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 40769 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6O-04583

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with stakeholders regarding the Tall Ships Races Aberdeen 2025.

Question reference: S6O-04603

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether its 2045 net zero target is still credible.

Question reference: S6O-04600

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-04559

Asked by: Ben Macpherson, MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with partners to tackle gang-related crime.

Disrupting organised crime groups, diverting individuals away from organised crime and reducing the harm caused by organised crime to individuals, communities and organisations remains a priority for the Scottish Government and its partners.

Partnership working is a crucial part of the approach to organised crime, as set out in Scotland’s Serious Organised Crime Strategy. The Serious Organised Crime Taskforce, which I chair, brings together law enforcement partners, and representatives from the public, private and third sectors.

The Scottish Crime Campus at Gartcosh enhances collaboration between key partner organisations in detecting and disrupting serious organised crime and terrorism. This includes the Police Scotland-chaired Multi-Agency Tasking and Delivery Board which comprises representatives from a number of bodies with investigative remits to share intelligence, identify emerging and current threats and collaborate on operational approach.

Question reference: S6W-36669

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people currently in receipt of Adult Disability Payment have been granted an indefinite award.

Social Security Scotland holds information at an individual level on clients who have been granted an indefinite award of Adult Disability Payment, but does not currently collate this information into a total figure.

Social Security Scotland will continue to review and prioritise any new statistics produced and will take account of users’ needs when developing future publications, in line with Code of Practice for Statistics.

Social Security Scotland routinely publishes statistics on all benefits, including Adult Disability Payment. The latest Adult Disability Payment official statistics publications can be found at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications/statistics.

Question reference: S6W-36783

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 23 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider reviewing its planning policy on wind turbines to encompass any health impacts of living, working or learning near to wind turbines, and the potential impact that the distance between buildings and turbines could have on health, including shadow flicker and low frequency noise.

Our Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) was published and adopted following extensive consultation and engagement and approval by the Scottish Parliament. Having an established and consistent policy framework enables confidence in the planning system and we have no current plans to amend NPF4.

NPF4 Policy 11 (energy) requires that wind energy project design and mitigation will demonstrate how impacts on communities and individual dwellings, including residential amenity, visual impact, noise and shadow flicker, are addressed.

Question reference: S6W-35741

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions its ministers have had in relation to requests to deliver Hugh’s Law, which would offer financial assistance to parents when children undergo prolonged hospital treatment.

We fully recognise that this is a challenging time for families. The Young Patients Family Fund helps families of young inpatients under 18 in Scotland cover some of the costs of hospital visits, regardless of diagnosis. Families can get support to cover costs of travel, food and/or accommodation.

Importantly, no-one needs a formal diagnosis to apply for Child Disability Payment which has paid out over £1 billion to families with disabled children to date. Parents applying on behalf of a terminally ill child can use our fast-tracked route to apply so they and their family can access the maximum level of financial support they are entitled to – quickly and with dignity.

Question reference: S6W-36500

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 23 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether beer sold in the on-trade is defined as household waste by local authorities.

Classification of packaging waste as household or non household waste under extended producer responsibility for packaging is set out by the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024. Classification is based on several criteria and producers are encouraged to consult the regulations or contact SEPA for specific queries. Glass drinks containers that are not in scope of DRS, will be captured under packaging EPR data reporting and fee obligations. Drinks containers which will be obligated under DRS when in force, such as aluminum, will be exempt from pEPR fee obligations. The use of reusable/refillable packaging such as beer kegs or reusable bottles is also encouraged under pEPR, as producers are only required to report and pay disposal cost fees for household packaging the first time it is placed on the market, and can then offset these fees when they recycle this packaging at the end of its life, thereby avoiding the vast majority of pEPR fees.

Question reference: S6W-36593

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 23 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) subscription and (b) other associated costs it has paid in each of the last five years for the provision of (i) Microsoft Teams, (ii) Zoom and (iii) other videoconferencing software.

Scottish Government uses the Microsoft 365 product suite to support shared services across 21,000 users in 55 government sector organisations. Within that suite, Microsoft Teams is the component used for videoconferencing, but also supports an array of uses such as file sharing, messaging, telephony, calendar management, and mass corporate notification. As such, the costs provided here are for the total costs of Microsoft product tools as the components are not priced individually.

Streamlining product purchase and usage in this way has enabled Scottish Government to reduce or eliminate spend in other areas. The tool is highly resilient and supports Scottish Government in continuing to operate during disruptive events. It has also cut travel significantly during routine operating.

The following table shows the total amounts spent on Microsoft subscriptions over the past five years. There is a charge for Skype in 2020-2021, as we were transitioning from this service to Microsoft Teams.

Overall, the move to Microsoft cloud services has been driven by a focus on delivering value for money while building business resiliency. Any Microsoft procurement is managed through a government framework in order to ensure the best deal possible and safeguard the public purse.

Year	Software	FY Spend
2020-2021	Skype	£ 119,464.16
2020-2021	Microsoft Products	£ 3,999,359.64
2021-2022	Microsoft Products	£ 5,043,649.34
2022-2023	Microsoft Products	£ 5,879,085.73
2023-2024	Microsoft Products	£ 5,649,335.50
2024-2025	Microsoft Products	£ 6,300,240.60
Total:		£26,991,134.97

Question reference: S6W-36437

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 23 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS boards and other public bodies to identify further opportunities for co-location, estate consolidation and hybrid working efficiencies.

The Scottish Government has regular discussions with NHS and public bodies on these matters as they are key stakeholders and governance members of the Single Scottish Estate (SSE), which supports a more efficient approach to public sector property management. This includes through co-location and sharing of on-site services.

Our ongoing and extensive engagement with these bodies, includes current SSE Location Based Reviews in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, Aberdeen and Inverness. There have been discussions at the SSE governance meetings and Public Sector Property Forum, which all of these bodies are invited to attend.

NHS national bodies and other public bodies in Scotland are covered by the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) so are required to engage with, and submit business cases to, Scottish Government Property Controls for Ministerial decisions on their estate. There is usually early discussion with the Scottish Government on each proposal.

The Scottish Government attends the Scottish Property Advisory Group, which is led by the NHS, to consider their property matters. Recent NHS engagement has included with NHS National Services for Scotland and NHS Education on their Edinburgh office requirements. The Scottish Government also attends a number of public body groups as appropriate, such as recent attendance at the Delivery Bodies Group to discuss the SSE work.