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 4853 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S7W-04507

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to raising the income threshold for receipt of the education maintenance allowance, to help young people remain in education.

Question reference: S7W-04504

Asked by: Andrew Baxter, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 26 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reform the Caledonian Sleeper service's Classic and Club Flexipass tickets to ensure that upfront costs paid by travellers deliver cheaper berths per journey, with consideration given to protected, priority room availability for Highland-based residents, including those who use the service to commute.

Question reference: S7W-04483

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the proposed hyperscale AI data centre developments in Scotland are located within, adjacent to, or likely to affect communities identified as experiencing significant health inequalities, and whether such considerations will form part of its forthcoming national planning and spatial guidance for hyperscale data centres.

Question reference: S7W-04489

Asked by: David Green, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 26 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the multi-criteria analysis of the thematic recommendations provided by experts, including contributors from the Global South, and a monitoring and evaluation framework to "underpin transparency, learning and accountability" as promised in its 2023 position paper, Taking a Feminist Approach to International Relations, and when it will provide an update on the implementation of the wider actions within the position paper, including equality and human rights budgeting and rolling out Centres of Expertise to mainstream equality and human rights throughout domestic and international policies, funding and programming.

Question reference: S7W-04486

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether existing Scottish criminal law provides sufficient powers to investigate and prosecute the online recruitment, grooming, control and sexual exploitation of vulnerable women and girls through social media and messaging platforms, and what consideration it has given to introducing specific offences to address such activity.

Question reference: S7W-04476

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to "address the scale and seriousness of potential threats the use of AI may pose now and in the future", in line with motion S7M-01177, as amended and agreed to by Parliament on 16 September 2026.

Question reference: S7W-04495

Asked by: David Linden, MSP for Glasgow Baillieston and Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the actions arising from the meetings of the Cross Portfolio Ministerial Group on Prison Health and Social Care.

Question reference: S7W-04488

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the proportion of apprenticeship places secured by young people from working-class backgrounds and those living in deprived communities, and what action it is taking to improve access where inequalities in access persist.

Question reference: S7W-04480

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the budgeted annual cost is of licences for Microsoft Copilot and similar artificial intelligence-enabled software across Scottish Government, including non-departmental public bodies.

Question reference: S7W-04477

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the source or basis is for the estimate that artificial intelligence could contribute an additional £23 billion to Scotland's GDP by 2035, as reportedly cited by the then Minister for Innovation, Technology and Tertiary Education in March 2026.