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-04712

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to improve waiting times for audiology appointments.

Question reference: S6O-04731

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what work Social Security Scotland is undertaking to improve its communication with applicants for Child Disability Payment.

Question reference: S6O-04734

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central 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 whether it will provide an update on what actions it is taking to end the housing emergency.

Question reference: S6O-04719

Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how its policies support people with premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Question reference: S6W-37523

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to the Scottish National Investment Bank in the current parliamentary session to date, and how much it estimates it will have provided by the end of the current parliamentary session.

Audit Scotland published a report on the Scottish National Investment Bank’s performance on Thursday 15 May (Scottish National Investment Bank | Audit Scotland). Page 16 details the Capital and Resource allocations by year since the Bank was launched in November 2020:

Financial Year	Scottish Government capital allocation (£m)	Scottish Government resource allocation (£m)
2020-21	£75	£7.1
2021-22	£200	£5
2022-23	£206	£9
2023-24	£263	£5.8
2024-25	£174	£2.8
2025-26 (budget)	£200	£0
Total	£1,118	£29.7

Question reference: S6W-37448

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-36651 by Kate Forbes on 30 April 2025, whether it will provide further details and updated information on how it evaluates whether its grant conditions are successful in achieving diversification away from arms manufacturing.

Question reference: S6W-37519

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it has adjusted income tax rates and bands since the start of the current parliamentary session.

Please see the following table setting out changes to Scottish Income Tax since the start of this parliamentary session.

Table 1: Scottish Income Tax Policy: Income Tax Rates and Bands, 2021-22 –
2023-24

	2021-22		2022-23		2023-24
Band Name	Income Range	Rate	Income Range	Rate	Income Range	Rate
Starter Rate	£12,571* - £14,667	19%	£12,571* - £14,732	19%	£12,571* - £14,732	19%
Basic Rate	£14,668 - £25,296	20%	£14,733 - £25,688	20%	£14,733- £25,688	20%
Intermediate Rate	£25,297 - £43,662	21%	£25,689 - £43,662	21%	£25,689 - £43,662	21%
Higher Rate	£43,663 - £150,000**	41%	£43,663 - £150,000**	41%	£43,663 - £125,140**	42%
Top Rate	Over £150,000**	46%	Over £150,000**	46%	Over £125,140**	47%

* Assumes individuals are in receipt of the Standard UK Personal Allowance

** Those earning more than £100,000 will see their Personal Allowance reduced by £1 for every £2 earned over £100,000

Table 2: Scottish Income Tax Policy: Income Tax Rates and Bands, 2024-25 –
2025-26

	2024-25		2025-26
Band Name	Income Range	Rate	Income Range	Rate
Starter Rate	£12,571* - £14,876	19%	£12,571*- £15,397	19%
Basic Rate	£14,877- £26,561	20%	£15,398 - £27,491	20%
Intermediate Rate	£26,562 - £43,662	21%	£27,492 - £43,662	21%
Higher Rate	£43,663 - £75,000	42%	£43,663 - £75,000	42%
Advanced Rate	£75,001 - £125,140**	45%	£75,001 - £125,140**	45%
Top Rate	Over £125,140**	48%	Over £125,140**	48%

* Assumes individuals are in receipt of the Standard UK Personal Allowance

** Those earning more than £100,000 will see their Personal Allowance reduced by £1 for every £2 earned over £100,000

Question reference: S6W-37524

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 09 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 May 2025

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

Over the current parliamentary term, we estimate that the total spend through the capital budget will be £31.1 billion. This is based on the latest figures available. The following table sets this out in detail.

Table 1: Total capital spending between 2021-22 and 2025-26, £ millions

Outturn 21-22

£ m

Outturn 22-23

£ m

Outturn 23-24

£ m

Budget Allocated at SBR

24-25

£ m

Budget Allocated at Scottish Budget 25-26

£ m

Total 21-22 to 25-26

£ m

Capital

5,402

6,296

5,953

6,266

7,199

31,116

Question reference: S6W-37505

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will clarify the meaning of its aim to "rationalise the qualifications offer in the senior phase", and how it will do this.

I made it clear when responding to the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment (IRQA) in September last year that it is vitally important that all young people have a clear and coherent senior phase offer, which aligns with pathways that are available in both higher and further education, and on into employment.

As indicated in the Scottish Government response to the IRQA, the work to rationalise the qualifications offer in the senior phase will be undertaken by the current qualifications body and subsequently Qualifications Scotland. The work should ensure high-quality qualifications in senior phase that:

suit all pupils regardless of their age, stage, and ambition;
is clear and easy for pupils to understand and navigate;
delivers greater parity of esteem between different qualification types;
delivers the skills and knowledge to grow our economy and
will be maintained, reviewed and updated on a regular basis.

During 2024-25 SQA worked with stakeholders to identify and remove underutilised qualifications from their portfolio and, after extensive engagement, will remove 143 qualifications mostly on the grounds of no or low uptake.

An essential part of rationalisation of the senior phase offer will be guided by the evidence gathered from reviewing the types of qualifications available, patterns of delivery, their intended purposes, and how effectively they are fulfilling those purposes.

Question reference: S6W-37479

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm development, how many jobs in Scotland will be created by the delivery of at least 50% UK content over the life cycle of the development.

Projects such as Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm have the potential to boost local and national supply chain growth and support high-quality, sustainable jobs.

The UK Government is responsible for monitoring Supply Chain Plans as part of the CfD scheme.

The expansion of offshore wind represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create thousands of jobs that drive growth, foster innovation, and generate wealth. The Scottish Government is doing everything within its power to ensure that the offshore wind opportunity for Scotland is realised so that projects and the associated economic benefits we all want to see are delivered.