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-37372

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 22 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its procedure is for reviewing whether to publish advice that was initially withheld under section 29(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, and how frequently such reviews are undertaken.

The Scottish Government endeavours to provide information in response to requests wherever possible. The provisions of section 29(1)(a) (formulation or development of government policy) or other exemptions under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) should only be applied in order to withhold information where necessary, in the public interest.

Anyone who has made a request for information has the right to ask the Scottish Government to carry out a review if they have concerns about the handling of their request. The Scottish Government has a statutory obligation to carry out such a review and provide a further response to the requester within 20 working days. The review will be carried out by a Scottish Government official who was not involved in the decision-making process for the original request, and who can therefore consider afresh any matters of concern raised by the requester - including whether exemptions from disclosure have been appropriately applied. Following the review, the requester has the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision on their request, if they remain dissatisfied.

Outside of the statutory process for individual reviews described above, there is no requirement for the Scottish Government to proactively revisit FOI responses previously issued to see if the sensitivity of information has changed over time in a way which would mean exemptions no longer apply. As the Scottish Government responds to over 5,000 requests per year, it would be impractical to do so.

However, the Scottish Government is also committed to making information about all areas of its work proactively available, for example through its frequent planned publications on the Scottish Government website.

Question reference: S6W-37541

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on the Baird and Anchor project in the current parliamentary session to date, and how much it estimates it will have spent in total by the end of the current parliamentary session.

The most recent budget forecast of £261.1 million for the Baird and ANCHOR project remains under pressure until design changes and completion strategies for both buildings are addressed. A full update on project costs is expected by late summer pending the scope of work being developed and agreed.

An important part of any large capital project, is the ongoing testing and refinement of the design. This process is informed by a range of internal and external experts and subject to independent review led by NHS Scotland Assure, and is intended to provide assurance of compliance with the most up to date standards and also that learning from recent large projects is incorporated appropriately.

Question reference: S6W-37626

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received any formal requests from the UK Government for collaboration on a second phase of Scottish City and Regional Growth Deals.

Question reference: S6W-37595

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 22 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the levels of compliance by different sectors with the requirements of the Scottish Kept Bird Register to date.

Enforcement of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Scotland) Order 2007, which is the legislation under which the requirement for bird keepers in Scotland to notify the Scottish Ministers (in writing) in relation to the premises where birds are kept, was extended from those with 50 or more birds to all bird keepers from 1 September 2024. Enforcement is the responsibility of Scotland’s Local Authorities. The measures were enforceable from 1 December 2024. The principal aims of the introduction of the Scottish Kept Bird Register was to communicate risk and best practice to Scotland’s bird keepers, whilst allowing for more efficient and effective surveillance during disease outbreak periods, thereby promoting animal welfare and public health.

This information was previously not available to government and so compliance figures cannot be ascertained by way of a comparison with an established baseline of kept bird numbers, established before the register was extended.

However, prior to the extension of the register to include all keepers, an extrapolation was made from surveillance figures for kept birds, gleaned in previous outbreak periods, and current bird registration numbers are broadly in comparison to these initial estimated number of keepers.

Compliance will continue to be assessed over time as local authority activities disclose non-compliance within their council areas and government communication campaigns encourage those still unaware of their legal requirements in this respect to register their birds.

Question reference: S6W-37623

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted of the economic outcomes achieved through the first round of City and Regional Growth Deals.

Each Deal is required to produce a Benefits Realisation Plan setting both quantitative and qualitative objectives and measures for the programme. Each Deal produces an annual report detailing progress made on the delivery of agreed projects and programmes and on their intended outputs and outcomes. We monitor progress on outcomes on a regular basis via Annual Conversations which involve senior staff from both governments and local authority partners to review the past year’s activity and look ahead to future milestones. Annual reports for all deals are made publicly available on each deal’s website enabling visibility of what is being achieved.

Question reference: S6W-37624

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to ensuring that the small business sector is given a formal role in the design and delivery of any future growth deals.

Question reference: S6W-37061

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recently published Fisheries Management and Conservation Group stakeholder survey showing that 21 out of 23 participating marine stakeholders believe that FMAC is not delivering on its current aims and responsibilities, what conclusions it has drawn from the stakeholder response, and what specific changes it is planning to make to co-management arrangements to address the issues raised in the survey.

I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-36304 on 9 April 2025 and S6W-37060 on 30 April 2025. The Scottish Government has concluded that, as the primary issue with the functioning of FMAC appears to lie with its current structure, the decision to split the FMAC group should make the group more effective and help address the issues raised within the stakeholder survey.

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-37605

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 22 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether there is any increased risk to a mother's mental health as a result of returning to work 26 weeks after having a baby.

Question reference: S6W-37497

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to strengthen the regulatory framework governing salmon farming to prevent fish escapes and harm to wild salmon and other species, in light of reports that such incidents are not currently met with financial sanctions.

Question reference: S6O-04726

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the education secretary has had with NHS boards and local authorities regarding the levying of fees for hospital teaching costs for children who routinely attend independent schools.