completion of the Code and work is being progressed expeditiously towards the required consultation.

As set out in the answer to S7W-02843, the aim is to complete the consultation and publication process by early 2027. That continues to be the intended timetable, subject to the responses received through consultation and any amendments required to the draft Code as a result.

The absence of a published Code does not mean that investigative functions have operated without established legal and procedural safeguards during this period.