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: S6W-36336

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps its Energy Consents Unit takes to assess the visual impact and location of renewable energy applications during the consultation phase, in light of tourism reportedly contributing £4 billion to the Scottish economy annually, with 40% of that being nature-based tourism, according to NatureScot.

Potential impacts on communities, nature, and cultural heritage, including the cumulative effects of developments, are important considerations in the decision-making process.

When an application is received, a full public consultation is carried out. Scottish Ministers invite representations from members of the public, appropriate community councils and other public bodies, seeking their expertise to assist in examining applications.

The decision whether to grant consent is taken only after careful consideration of environmental information, consultee responses and public representations.

Question reference: S6W-36318

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with the appointment of the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland.

The post of Traffic Commissioner for Scotland is currently vacant but I understand the role has been advertised on the UK Government’s Public Appointment website. The closing date for applications is 28 April 2025.

On 2 April, I received a letter from the Secretary of State for Transport, the Rt. Hon. Heidi Alexander MP advising that Richard Turfitt (Senior Traffic Commissioner) will cover the role on a temporary basis. I welcome Mr Turfitt’s temporary appointment to allow work to progress on improving bus services in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-36335

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its Freedom of Information response of 28 February 2025, for what reason there has been a consistent rise in renewable energy applications in recent years.

Question reference: S6W-36248

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the out-turn report for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme between 2022 and 2024 will be published.

The Out-turn report for the 2022-23 Affordable Housing Supply Programme was published on 17 January 2025.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/affordable-housing-supply-programme-out-turn-report/

As stated in the answer to question S6W-32145 on 18 December 2024, the 2023-24 out-turn report is still in progress and we do not, at present, have an identified publication date . 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

Question reference: S6W-36245

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to publish in full the report of the review of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme; if (a) so, when and (b) not, whether it plans to publish the review’s conclusions, and, if so, when.

Question reference: S6W-36858

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many pupils identified as gifted or talented are currently in receipt of targeted support in schools, and how this compares with previous years.

Statistics on more able pupil as a reason for support are published in the pupil census supplementary statistics. This is available on the Scottish government website here https://www.gov.scot/publications/pupil-census-supplementary-statistics/.

Local authorities oversee the delivery of education and have a statutory duty to identify, provide for, and to review the support that they provide for pupils with additional support needs, including more able pupils.

Question reference: S6W-36609

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32778 by Ivan McKee on 7 January 2025, what the cost would have been in each year since 2016-17 of bringing the Higher Property Rate into line with that in England, broken down by industry sector.

Table 1 presents the estimated gross cost of setting the Higher Property Rate equal to the Standard Multiplier in England, from 2016-2017 until 2020-2021.

The Higher Property Rate in Scotland was 1.3p higher than the Standard Multiplier in England from 2016-2017 until 2018-2019, and 1.2p higher in 2019-2020 and
2021-2022. The Higher Property Rate and the Standard Multiplier in each year are shown in Table 2.

Figures for years from 2021-2022 until 2025-2026 are available in answers to questions S6W-25972 on 18 March 2024, S6W-25588 on 1 March 2024 and
S6W-32778 on 7 January 2025.

In 2016-2017, the threshold for the Standard Multiplier was £18,000, while the threshold for the Higher Property Rate was £51,000. Both thresholds were set to £51,000 from 2017-2018 until 2019-2020. From 2020-2021, the threshold for the Higher Property Rate was increased to £95,000, while the threshold for the Standard Multiplier remained at £51,000.

All figures are gross estimates, and are not adjusted for any relief. Figures are broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property.

This table is based on the valuation roll as at 1 October 2016, 1 October 2017, 1 October 2018, 1 October 2019, and 1 October 2020.

Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest £1,000, and may not sum due to rounding.

