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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 43516 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-39286

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to publish a definitive list of irreplaceable habitats in Scotland, and, if so, whether species-rich meadows will be included within that list.

Under s.2(4) of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, the Scottish Ministers are required to publish a list of habitats and species of principal importance within 12 months of the publication of a Scottish biodiversity strategy, known as the Scottish Biodiversity List. It will have particular relevance for public bodies applying their biodiversity duties.

Work to complete the list is ongoing and it would not therefore be appropriate to say definitively that species-rich grasslands will be included. However, various types of species-rich grassland are included in the current Scottish Biodiversity List.

The term ‘irreplaceable habitat’ is not used in Scotland and is primarily associated with the Natural England biodiversity metric.

Question reference: S6W-39066

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 July 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding allocated from the Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme went to growers based outside of Scotland in each year since it was established.

While Producer Organisations (POs) that currently receive aid through the Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme funded by the Scottish Government do have a number of members that are not based in Scotland, the scheme does not fund individual growers. Aid is provided to recognised POs, based on an approved operational programme, which must have the support of all PO members. Funding offers a range of opportunities which are of collective value to the PO and its members. Currently there are also a number of Scottish growers which are members of POs in other UK nations.

Information related to funding allocated to POs in other UK nations is not held by the Scottish Government. This is a matter for the Rural Payments Agency.

Question reference: S6W-39346

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement of additional funding for National Treatment Centre Highland on 10 April 2025, what assessment it has made regarding the additional funding allocated to support the introduction of combined cataract and trabecular bypass procedures.

In 2025-26 all ophthalmic procedures at National Treatment Centres (NTCs) will be cataract surgery. NTCs will not provide glaucoma treatments such as trabecular bypasses.

The treatment centres are focusing on delivering higher volume surgery in cataract only lists due to the volume of surgery required. If patients require cataract surgery and an additional procedure, surgery is likely to be undertaken in their Health Board of residence with an Ophthalmologist who specialises in the particular sub-specialty outwith cataracts i.e. Glaucoma.

Question reference: S6W-39356

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to reduce the number of fire stations assessed as being of "bad" or "poor" suitability.

The Scottish Government increased the capital budget from £32.5 million in 2023-24 to £43 million in 2024-25 and £47 million in 2025-26. Decisions on how this budget is spent between fleet, equipment and buildings is a matter for the SFRS Board and Chief Officer. SFRS is currently consulting on a range of possible service delivery changes to better match its assets with the risks present in communities. This will allow SFRS to take decisions on closing, merging or upgrading fire stations over the next 5 years.

Question reference: S6W-39357

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any emergency measures introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic period to operate with reduced manpower in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service have been reversed and staffing levels returned to pre-pandemic minimum safe levels.

The operational guidance used to keep firefighters safe is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). SFRS generally operates with a crew of 5 on the first appliance deployed to an emergency and this was reduced to 4 during the COVID-19 pandemic. SFRS has a range of options to ensure the availability of its appliances, which on occasion may include appliances being crewed with 4 rather than 5 firefighters.

Question reference: S6W-39192

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers have been refused permission to work second jobs in the past five years.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The assessment of requests and permission for officers seeking additional jobs or business interests are matters for the Chief Constable.

The Scottish Government values the dedication shown by police officers in Scotland. That’s why our police officers remain the best paid in the UK recognising the hard work and valuable contribution they make daily as well as our commitment to investing in policing.

Question reference: S6W-39360

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the retained duty system fire stations in the Highland Council area currently have full staffing complements.

There are challenges in recruiting and retaining on-call firefighters in some rural areas of Scotland and there are currently no on-call fire stations in the Highland Council area with a full staffing complement. However, a full staffing complement is not required for an on-call fire appliance to be deployed because it can attend emergencies if there are 4 crew available at any given time. When an appliance is not available, a response will be provided from the next nearest available location.

Question reference: S6W-39362

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the retained duty system fire stations in the Moray Council area currently have full staffing complements.

Question reference: S6W-39294

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on developing the new NHS app in each year since 2022.

As set out in the answer to question S6W-35981 on 31 March 2025, delivery of the health and social care online app for Scotland is being taken forward by NHS Education Scotland (NES) as part of the wider Digital Front Door programme. The majority of costs to date have been on mobilising the team required and developing the Outline Business Case. NHS NES staff have participated in the Civtech Challenge, which has allowed NES to understand what is required to develop the app in a way that integrates into Scottish Government plans to digitise postal communications. More information about this can be found at: https://www.civtech.scot/civtech-9-challenge-8-secure-individualised-and-effective-communications-channel.

The bulk of development costs on the online app specifically will be incurred from 2025-26 onwards, as part of the indicative programme budget for 2025-26 set at £12 million.

The Scottish Government has provided NES with the following funding for the Digital Front Door Programme:

Financial Year	DFD spend £m
2021-22	0.75
2022-23	2.0
2023-24	1.5
2024-25	1.4
Total	5.650

Scottish Government has also awarded no contracts associated with this work, although NES, as the delivery partner, did spend £210,000 from their allocated budget on a contract to develop the Outline Business Case and further contracts will be awarded by NES as they move into this delivery phase. There has been no budgetary overspend compared with projections to 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/questions-and-answers.

Question reference: S6W-39291

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported finding in the Final report of the evaluation of the impact of the Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray that the fund has only safeguarded 120 jobs in two years, what further action it will take to prevent any significant job losses in the energy sector.

The Just Transition Fund (JTF) created and safeguarded at least 230 jobs in its first two years of operation, alongside the provision of more than 750 training places and it leveraged over £34 million in additional investment. The fund also supported innovative technologies such as EV battery recycling and offshore green hydrogen; it invested in improved environmental outcomes, for instance through the Findhorn Watershed project; and it invested in communities with our participatory budgeting approach, benefitting projects in ecovillages, adaptation and local climate assemblies.

These are some of the initial impacts of the JTF, and we expect job numbers and other key outputs to increase as projects continue.

In addition, the Scottish Government, in partnership with the UK Government, has launched a new Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund to help support offshore workers transition to roles in sustainable energy sectors. The new Fund forms part of a wider toolkit of support available for Scotland’s offshore oil and gas workers, including an industry-led Energy Skills Passport. These initiatives reflect our commitment to ensuring a just transition for Scotland’s valued and highly skilled offshore oil and gas workers.