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-04527

Asked by: Marie McNair, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made regarding the potential impact that community link workers have on the social determinants of health.

Question reference: S6O-04521

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress of action 42 in the Cancer Action Plan 2023 to 2026 to carry out a clinically led review on cancer waiting times.

Question reference: S6O-04517

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the breeding of disease resistant ash trees.

Question reference: S6O-04539

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the effectiveness of Social Security Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-35787

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-27244 by Jim Fairlie on 13 May 2024, whether it will provide an update on how many journeys have been made through the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme, broken down by local authority, based on the latest available data.

The following table shows the number of journeys, broken down by local authority, made through the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme since its launch in January 2022 up to 28 February 2025. Journeys are based on the local authority in which the card was issued, therefore some journeys will have been undertaken outwith the local authority area.

Local Authority	Total Journeys
Aberdeen City	11,755,210
Aberdeenshire	5,817,811
Angus Council	2,795,910
Argyll & Bute	1,592,223
City of Edinburgh	42,368,125
Clackmannanshire	949,142
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	290,964
Dumfries and Galloway	2,808,657
Dundee City	9,078,908
East Ayrshire	5,095,101
East Dunbartonshire	2,729,489
East Lothian	5,856,702
East Renfrewshire	2,688,049
Falkirk	2,943,570
Fife	15,847,992
Glasgow City	26,926,132
Highland	4,210,245
Inverclyde	3,073,230
Midlothian	5,444,718
Moray	1,703,065
North Ayrshire	5,677,541
North Lanarkshire	8,155,430
Orkney Islands	285,724
Perth & Kinross	4,563,953
Renfrewshire	6,794,793
Scottish Borders	2,696,004
Shetland Islands	553,252
South Ayrshire	2,923,356
South Lanarkshire	7,440,121
Stirling	2,524,385
West Dunbartonshire	3,564,053
West Lothian	4,880,594
Total	204,034,449

Question reference: S6W-35806

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether free bus passes make active travel less likely.

Use of public transport and active travel both support reductions in car use. The impact of free bus travel on sustainable travel behaviours is complex, and is affected by demographics, geography and trip purpose. Evidence from the existing National Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Older and Disabled Persons indicates that people who benefit from free public transport tend to be more active as a result. These journeys can be used to access outdoor activities and most will involve an active component, for instance to get to or from the bus stop.

The Year One Evaluation of the Young Persons Scheme was conducted between April and August 2023 and found early signs of changes in mode choice, with young people opting to use the bus rather than car, train and potentially some active modes. We will continue to monitor the impacts of the scheme, including any continued impact to use of other modes and active travel.

Question reference: S6W-35783

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many mixed-sex hospital wards there are in each NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-35991

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the reported £19.5 million spent on consultants for the A83 Rest and Be Thankful upgrade.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering a long-term solution to the landslip risks at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful and in December we made further progress by publishing draft Orders for the long-term solution and also for future phases of the medium-term solution to provide an improved diversionary route along the Old Military Road.

A breakdown of the £19.5 million spent on consultant’s fees can be found on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202500451605/.

These fees are associated with engineering design, environmental assessment (including environmental survey work), traffic and economic assessment, stakeholder engagement, and supervision of ground investigation works associated with the development of the medium and long term solutions as well as medium term solution construction works to the Old Military Road.

This expenditure is not unreasonable given the complexity and challenges of the scheme and the extent of the work being carried out to complete it.

Question reference: S6W-35786

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05017 by Mairi McAllan on 6 January 2022, what plans it has to update the list of game species, including removing species that have been red-listed.

Question reference: S6W-35785

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the species licensing review will (a) conclude and (b) report to ministers, and by what date the findings will be published.