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-02125

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 26 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent surveys by Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) Fife, which indicate that safe and essential educational provision has been compromised by restrictive school budgets across Fife, and whether it plans to provide emergency support to local authorities experiencing difficulties in supplying basic education supplies for classrooms, including jotters and chairs.

The Scottish Government provided record funding of £15.7 billion in the Local Government Settlement for 2026-27, including a quarter of a billion pounds of unrestricted General Revenue Grant and full flexibility on council tax.

In 2026-27, Fife Council will receive £998.3 million to fund local services which equates to an extra £49.7 million or an additional 5.2% compared to 2025-26.

However, it is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on education, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Question reference: S7W-02261

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 26 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its proposed mandatory price cap on essential food items, what its response is to the reported concern raised by the Scottish Retail Consortium that a food price cap policy in Hungary led to shortages of some food products, an increase in abuse towards shop workers and food domestically produced losing out to imports.

The Scottish Government is aware of concerns raised regarding the operation of food price controls in other countries. International experience demonstrates that different approaches can have different impacts, depending on the detailed design of the scheme and wider market conditions.

That is why we are engaging constructively with all relevant stakeholders to support considered and informed discussion on this. We intend to consult on draft proposals before any final decisions are taken. The consultation will seek views and evidence from consumers, retailers, producers and other stakeholders on the potential benefits, risks and unintended consequences of any food price cap scheme including impacts on product availability, supply chains and implementation.

Question reference: S7W-02264

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 26 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the number of applications for support through the Strategic Research Programme 2022-27 that it has (a) received and (b) accepted.

A total of 128 project proposals were received and considered for the Strategic Research Programme 2022-27 and 123 projects were accepted. See the following table:

Strategic Research Programme - Projects	Accepted	Rejected
Biomathematics and Statistics (BioSS)	3
Theme A - Plant and animal health	23	4
Theme B - Sustainable food system and supply	58
Theme C - Human impacts on the environment	11
Theme D - Natural resources	22	1
Theme E - Rural futures	6
Total	123	5

The Biomathematics and Statistics Institute (BioSS) provides data analysis, statistics, mathematical modelling and bioinformatics support to the Strategic Research Programme.

Question reference: S7W-02233

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 26 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many projects across (i) the West Scotland region and (ii) Scotland as a whole that were originally awarded funding through the Places for Everyone programme have subsequently been terminated as a result of the transition to distributing funding through the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund and (b) how much public money has been spent to date on these terminated projects.

Question reference: S7W-02648

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, following the departure of Dr Calum MacLeod, how many Land Commissioners currently serve on the board of the Scottish Land Commission; for what reason, in the context of public service reform, it has not yet recruited a replacement for Dr MacLeod, whether it plans the board to return to its full statutory complement of five Commissioners and, if (a) so, by what date it expects to do so and (b) not, (i) on what legal authority it is operating with fewer than five Commissioners and (ii) whether it will lay regulations under section 4(5) of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 to alter the number of Commissioners.

Question reference: S7W-02680

Asked by: Kayleigh Kinross-O'Neill, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the expansion of Hospital at Home on waits of at least 12 hours in Emergency Departments over the last five years, in light of reports that waits have continued to rise, with more than 44,000 patients experiencing such a wait in 2026 to date, which is approximately 9,000 more tha the same period last year.

Question reference: S7W-02678

Asked by: Kayleigh Kinross-O'Neill, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether areas with greater Hospital at Home capacity have experienced improved performance in Emergency Departments, lower delayed discharge rates and lower hospital occupancy than areas with less capacity.

Question reference: S7W-02649

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on the Scottish Land Commission's work and expertise, particularly in relation to community land ownership, of operating with four rather than five Land Commissioners, as provided for in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016.

Question reference: S7W-02687

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service regarding the formal debriefs announced following the recent Cairngorms wildfire, and whether the findings will be used to inform national resilience policy.

Question reference: S7W-02692

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Fife North East, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether the size of the early learning and childcare workforce is sufficient to meet the needs of childcare provision in Scotland, including funded childcare provision and private and voluntary sector provision.