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: S6W-36161

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 17 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that Scotland will remain at net zero emissions, should it achieve its legal target by 2045, in light of reports of inefficient heating measures in traditionally built homes.

My recent statement to Parliament confirmed that we intend to introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill in Year 5 of this Parliamentary session. This will create a target for decarbonising heating systems by 2045, and send a strong signal to homeowners, landlords and other building owners on the need to prepare for change.

We know that certain types of buildings might be more challenging to decarbonise, such as traditional and protected properties, for example. We will therefore ensure that any regulations we bring forward will provide suitable flexibility to account for this.

We continue to work with key partners, including Historic Environment Scotland, to support the best solutions to transition Scotland’s traditional buildings to be more energy efficient and to use clean heating systems while being sympathetic to their character and features.

We are investing over £300m in heat and energy efficiency programmes in 2025-26, including support for traditional properties.

We are also considering how we could provide for a more bespoke assessment of the technically-suitable energy efficiency and clean heating measures available for owners of traditional buildings.

Question reference: S6W-36193

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 17 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the practice of the Lord Advocate and/or Solicitor General attending meetings of the Cabinet is still in place; how many meetings one or both have attended in each of the last 10 years; what their current remit is when attending meetings, and whether the current arrangements are substantively the same, or different, to the arrangements under the previous two First Ministers.

The Scottish Law Officers are not members of the Scottish Cabinet. Consistent with long standing practice, the Lord Advocate (or, in their absence, the Solicitor General) attends Cabinet meetings whenever it is required. In practice this means when Cabinet is discussing a matter with a legal aspect, or to represent their own Ministerial interest, in particular as head of the systems of criminal prosecution and investigation of deaths in Scotland.

The following table sets out, for each of the previous 10 years, the number of occasions on which the Scottish Law Officers have attended meetings of the Scottish Cabinet.

YEAR (and total number of Cabinet meetings (mtgs.) held)	No. of Cabinet meetings attended by Scottish Law Officers
2015 (40 mtgs)	14
2016 (34)	17
2017 (38)	28
2018 (38)	35
2019 (41)	41
2020 (50)	50
2021 (41)	35
2022 (41)	27
2023 (39)	24
2024 (41)	27
2025 (12) as at 1 April	5

Question reference: S6W-36228

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 28 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what community benefit requirements have been included in the contract for the Small Vessel Replacement Programme under the terms of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014.

CMAL has confirmed that it included two strands of community benefit commitments in its contract with Remontowa. The first provides opportunity for three Scotland-based shipbuilding apprentices per vessel, 21 in total, to attend optimisation and sea trials for training purposes when the vessels are delivered. The second is that Remontowa shipyard will match CMAL’s funding for its Corporate Social Responsibility programme over the course of the build, which supports charity initiatives across local communities in the Clyde and Hebrides region.

Question reference: S6W-36223

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 17 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider changing the eligibility criteria for the Home Energy Scotland grant to install a heat source pump, to allow one application per homeowner regardless of this being their main residence, in order to bring this in line with the equivalent UK Government grant.

Question reference: S6W-36202

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 17 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32079 by Gillian Martin on 18 December 2024, whether the marine and coastal restoration plan will take account of, and have regard to, other plans, in particular, the National Marine Plan and the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-36552

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the funding received by local authorities under the extended producer responsibility scheme will be managed, and whether there are plans to pass on these funds to residents through reduced council tax bills and, if so, how this will be implemented.

Question reference: S6W-36308

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has reportedly decided to protect Priority Marine Features through the use of Marine Conservation Orders, as opposed to including such conditions within fishing licences.

Question reference: S6W-36926

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will rule out any strategy that leads to the downgrading or closure of Glasgow International Airport as part of its future transport planning.

Question reference: S6W-36551

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the requirements expected of local authorities are in return for the additional funds that they will receive under the extended producer responsibility scheme.

Question reference: S6W-36927

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on ensuring parity of strategic support for Edinburgh and Glasgow Internatonal airports, in the context of international connectivity and aviation resilience.