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-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.
Answer
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.
Answer
Question reference: S7W-02647
- 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 whether a pilot programme for automated vending machines dispensing sterile injecting equipment and other harm reduction supplies could be authorised under existing legal exceptions agreed with the Lord Advocate, or whether additional guidance for Police Scotland would be needed to support individuals accessing supplies from these machines.
Answer
Question reference: S7W-02645
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
- Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether funds from the £250 million National Mission on Drug Deaths can be made available to third-sector groups and local Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) looking to purchase and maintain smart, digital harm-reduction dispensers in urban and rural areas currently lacking fixed-site needle exchanges or overdose prevention centres.
Answer
Question reference: S7W-02644
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
- Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support a national, public-facing drug-checking network building on multi-agency models piloting in Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow that combines rapid test strips with advanced laboratory testing such as mass spectrometry.
Answer
Question reference: S7W-02656
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
- Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the risk of "demolition by neglect" across the historic built environment, and what mechanisms are in place to ensure that developers are not financially rewarded for allowing listed buildings to deteriorate while awaiting planning consent for complete demolition.
Answer
Question reference: S7W-02658
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
- Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the enforcement of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) Policy 7 (Historic assets and places), specifically in circumstances where a developer cites private commercial targets, such as a 20% Profit on Cost (PoC) margin, as the primary justification for the demolition of a listed building rather than structural impossibility.
Answer
Question reference: S7W-02640
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
- Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how its drug-checking strategy distinguishes between the threat of fentanyl and the rise of synthetic potent analogues, such as nitazenes, and what steps are being taken to ensure that distributed test strips match the reality of current street supply contaminants.
Answer
Question reference: S7W-02642
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
- Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland and the Lord Advocate regarding the legal status of individuals possessing or distributing drug-testing equipment, to ensure that peer-led harm reduction initiatives face no risk of prosecution under drug paraphernalia or possession frameworks.
Answer
Question reference: S7W-02643
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
- Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding from the National Mission on Drug Deaths has been specifically allocated to the evaluation, purchase, and distribution of rapid drug-checking technologies over the last two financial years.
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