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-42422

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 15 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-41814 by Gillian Martin on 25 November 2025, how it is investing in Scotland’s water and sewage network to ensure it is fully able to cope with expected increases of heavy rainfall events in the future.

Question reference: S6W-42421

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 15 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-41814 by Gillian Martin on 25 November 2025, whether it has carried out a cost analysis of the expansion of the monitoring coverage to all remaining overflow locations in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-42216

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 15 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release, Harnessing data and technology to revolutionise public services, on 20 November 2025, when its planned digital public services app will introduce a digital proof of age.

Being able to use the native app to prove your age is on the roadmap for delivery after we are able to offer transactional and location based alerts and notification services.

There is no defined data for this yet as the focus is being about to offer transactional and location based alerts, however once these are delivered proof of age will be the priority.

Currently work is underway with organisations who would like to use this service.

Question reference: S6W-42215

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release, Harnessing data and technology to revolutionise public services, on 20 November 2025, on what date in 2026 it will launch its new app to “help people access personalised public services more easily”.

The Directorate recognises the importance of providing clarity on the app's planned launch date. At present a specific launch date in 2026 has not yet been confirmed.

Final timelines depend on ongoing development, testing and regulatory requirements to ensure the app meets all required standards.

The Directorate will provide a confirmed timeline once the current development and testing phase is completed.

Question reference: S6W-42507

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any implications of the draft 2026 revaluation of non-domestic rates for local communities that rely on self-catering accommodation to support population retention and local services.

Question reference: S6W-42509

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support local authorities to manage any potential increases in business distress or closures linked to the draft 2026 revaluation of non-domestic rates for self-catering properties.

Question reference: S6W-42508

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the effect of the draft rateable value increases on the long-term economic resilience of rural areas dependent on tourism.

Question reference: S6W-42282

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the 15% increase in thefts from shops, as reported in the latest Recorded Crime in Scotland statistics, and what its position is on future funding for the Retail Crime Taskforce.

The Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling retail crime was reaffirmed in our Programme for Government and through the additional £3 million in the 2025-26 budget, to assist Police Scotland’s work on this.

This makes clear our strong support for Police Scotland’s robust approach in addressing this issue, and I can confirm that the Retail Crime Taskforce has been working hard in recent months to assist retailers and to catch those responsible.

We are working closely with SPA and Police Scotland to understand their 2026-27 budget requirements, but clearly there is a process to go through and decisions to be made before we can finalise the budget for 2026-27. This will be published on 13 January 2026.

Question reference: S6W-42217

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release, Harnessing data and technology to revolutionise public services, on 20 November 2025, for what purposes its planned digital public services app will require digital proof of age, and what specifically the app will allow users to access by providing such proof.

Question reference: S6W-42167

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the findings of the 2022 Scottish Government Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland that "given the risks that incineration poses to human health and the environment, and the risk of lock-in, Scotland should not construct more capacity than it needs and only some of the currently planned capacity should be built", how this aligns with its reported plans to delay the landfill ban by building additional incinerator facilities to begin operating in 2026 and 2027.

The ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) is a crucial part of delivering Scotland’s net zero ambitions and in line with Committee for Climate Change advice. It will come into force on 31 December this year.

While significant efforts and investment have been made by local authorities and commercial waste operators to prepare for the ban, due to a temporary shortfall of energy from waste capacity in Scotland, some parts of the waste sector identified challenges in fully complying with the upcoming ban.

Taking account of these challenges, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency published a Regulatory Position Statement on 29 October outlining its approach to enforcing the ban.

The Scottish Government recognises the findings of the Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland, including its determination that in the short-term incineration will have a role to play in managing our waste as we transition to a circular economy.

The Scottish Government is committed to limiting EfW capacity, as part of our transition to a circular economy. Our National Planning Framework 4 makes it clear that development proposals for new EfW facilities will not be supported except under limited circumstances, and there have been no planning applications for new EfW developments since 2023.