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-42279

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions Transport Scotland has had with Argyll and Bute Council regarding the Craignure Ferry Terminal Project, and what the outcomes were.

Question reference: S6W-42290

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answer expected on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to mitigate the two-child benefit cap now that the UK Government has announced that it is removing this limit.

Question reference: S6W-42247

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will bring the MSP staff cost provision into parity with that of staff costs for Scotland's MPs.

Question reference: S6W-42264

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 2 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the Early Years Speech, Language and Communication Action Plan.

The Scottish Government will today publish the Early Years Speech, Language and Communication Action Plan.

This sets out a bold national vision to ensure every child in Scotland has the strongest possible foundation in speech, language and communication from the earliest stages of life. The Plan reflects our commitment to prevention, equity and partnership, recognising that early support is crucial to improving outcomes for children and reducing inequalities.

Supporting our Programme for Government commitment to reduce developmental concerns at the 27–30 month review by a quarter by 2030, the Action Plan outlines how we will embed speech, language and communication as a national priority, strengthen support for families and communities, and build a skilled and confident workforce across health, education and social care. Together, these actions will help ensure that all children, particularly those in our most disadvantaged communities, benefit from high-quality support for their early development.

The Early Years Speech, Language and Communication Action Plan will be available shortly at: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781806430925.

Question reference: S6W-42265

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Ivan McKee on 2 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to amend the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 to provide additional flexibilities for local authorities during the remainder of the current parliamentary session.

The Scottish Government plans to introduce an amending bill to Parliament early in the new year. If passed, the Bill will still allow local authorities to charge a percentage based visitor levy, but for those that require a different model the Bill will introducing additional flexibility to set either a single fixed amount or a range of fixed amounts for different purposes or areas. It will also include provisions to support the implementation of local schemes, including clarifying how the levy is to be charged in third party sales.

Question reference: S6W-42137

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 2 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will use the learnings from the Ask and Act pilots to determine budget requirements for the full implementation of the homelessness duties contained in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025.

Provisions in Part 5 (homelessness prevention) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 must commence 3 years from Royal Assent, if not already commenced. Royal Assent was given on 6 November 2025. The cost of implementation of the ask and act duties is therefore not a consideration for the 2026-2027 budget.

The learnings collected from the pilots will provide valuable data on prevention activities undertaken and volume of ‘asks’ and ‘acts’ by relevant bodies, including referrals to local authorities. These will be combined with findings uncovered from stakeholder engagement across relevant bodies and sectors, and with costs provided by local authority housing departments, so as to iterate and ratify the financial memorandum.

The findings of the pilots will also inform the drafting of guidance and regulations to help ensure effective implementation of the duties by named relevant bodies.

Question reference: S6W-42087

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 2 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-41713 by Ivan McKee on 13 November 2025, whether it will provide information on what money collected from the Scottish Government carbon levy on its business flights has been spent since the levy was introduced, broken down for each funded project by (a) project name and location, (b) delivery partner, (c) nature and description of the work undertaken, (d) carbon standard or methodology used, (e) cost, (f) verified or estimated CO2 reduction and (g) cost per tonne of CO2.

3 Projects have been funded since the levy was introduced.

1) Project 1

(a) Climate Change Saltire Fellowships

(b) Greener Scotland

(c) The Scottish Government agreed to set up a carbon emissions off-set/reduction fund as part of the bid to secure the 2014 Commonwealth Games for Glasgow. The fellowship scheme targeted resources to students from Commonwealth countries least able to deal with the impacts of climate change.

(d) N/A

(e) £40,000

(f) Not Measured

(g) N/A

2) Project 2

(a) Scotland Lights up Malawi

(b) 2020 Climate Group, Keep Scotland Beautiful and Glasgow Caledonian University

(c) To bring safe, solar energy to rural communities in Malawi replacing paraffin lights with rechargeable solar lighting.

(d) N/A

(e) £200,000

(f) Not Measured

(g) N/A

3) Project 3

(a) Solar PV

(b) Scottish Government

(c) To provide funding to install solar panels on SAH to demonstrate installing renewables on a listed building in a conservation area and world heritage site.

(d) GHG Protocol

(e) £200,000

(f) 39,128 Kg CO2 saved to date.

(g) N/A

Question reference: S6W-42086

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 2 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-41711, S6W-41712 and S6W-41713 by Ivan McKee on 13 November 2025, whether it will provide information on how much has been collected through its carbon levy on business flights in each financial year since the levy was introduced, and what the (a) cumulative total collected to date, (b) cumulative total spent to date and (c) current balance remaining in the carbon levy fund is.

The Carbon Levy was implemented in financial year 2006-7. Historical data on the amount collected each year prior to 2017-18 is not available.

2017-18 - £33,321

2018-19 - £32,211

2019-20 - £40,534

2020-21 - £558

2021-22 - No money collected

2022-23 - No money collected

2023-24 - No money collected

2024-25 £40,512

Between 2021 and 2024 no money was transferred from the travel provider. The money accumulated and was paid in 2024-25

The cumulative total spend to date is £440,000.

The current balance is £147,136

Question reference: S6W-41883

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding what the median waiting time at the point of referral was for patients registered with GPs in (a) Aberdeen City and (b) Aberdeenshire who travelled to NHS (i) Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (ii) Lothian, in each of the last five years, compared with patients treated in NHS Grampian for the same conditions.

Question reference: S6W-41986

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 2 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that health services in Argyll & Bute have been relocated to Glasgow.

There is an existing and established Orthopaedic pathway in place for patients in Argyll & Bute to receive treatment in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde. This has been the position for some time and we understand from Health Boards that patient feedback on this arrangement is largely positive.

More recently, the Haematology service was redesigned and repatriated to NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde due to the sub specialist nature of the many blood cancers and treatments now available, ensuring patients can continue to be treated safely. Patients are also supported through consultant consultations via NearMe within NHS Highland’s McMillan Suite with specialist nursing support.

To deliver case closer to home, many services across Argyll & Bute are also provided via an outreach service level agreement (SLA) which allows local access to consultant clinics.

As part of my plan to reform the NHS, I have announced that Health Boards will plan on a sub-national basis in 2026-27. This will ensure NHS Boards work together in the East and West of Scotland, allowing teams to work across their boundaries and share resources to ensure capacity is maximised and that long waiting patients can access treatment more quickly.

I expect all Health Boards to support across boundaries to deliver for their patient population ensuring timely access treatment.