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-43646

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-43316 by Angus Robertson on 3 February 2026, regarding the safeguard of the collection and support for future conservation projects, whether Historic Environment Scotland is working with the National Heritage Memorial Fund to purchase the entire proprietary pattern archive of Ballantine Castings Ltd from the liquidator.

Question reference: S6W-43494

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on the removal or preservation of historic river barriers, including weirs, fish ladders and dams, and their potential for adaptive reuse in flood prevention or energy generation schemes.

Barriers in rivers have long been identified as a significant pressure on Scotland’s migratory fish populations, including our wild Atlantic salmon. Improving river connectivity by easing or removing these barriers is a priority action under our Wild Salmon Strategy and River Basin Management Planning (RBMP).

Where barriers are no longer in use, such as weirs from historic industry, the best outcomes for fish populations are often achieved by removing the barrier entirely. However, there are a range of factors to consider when making decisions on options to ease fish barriers, including flood risk, risk of erosion associated with removal, and the heritage and amenity value of historic structures. Where historic structures are adapted to be used for flood risk management or energy generation, they will usually require authorisation from SEPA.

RBMP sets out a programme of measures to remove and ease historic and redundant fish barriers which may be funded through the Water Environment Fund (WEF). With a total investment of over £37 million, WEF over the past 12 years has removed or eased 25 redundant structures, opening over 440km of river to migratory fish. The impact of this is clear, with examples such as the removal of the Bronie Burn Weir in Aberdeenshire, which now allows migratory fish to freely access 22 km of upstream habitat for first time in over 100 years

Question reference: S6W-43556

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of how the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to the maritime sector will impact on the competitiveness of Scottish ports that currently attract cruise ship calls.

Question reference: S6W-43555

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered investing any revenues it collects from the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to the maritime sector to support the provision of infrastructure for Onshore Power Supply projects at Scottish ports.

Question reference: S6W-43554

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered ringfencing any funds raised from the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to the maritime sector in order to support maritime decarbonisation projects.

Question reference: S6W-43301

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the Cessnock and Kinning Park bridges over the M8, which were partially dismantled in July 2024 and scheduled to reopen in December 2024, will now reopen.

The footbridges between Junctions 21 and 23 are complex structures, which have taken longer than expected to design repairs for. Once the suspended spans were removed, previously hidden defects in the concrete were discovered. This required further testing and changes to the repair approach. Repair work on the suspended spans is continuing off-site. Work on site is expected to restart in the summer, and the footbridges are now expected to reopen in autumn 2026.

Question reference: S6W-43522

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether the current pilot scheme that provides free bus travel for people who are seeking asylum and live in Scotland using the National Entitlement Card (NEC) will be extended beyond 31 March 2026.

Question reference: S6W-43521

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what early discussions it has had with the newly appointed Traffic Commissioner for Scotland on their position and approach to supporting regional transport partnerships, such as Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, to implement regional bus franchises.

Question reference: S6W-43284

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of both Scottish projects in the Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 7 (AR7) securing strike prices above the current wholesale price of electricity, what its position is on whether electricity bills for households and businesses would be significantly lower in an independent Scotland, and on what evidence its position is based.

Question reference: S6W-43316

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 3 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ask Historic Environment Scotland to engage with the interim liquidator of Ballantine Castings Ltd, Johnston Carmichael LLP, to ensure that the foundry's proprietary pattern archive of around 250,000 designs, ranging from manhole covers and bollards to ornate railings and lampposts, is safeguarded for the nation.

Scottish Government officials asked Historic Environment Scotland about Ballantine Castings Ltd and whether it had engaged on this issue.

I understand Historic Environment Scotland used its powers under the Historic Environment Scotland Act 2015 to carry out a rapid emergency photographic survey of the Ballantine Castings site shortly after liquidation proceedings began. It was essential to act quickly and capture the historically significant combination of buildings, patterns, machinery and equipment within one of Scotland’s last traditional foundry sites, before the next steps of the liquidation process were undertaken. These images will soon be made available to the public via www.trove.scot

Historic Environment Scotland also worked pro-actively with other national and local cultural heritage bodies at pace to secure what they can. Challenges around asbestos have complicated some aspects.

The Scottish Government is pleased to learn that the Ballast Trust has already secured the bulk of the business and archive records from the site in collaboration with other heritage bodies including Historic Environment Scotland, and with financial support from the National Archives Records at Risk fund.