Table 1: Estimated gross cost of reducing the Higher Property Rate to the level of the English Standard Multiplier (£), broken down by property class

Property class	2016-2017 (£)	2017-2018 (£)	2018-2019 (£)	2019-2020 (£)	2020-2021 (£)
Shops	16,118,000	14,275,000	14,139,000	12,898,000	10,783,000
Public houses and restaurants	802,000	881,000	860,000	733,000	390,000
Offices	11,314,000	9,156,000	9,171,000	8,222,000	6,689,000
Hotels	2,072,000	2,824,000	2,886,000	2,686,000	2,334,000
Industrial subjects	11,080,000	11,145,000	11,184,000	10,374,000	8,814,000
Leisure and entertainment	2,262,000	2,292,000	2,310,000	2,126,000	1,848,000
Garages and petrol stations	518,000	538,000	536,000	499,000	351,000
Cultural	458,000	489,000	496,000	494,000	443,000
Sporting subjects	149,000	143,000	139,000	128,000	113,000
Education and training	6,461,000	6,846,000	6,973,000	6,394,000	5,735,000
Public service subjects	3,244,000	3,406,000	3,420,000	3,161,000	2,741,000
Communications	282,000	294,000	378,000	275,000	249,000
Quarries, mines, etc.	215,000	177,000	168,000	151,000	110,000
Petrochemical	1,533,000	1,579,000	1,565,000	1,442,000	1,432,000
Religious	179,000	99,000	102,000	95,000	41,000
Health and medical	2,360,000	2,473,000	2,531,000	2,345,000	2,120,000
Other	941,000	1,221,000	1,244,000	1,136,000	1,098,000
Care facilities	1,070,000	1,048,000	1,075,000	993,000	611,000
Advertising	29,000	44,000	45,000	43,000	34,000
Statutory undertaking	9,275,000	11,952,000	12,096,000	11,195,000	10,953,000
All	70,361,000	70,881,000	71,320,000	65,392,000	56,889,000

Table 2: The Standard Multiplier in England and the Higher Property Rate in Scotland, 2016-2017 to 2020-2021, pence per £1 of rateable value

Rate	2016-2017	2017-2018	2018-2019	2019-2020	2020-2021
Higher Property Rate (Scotland)	51.0	49.2	50.6	51.6	52.4
Standard Multiplier (England)	49.7	47.9	49.3	50.4	51.2
Difference	1.3	1.3	1.3	1.2	1.2

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

Question reference: S6W-36565

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what accountability mechanisms are in place for ministers when NHS performance targets are missed.

NHS Boards are separate entities with their own local governance and performance management arrangements in place, in line with national guidance, such as the ‘NHS Scotland Blueprint for Good Governance.’ This can be accessed at: www.gov.scot/publications/blueprint-good-governance-nhs-scotland-second-edition/.

There is also an ongoing cycle of routine engagement, scrutiny and support between the Scottish Government and NHS Boards. This helps ensure the latter are delivering on local and national priorities, and are being held to account for the significant public investment in the NHS. This evidence-based approach to monitoring performance and managing risk across the NHS in Scotland is underpinned by the ‘NHS Scotland Support and Intervention Framework’, which consists of five stages in a ladder of escalation that provides a model for support and intervention by the Scottish Government. NHS Boards can be escalated on the Framework as a result of significant and persistent performance issues; informing further scrutiny, support and intervention, as required. Further details can be accessed at: www.gov.scot/publications/nhs-scotland-support-and-intervention-framework/.

Question reference: S6W-36589

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many children and young people have been reported missing in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-36582

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many care-experienced people have (a) requested and (b) received independent advocacy in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Individual local authorities manage and monitor the provision of independent advocacy to meet local needs, including ongoing provision for care experienced people.

The Scottish Government is currently working with advocacy service providers and key partners, including The Promise Scotland, COSLA and Who Cares? Scotland to further develop our understanding of current advocacy provision and areas where needs are not being met.

The Scottish Government published an independent evaluation of the Children’s Hearings advocacy scheme in September 2024.

In addition, the Scottish Government provides grant funding to Who Cares? Scotland to operate their National Helpline which provides lifelong support to care experienced people.