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-04164

Asked by: Humza Yousaf, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government in relation to lifting Crown immunity under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 for the Scottish Prison Service.

Question reference: S6O-04174

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to tackle antisocial behaviour, and safeguard the welfare of girls, in schools.

Question reference: S6O-04173

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what role schools can play in ensuring that children develop life-long physical literacy skills.

Question reference: S6O-04167

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the reoffending rate.

Question reference: S6O-04176

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the needs of pupils with additional support needs are taken into account in the procurement and replacement of the school estate.

Question reference: S6O-04163

Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available from the Office of the Public Guardian for people accessing the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.

Question reference: S6O-04172

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve discipline in schools.

Question reference: S6W-32002

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 18 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) assessment it has made and (b) consultation it has carried out regarding what behavioural responses might arise in response to the proposed decision to freeze three of the income tax bands in its draft Budget 2025-26.

The Scottish Government relies on independent forecasts produced by the Scottish Fiscal Commission in arriving at policy decisions on Income Tax. These forecasts include the impact of any possible behaviour change that may result from policy decisions.

The impact of Income Tax policy decisions taken at the 2025-26 Scottish Budget on taxpayers and households is presented in the following publications:

Scottish Income Tax Factsheet: Income Tax Policy Proposal: Scottish Budget 2025-26 - Scottish Income Tax 2025 to 2026: factsheet - gov.scot
Distributional analysis of the Scottish Budget: Scottish Budget 2025 to 2026: distributional analysis of the Scottish Budget - gov.scot

Regarding consultation, in advance of the Scottish Budget, the Scottish Government conducts annual research on public attitudes to tax.

This research also includes information on where people find information on tax and their knowledge of the tax system. The information which has been collected is available online: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget-2025-26-pre-budget-engagement-summary/pages/1/

This year, we also conducted a broad programme of business engagement on tax policy, used to inform the Tax Strategy, which gave businesses the opportunity to express their views regarding behavioural responses to Scottish Income Tax policy.

Question reference: S6W-31956

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when the scheduling for the R100 scheme will be confirmed to provide specific forecast dates for properties.

The Scottish Government’s Reaching 100% (R100) programme is delivered through three key strands of activity – the over £600 million R100 contracts (North, Central and South), the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) and continued commercial coverage which includes emerging technologies such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite connections.

Our address checker at www.scotlandsuperfast.com shows the most recent digital connectivity plans and timescales for residential and business properties across Scotland that are scheduled to receive an improved broadband connection via the R100 contracts. It is not possible to show digital connectivity timescales for the R100 SBVS as this is a demand-led scheme, which means it is up to eligible property owners or residents to decide whether they wish to secure a connection in this way.

Question reference: S6W-32000

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 18 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, after taking account of the expected in-year transfers and budget revisions, what difference there will be between local government funding provided in 2024-25 and 2025-26.

As outlined in Table 4.12 of the Scottish Budget, on a like with like basis, the Local Government Settlement will be £15,035.2 million following the conclusion of the Spring Budget Revision 2025-26 compared with £14,027.1 million following the conclusion of the Spring Budget Revision 2024-25. It is therefore estimated that the difference in local government funding provided in 2024-25 and 2025-26 will be £1,008.1 million.

As with all previous years, any unanticipated transfers in year will also be given effect at the relevant budget revision and processed in the Local Government Finance Order 2026-27.