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-04505

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the marine energy industry.

Question reference: S6O-04511

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-04506

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-04507

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with representatives from Lothian Buses.

Question reference: S6O-04481

Asked by: David Torrance, MSP for Kirkcaldy, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the steps that it is taking to encourage investment in Scotland's green economy.

Question reference: S6O-04487

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to invest in the west of the South Scotland region.

Question reference: S6O-04488

Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the Scottish Budget 2025-26 will improve local services in Motherwell and Wishaw.

Question reference: S6W-35670

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 19 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of skin cancer have been diagnosed in each year since records began.

Question reference: S6W-35453

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 19 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are being taken to increase the supply of permanent family-sized social homes, and how this will (a) help households with children to move out of the homelessness system and (b) improve the quality of temporary accommodation.

The Scottish Government has increased the Affordable Housing Supply Budget by £211.8 million for 2025-26 when compared to 2024-25. This will bring the investment in housing in 2025-26 to £768 million, which will enable delivery of more than 8,000 homes in Scotland. In 2024-25, we targeted £42 million of funding to the local authorities with the most sustained temporary accommodation pressures. To date, this has supported local authorities to bring 1,000 homes back into use through acquisitions and reduced the number of empty social homes. We have also worked with utility providers on energy supply issues to social rented homes to reduce the turnaround time for void properties.

1.Acquiring larger properties suitable for families will help to reduce the number of households, including families with children, in temporary accommodation. The targeted funding of £42 million will help to increase the supply of social housing of the right type and size where it is needed most. Our most recent statistics show that 20 councils have reduced the number of children in temporary accommodation as at 30 September 2024.

2.All local authorities should ensure that the temporary accommodation they provide to fulfil their duty to accommodate homeless households meets the temporary accommodation standards framework, published by the Scottish Government in 2023. The Scottish Government will provide record funding of more than £15 billion to councils in 2025-26 to support the delivery of a range of services, including homelessness services – an increase of £1,008 million on 2024-25. The Scottish Government allows local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently, and local authorities are best placed to identify and respond to local needs and priorities.

Question reference: S6W-35592

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 19 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendations in the Shelter Scotland report, In Their Own Words: Children’s Experiences in Temporary Accommodation, what immediate steps it is taking to guarantee that all temporary accommodation meets basic standards of safety, cleanliness and suitability for households with children, and what enforcement measures it will put in place to hold (a) landlords and (b) providers accountable.

Scottish local authorities use a diverse portfolio of temporary accommodation and there is a wide variety of legislation that caters for physical standards across these types of accommodation. These include the tolerable standard, which is a basic level of repair that applies to all property to make it habitable; the Scottish Housing Quality Standard, which applies to social rented sector properties; Houses in Multiple Occupation licensing for bed and breakfast accommodation and hostels; and the repairing standard in the private rented sector.

All local authorities should ensure that the temporary accommodation they provide to fulfil their duty to accommodate homeless households meets the temporary accommodation standards framework, published by the Scottish Government in 2023. The framework sets out the physical, location, service and management standards to ensure that temporary accommodation is of good quality and is safe, warm and affordable. Although consultation is required before the framework can be legally enforced, the framework was developed to ensure consistency in standards across all local authority areas.

The Scottish Housing Regulator assesses the compliance of all social landlords in meeting the tolerable standard and Scottish Housing Quality Standard, and would be obliged to assess landlords’ performance on meeting the temporary accommodation standards framework once it is enforced. Work is required to develop indicators to enable the Scottish Housing Regulator to assess local authority performance against the framework. In the meantime, social landlords should ensure that their temporary accommodation meets these standards.