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: S6F-04511

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2025

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on the Scottish Government's latest engagement with the UK Government regarding any impact on poverty levels in Scotland of the freeze to Local Housing Allowance.

Question reference: S6F-04494

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-42233

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi McAllan on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support people at risk of, or engaging in, rough sleeping over winter.

I can announce to Parliament today that this winter, the Scottish Government is investing over half a million pounds to support people at risk of rough sleeping. The majority of funds will be targeted in Edinburgh and Glasgow, where rough sleeping is most concentrated.

This includes £432,660 of funding provided to support the operation of rapid rehousing welcome centres in Glasgow and Edinburgh this year. These welcome centres provide a safe, dignified and inclusive alternative to night shelters and are part of a longstanding Scottish Government commitment to phase out the use of communal night shelter provision for people experiencing homelessness. Since 2020 we have delivered over £1.6 million of funding to support the operation of rapid rehousing welcome centres, which have provided over 6,500 people at risk of rough sleeping with accommodation and support.

We are also providing third sector homelessness organisations across Scotland with £100,000 of funding for personalised budgets this winter. Personalised budgets provide outreach teams with quick access to funds, enabling them to meet the immediate and individual needs of people at risk of rough sleeping and provide them with support in a person-centred way. This will bring total funding for personalised budget funding since 2020 to £415,000.

The UK Government’s no recourse to public funds (NRPF) policy prevents national and local government from providing accommodation to some of the most vulnerable and marginalised people in our society. In addition to frontline funding, which is designed to support everyone regardless of their immigration status, the Scottish Government funds Fair Way Scotland to enable this consortium of third sector organisations to provide people with no recourse to public funds with access to basic necessities, support, advocacy and accommodation.

Question reference: S6W-42225

Asked by: George Adam, MSP for Paisley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Kate Forbes on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on Scotland joining the UK bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2035.

The Scottish Government has worked closely with partners to assess the opportunity for Scotland to participate in the UK bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2035. Having considered the opportunity, the Scottish Government has decided to support the bid.

All four nations of the UK have committed to the bid, alongside the respective Football Associations and prospective host cities and stadia. Two Scottish cities – Edinburgh and Glasgow – will be put forward to FIFA for consideration. The bid was submitted to FIFA on 28 November 2025. FIFA is expected to announce its decision in April 2026.

Scotland’s reputation as a host of major events is strong. With Scotland co-hosting the men’s UEFA EURO 2028 event, it is right that we are equally as ambitious at exploring opportunities for women’s sport. The FIFA Women’s World Cup is the largest single sport women’s event in the world. It is a growing event with the 2023 tournament generating one billion television viewers and selling 1.9 million tickets. Supporting this unique opportunity will promote the visibility and participation of women and girls in sport and support delivery of Scotland’s National Event Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-42188

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the public consultation as part of Fisheries Management Plan measures, when it expects the management plans to come into force.

The fisheries policy authorities intend to deliver the Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) according to the timescales set out in Annex A of the Joint Fisheries Statement.

The current public consultation on 11 draft FMPs for demersal fish stocks will run for 16 weeks, closing on 11 March 2026. Following the consultation, responses will be analysed and FMPs will be amended ahead of publication later in 2026.

A significant amount of work on the remaining Scottish-led FMPs, including two Nephrops and eight pelagic stocks, has already been completed and consultations will be launched next year.

Question reference: S6W-42060

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many times a person has appeared in court on a charge of serious assault, as per the definition in the Scottish Crime Recording Standard: Crime Recording and Counting Rules, and received a (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentence, in each year since 2021.

The figures are provided in the following tables.

Custodial

How many times a person has appeared in court on a charge of serious assault, and received a custodial sentence:

Details	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Serious assault - Total custodial	338	461	553

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Non-custodial

How many times a person has appeared in court on a charge of serious assault, and received a non-custodial sentence:

Details	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Serious assault – Total non-custodial	286	473	619

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Question reference: S6W-41877

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding what the primary reason for travel was for patients registered with GPs in (a) Aberdeen City and (b) Aberdeenshire who received care delivered by NHS (i) Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (ii) Lothian in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-42097

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding the potential introduction of regulations to prevent breeders of greyhounds from taking their dogs to races in England, and whether it will consider working with MSPs to amend the Greyhound Racing (Offences) (Scotland) Bill to that effect.

Question reference: S6W-41885

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on any changes to eligibility rules or reimbursement rates for patient travel and accommodation in the last five years, and what impact these have had on the projected budget for 2025-26.

The Scottish Government provides the overarching guidance to NHS Boards for patient travel expenses reimbursement and there has been no change to that guidance in the last 5 years. The Scottish Government has committed to a review of this overarching patient travel expenses reimbursement guidance. However, a start date for the review is not confirmed at this time; it is important that the review is considered within the context of wider reform on access to health care which is already in progress.

Question reference: S6W-42100

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme excludes farmers and crofters who do not have livestock but who meet all of the scheme's criteria, and what assessment it has made of any divergence from EU rules, as outlined in article 31 of the EU Rural Development Regulations, that its application of the scheme represents.

LFASS is an area-based payment under article 31 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 focuses on providing financial support to farmers operating in areas that face natural or other specific constraints.

The eligibility is contained within The Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2010 which were developed and approved by the European Union at that time.

The Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) in Scotland excludes farmers and crofters without livestock because the scheme is designed to support active farming activity, defined primarily through minimum stocking density requirements linked to specific types of livestock farming. The Scottish Government has assessed this approach against EU Rural Development Regulation Article 31 and concluded that the livestock-based activity test is consistent with EU rules.

The use of livestock requirement is within the discretion allowed by EU RDRs, to focus support on the predominant and necessary farming systems (grazing) in naturally constrained areas to prevent land abandonment.

Scottish Government remains fully committed to co-developing the future payment framework of the four-tier support system. We will work with our farmers, crofters and stakeholders to ensure we bring them with us on our journey to deliver the vision for agriculture in a way which ensures a just transition to make Scotland a world leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.