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-01601

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment in the Scottish National Party manifesto to enact a statutory price cap on essential food items, what additional resources will be required for local authority trading standards to (a) monitor and (b) enforce the policy.

Question reference: S7W-01895

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Fife North East, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Ben Macpherson on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the appointment of an individual to undertake an independent review of Qualifications Scotland arrangements for qualifications quality.

Question reference: S7W-01315

Asked by: Laura Moodie, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what staff resources within (a) it and (b) Education Scotland are allocated to the delivery of Learning for Sustainability, and what its position is regarding whether these are sufficient to deliver the outstanding actions in Learning for sustainability: action plan 2023 to 2030.

Question reference: S7W-01568

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Simita Kumar on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide information regarding who represented the Anti-Racism Coalition at the meeting attended by the First Minister and the Scottish Refugee Council in June 2026, following disorder in Glasgow and other parts of Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-01603

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment in the Scottish National Party manifesto to enact a statutory price cap on essential food items, what representations it has received on the policy from (a) industry bodies and (b) trade associations.

The Scottish Government remains committed to committed to publishing draft legislative provisions and progressing work on the price cap on essential food items. We have engaged constructively with a range of industry bodies and trade associations, which have shared their views on the proposal. Their expertise and experience are helping to inform our consideration of the policy and will continue to do so as development of the proposal progresses.

Question reference: S7W-01604

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment in the Scottish National Party manifesto to enact a statutory price cap on essential food items, what its response is to the comments from members of its own Retail Industry Leadership Group in The Sunday Times on 5 July 2026 that the policy risks "higher prices for other items in shops" and "reduced footfall for some retailers".

Question reference: S7W-01318

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S7O-00110, S7O-00114 and S7O-00115 by Gillian Martin on 24 June 2026 and S7F-00023 by John Swinney on 25 June 2026, what plans it has to provide a formal definition of a green data centre and, in the absence of such a definition, how it will develop guidance on how planning authorities can assess the environmental credentials of proposed hyperscale data centres.

Question reference: S7W-01573

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Simita Kumar on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that Scotland's African and black communities and citizens are represented on the Anti-Racism Coalition.

A range of different stakeholder organisations are reflecting shared concerns about the nature and extent of protest activity, disorder and incidents of hate, prejudice and intimidation and their impact on faith communities, adversely racialised communities, people seeking asylum and refugees. This has been independent of government and there is not a formal or constituted body as such called the Anti-Racism Coalition.

The following organisations that raised concerns represent the diverse experiences of adversely racialised communities in Scotland:

Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland
Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure Scotland (BEMIS)
Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER)
Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Organisations (CEMVO)

Question reference: S7W-01316

Asked by: Laura Moodie, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of Learning for sustainability: action plan 2023 to 2030.

The refreshed Learning for Sustainability (LfS) Action Plan was published in 2023. Key achievements since then have included: publication of Sustainable Learning Settings guidance in English and Gaelic by Education Scotland, which will help to guide schools on how to achieve Target 2030; publication of a national framework for LfS in Initial Teacher Education to improve the embedding of LfS in initial teacher training, and; strengthening LfS as part of the Curriculum Improvement Cycle. In addition – and recognising that outdoor learning is a key aspect within LfS – the government is also working with partners to implement the Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Act 2026.

Question reference: S7W-01808

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Scottish National Party manifesto commitment to enact a statutory price cap on essential food items, what analysis it has conducted of the potential impact on customer demand and stocking of products in grocery stores that are located close to the border with England.

The Scottish Government is working toward a consultation on the price cap on essential food items within 100 days of the start of this parliamentary session. This work has been informed by early engagement with key stakeholders and consideration of policy implications.

The consultation will be an opportunity for interested parties to inform the further development of policy and any future legislative proposals. Any proposals brought forward would be subject to detailed consideration of potential economic, competition, consumer and business impacts and be informed by appropriate evidence and impact assessments.