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-02273

Asked by: Kayleigh Kinross-O'Neill, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects a Seabird Compensation Plan to be submitted by the developer of Berwick Bank offshore windfarm to Scottish Ministers for approval as required by the section 36 consent, and what consultation will be carried out as part of the consideration of any such plan.

Question reference: S7W-02275

Asked by: Kayleigh Kinross-O'Neill, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether the reforms proposed as part of its Strategic Compensation Policy will apply to the Seabird Compensation Plan required from the developer of the Berwick Bank offshore windfarm, giving the developer wider access to compensatory measures.

Scottish Government published statutory guidance on compensating for adverse effects from offshore wind in July 2026. The guidance sets out processes for accessing a wider range of compensatory measures, including a requirement to work through a compensation hierarchy. As set out, the guidance should be applied by offshore wind developers when preparing compensation proposals. This includes the developer of the Berwick Bank offshore wind farm.

Question reference: S7W-02313

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the remedial action plan recommended by Environmental Standards Scotland as part of its report Protecting Scotland's seafloor, and whether this plan will include named responsible bodies, measurable outcomes, funding commitments and deadlines.

Question reference: S7W-02320

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish updated Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments.

Officials are currently considering evidence gathered through the 2025 public consultation on the Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments and the subsequent stakeholder engagement undertaken in spring 2026 on the Working Paper: Onshore renewable energy - refreshing the good practice principles for community benefits: working paper - gov.scot. Subject to the completion of this work, the Scottish Government plans to publish the refreshed onshore Good Practice Principles before the end of 2026.

Question reference: S7W-02311

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that Peter Hammond of Windrush Against Sewage Pollution has described Scottish Water as the "least transparent" water company in the UK.

Question reference: S7W-02272

Asked by: Kayleigh Kinross-O'Neill, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had during the current parliamentary session with SSE Renewables regarding any impact on seabirds of the Berwick Bank offshore windfarm.

Question reference: S7W-02237

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 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with East Renfrewshire Council regarding the funding of the proposed Neilston to Uplawmoor link through the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund.

Transport Scotland has not had any discussions regarding funding of the Neilston to Uplawmoor link through the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund.

Transport Scotland did not receive an application from East Renfrewshire Council for the proposed Neilston to Uplawmoor link through the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund (ATIF) Tier 2 since it started.

In addition, East Renfrewshire Council did not allocate any of its ATIF Tier 1 funding to the proposed Neilston-Uplawmoor link in 2025-26.

Question reference: S7W-02193

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people will not be eligible for the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment in winter 2026-27 because they will reach State Pension age after the qualifying week in September 2026.

To meet the eligibility conditions relating to age for Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, someone must have been born on or before 27 June 1960, for winter 2026-27. People born after this date but before 27 September 1960 would have been eligible under the previous State Pension age, by turning 66 before the end of the qualifying week which ends 27 September 2026. The Scottish Government does not hold details of the number of people who would previously have been eligible. However, National Records of Scotland publish forecasts of the number of people expected to be 66 years old at the mid-point of each year, which could help illustrate an approximate number of people turning 66 between the June and September time-period. These forecast scan be found here https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/projected-population-of-scotland-2024-based/.

Question reference: S7W-02615

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 21 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-01946 by Jim Fairlie on 20 August 2026, how many applicants received their Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme payment, following an assessment of their works by scheme officials, (a) within 90 days and (b) after 90 days in (i) 2025-26 and (ii) since April 2026.

Question reference: S7W-02623

Asked by: Andrew Baxter, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 21 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of reports that Pension Credit claims have been incorrectly recalculated following awards of Pension Age Disability Payment or Carer Support Payment, and what steps it is taking to resolve problems with communication between Social Security Scotland and the Department for Work and Pensions.