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: S7W-03172

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) reading programmes currently being utilised in Glasgow primary schools, including at John Paul II Primary School, and whether it plans to evaluate this approach with a view to a potential national roll-out.

Question reference: S7W-03161

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish all risk assessments, clinical review notes and comparative benchmarking documentation in which Aberdeen Maternity Hospital and older oncology units were used as baseline metrics for the ANCHOR Centre or the Baird Family Hospital during NHS Scotland Assure Key Stage Assurance Reviews (KSARs).

Question reference: S7W-03126

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the evidence given by the Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on 14 January 2025 regarding the 52-week target timescale for determining section 36 applications for offshore wind projects under the Electricity Act 1989, how many live applications remain on track to be determined within that timescale.

Question reference: S7W-03125

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the evidence given by the Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on 14 January 2025 regarding the 52-week target timescale for determining section 36 applications for offshore wind projects under the Electricity Act 1989, how many applications have been determined in that timescale, and what the average determination time was for applications that exceeded it.

Question reference: S7W-03124

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the evidence given by the Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on 14 January 2025 regarding the 52-week target timescale for determining section 36 applications for offshore wind projects under the Electricity Act 1989, how many live applications currently exceed that timescale, broken down by the number for which all statutory consultee responses have been received and how long each such application has been awaiting determination since the final response was received.

Question reference: S7W-03188

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter from the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government to the Convener of the Finance and Public Administration Committee on 24 June 2026, in which the cabinet secretary stated "I recognise the importance of ensuring that Parliament has timely and relevant information to support pre-Budget scrutiny. To support this, I intend to deliver a fiscal statement to Parliament in September, aligned with the Programme for Government, setting out the current fiscal context and the key issues and choices facing the Scottish Budget", whether it will confirm by what date this statement will be delivered.

Question reference: S7W-02461

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 10 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its consideration of the responses to the consultation, The Future of Council Tax in Scotland, which closed on 30 January 2026, and by which date it expects to publish (a) its response to the consultation and (b) any proposals, including timescales, for the reform of council tax.

Question reference: S7W-02763

Asked by: Laura Moodie, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish an update to the Ancient Woodland Inventory and what consideration it will give to updating the inventory on a rolling basis.

Question reference: S7W-02419

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 10 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether the High Growth Unit will operate within government or as a public body

Question reference: S7W-02502

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 10 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is, regarding any impact on Scotland, on the statement by the Director General for Rail Services at the UK Department for Transport, Alex Hynes, to the House of Commons Transport Select Committee that “by having bi-mode trains you inadvertently weaken the business case for further electrification”.