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 45791 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-36061

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it monitors any trends or common factors identified across fatal accident inquiries, and how it uses any such data in its policy development.

Question reference: S6W-36054

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the effectiveness of current processes for (a) monitoring and (b) ensuring the implementation of recommendations made following fatal accident inquiries.

The Scottish Government recently announced a review into how fatal accident inquiries operate. That review follows the publication of Sheriff Collins' determination of the fatal accident inquiry into the deaths of Katie Allen and William Brown in Polmont YOI in 2018. There are however no specific plans for the monitoring of recommendations made following FAIs generally. Each policy area will monitor recommendations of relevance to them.

Question reference: S6W-36081

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed any barriers to implementing recommendations arising from fatal accident inquiries, and, if so, what any such barriers were.

Question reference: S6W-36075

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) support and (b) guidance it provides to organisations to implement recommendations arising from fatal accident inquiries.

Question reference: S6W-36083

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to enhance public access to information about fatal accident inquiry outcomes, recommendations and their implementation status.

The statutory framework for FAIs is the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc (Scotland) Act 2016. The legislation introduced a requirement for the Sheriff conducting the FAI to make a determination setting out their conclusions and recommendations as soon as possible. Recommendations from a Sheriff must be responded to by the body to whom they are directed. The 2016 Act sets out that the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service is required to publish the determination and subsequent response from the party to whom the recommendations are directed. The response will normally detail what action has been taken or is proposed to be taken in light of the recommendations. These are published on the Scottish Courts and Tribunals' website and are therefore publicly available.

Question reference: S6W-36078

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the impact of any resource constraints within the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service on the progress of fatal accident inquiries.

As a non-Ministerial office, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) is responsible for preparing a detailed budget for each financial year. Throughout the Budget process, the Scottish Government liaises with the SCTS to identify its budgetary requirements. These requirements are considered alongside the resource needs of the rest of the justice system in order to ensure the SCTS has sufficient resources to meet its statutory obligations. Compared to the opening 2024-25 budget, an additional £11.5m Resource funding and £2m Capital funding has been provided to the SCTS for 2025-26.

Question reference: S6W-36172

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether prioritising action on retail crime, including shoplifting, should form part of (a) its strategic police priorities and (b) the priorities of the Scottish Police Authority.

The Strategic Police Priorities (SPPs) are designed to provide high-level direction for the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and Police Scotland, as set out in the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012. Prevention and detection of crime and working with key sectors is currently covered in the SPPs and the SPA and Police Scotland will use the SPPs to inform both their Strategic and Annual Police Plans, which will include putting in place objectives for the police service and the activities which will deliver them.

Police Scotland’s commitment to tackling retail crime has been underlined by last month’s launch of an action plan which includes a number of measures aimed at preventing such incidents and pursuing those responsible. This has been made possible through additional Scottish Government funding of £3 million for this year.

Question reference: S6W-36079

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many fatal accident inquiry recommendations have required legislative changes in each of the last three financial years, and how many of these have been implemented.

Question reference: S6W-36629

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by John Swinney on 3 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on MSP pay for its ministers for 2025-26, and whether the ministerial element of pay will remain frozen.

Since 1 April 2009, Scottish Ministers have declined to accept their full salary entitlement, freezing it at 2008-09 levels.

Between the start of the pay freeze on 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2025, this has resulted Scottish Ministers making over £2.2 million available for public spending from their own pay packets.

The freeze of the Ministerial element of pay at 2008-09 levels will remain in place for 2025-26, recognising the wider economic and fiscal pressures as well as the restraints placed on public sector pay.

The Ministerial element of pay will therefore remain at 2008-09 levels as shown in the following table:

Junior Minister	£26,068
Cabinet Secretary	£41,618
First Minister	£80,224
Lord Advocate	£54,371
Solicitor General	£39,316

From 1 April 2025, the MSP element of Ministers’ salaries will be equalised with that of MSPs who are not currently serving Ministers, providing parity in line with their roles. This has been set for all MSPs at £74,507.

The Scottish Parliament is responsible for the payment of salaries for MSPs and members of the Scottish Government. These arrangements are made under the Scottish Parliament Salaries Scheme. The rules of the Scottish Parliament Salaries Scheme do not give the power to withhold an annual increase from the gross salary entitlement. To achieve the required reduction, the pay increase to which Ministers and Law Officers would have been entitled are deducted from their net salary and paid direct to the Scottish Government to be made available for public spending.

The Scottish Parliament’s Pay and Pensions Team will be formally notified of this change and the commencement date of 1 April. They will then complete the relevant calculations and issue new mandates to all Ministers confirming the updated deduction value.

Question reference: S6W-36555

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Neil Gray on 3 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a progress update on the public inquiry into Sam Eljamel and NHS Tayside.

The Scottish Government recognises that many former patients still live with the consequences of being treated by Mr Eljamel and have waited a long time for answers. As I set out in my statement in February 2024, patients will be at the heart of this inquiry.

I am pleased that today I can confirm that following consultation with many former patients and their representatives by Lord Weir and his team, that I have agreed the Terms of Reference for the Inquiry, and that the Inquiry is now ready to commence from today.

The final Terms of Reference will be made available on the Eljamel Inquiry website today. (https://www.eljamelinquiry.scot/).