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: S6O-04912

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK Government’s recently announced funding to test new ways to tackle obesity and the reported limited access to weight management treatments across Scotland, what steps it is taking to ensure that people in rural areas, such as Dumfries and Galloway, can access new weight loss treatments, including through innovative models such as pharmacist-led pilot schemes in GP practices.

Question reference: S6W-40307

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 September 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Angus Robertson on 3 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what further publications it has planned in connection with its policy on giving people in Scotland the right to decide their constitutional future.

On 4 September 2025, the Scottish Government will publish a new paper which evidences and updates the right of people in Scotland to decide their future.

Your Right to Decide demonstrates that the right to decide has been accepted across the political spectrum, including by former UK Prime Ministers and calls on the current UK Government to respect this key democratic principle.

Your Right To Decide will be available to view on the Scottish Government website from 4 September 2025 at https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781806430321.

Question reference: S6W-39877

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many energy consent applications have been lodged with the Energy Consents Unit in each year since 2021 in the (a) Highlands and Islands Region and (b) the rest of Scotland.

Details of applications made to the Energy Consents Unit under Sections 36 and 37 of the Electricity Act (1989) in the last five years are as follows:

Highlands and Islands planning authorities	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Section 36 applications (electricity generating station)	10	15	16	20	25
Section 37 applications (overhead lines)	21	51	41	33	17

Rest of Scotland planning authorities	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Section 36 applications (electricity generating station)	20	31	39	51	32
Section 37 applications (overhead lines)	34	30	34	29	18

Question reference: S6W-39766

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 3 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what procedures are in place to ensure that any statements by its ministers on international law are properly verified.

Question reference: S6W-39781

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote financial literacy to young people in schools.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of Financial Education in equipping learners with key life skills. Financial literacy is embedded in the curriculum in Scotland through numeracy and maths, business studies and personal and social education classes. Financial Education is a key feature of Curriculum for Excellence “Experiences and Outcomes” for Numeracy and Mathematics, assisting learners in understanding the benefits and risks of bank cards, effectively managing money, making appropriate use of technology and appreciating the importance of budgeting.

Education Scotland provides professional learning resources enabling educators to reflect on their own understanding and knowledge and to support future learning and teaching about money. Guidance is available for primary and secondary schools highlighting the links between financial education and Curriculum for Excellence. In addition, a wide range of teaching resources are provided by the private and Third Sector. These include Barclays LifeSkills, financial education guidance from the Money & Pension Service and the work of the charity, Money Ready.

Education Scotland are currently reviewing the curriculum in line with the Curriculum Improvement Cycle programme. As part of this review, work is taking place to review the place of financial education within the curriculum. Education Scotland are engaging with a wide range of practitioners and stakeholders, including children and young people, to review current Financial Education teaching and practice and plan how it can most effectively be integrated into the curriculum, ensuring an equitable approach.

Question reference: S6W-39694

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered the implications of the High Court decision relating to Northumbria Police participating in Pride marches for the impartiality of school teachers in Scotland.

It is a legal requirement for all teachers in Scottish schools to be registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), the independent regulator for teachers in Scotland.

Registered teachers must adhere to the GTCS Professional Standards and Code of Professionalism and Conduct, which require them to uphold values of integrity, trust, and respect, and to act impartially in their professional practice.

Question reference: S6W-39823

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 08 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 3 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has conducted on the issue of the cancellation of police officers’ rest days, which has reportedly had a detrimental impact on officers’ mental health.

The deployment and management of Police Officers are matters for the Chief Constable. However, I am aware that the cancellation of rest days can be due to a number of reasons, including attendance at court and the policing of events.

The Scottish Government is supporting its justice partners in achieving the outcomes described in the Vision for Justice in Scotland by taking forward a programme to drive key areas of reform, including criminal justice efficiency.

One element of this is the Summary Case Management currently being rolled out across Scotland. This initiative aims to improve the management of summary criminal cases in Scotland and reduce the number of unnecessary hearings. A pilot evaluation report published in September shows a significant reduction in the volume of witness citations being issued, this relates to police officers, victims and witnesses. The impact on police witnesses has been positive with a reduction of citations for domestic cases by up to 34% in all pilot courts. This equates to around 5000 citations not being served on operational officers in pilot areas.

Police Scotland are also progressing work to reduce the impact policing of events on officers such as the Force Mobilisation Model.

Question reference: S6W-40126

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any formal requirement is placed on NHS boards to record the age of all GP premises in their geographical regions as part of preparing property strategies for investment prioritisation and for this information to be directly communicated to ministers.

Question reference: S6W-39997

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-39428 by Gillian Martin on 28 July 2025, what obligations Crown Estate Scotland has under the Fair Work Framework in administering seabed leasing for (a) offshore wind development and (b) other marine renewable energy developments.

Question reference: S6W-40000

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 3 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer (KLTR) will publish a list of all the ownerless property that it currently holds within the Glasgow City Council area by virtue of (a) ultimus haeres (estates of people who died without heirs or a will) and (b) bona vacantia (property last owned by dissolved companies).

The King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer (KLTR) has an administrative function only and he does not hold or own property which has fallen to him as bona vacantia or ultimus haeres.

The KLTR already publishes a list of properties which have fallen to the Crown as bona vacantia which are (or were) suitable for consideration through the KLTR’s Ownerless Property Transfer Scheme (OPTS). These properties, including those currently under consideration within the Glasgow City Council area, can be viewed on the KLTR’s website at: Cases | KLTR.

The OPTS was launched in March 2024. During this process, the KLTR circulates information on properties to public bodies, local authorities and communities to ascertain if there is a local interest in taking ownership. The OPTS then provides for the property to be transferred to the applicant at a nominal value where there is a public interest in doing so. OPTS Guidance can be viewed on the KLTR’s website at: OPTS Guidance | KLTR

The KLTR’s website also includes a list of estates which the KLTR has administered (or is presently administering) which appear to have fallen to the Crown as ultimus haeres in the absence of a will or identifiable heirs. This can be viewed at Find an estate | KLTR