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-34594

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been committed in its 2025-26 Budget to bringing empty homes back into use; how local authorities can access this funding, and how much resource has been specifically allocated to support (a) local authority empty homes officers and (b) the Empty Homes Partnership.

We will invest £2 million next year financial year to help local authorities unlock barriers, develop a targeted approach and embed empty homes work across their services to bring more privately owned empty homes back into use through the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership project. This builds on our track record of bringing more than 11,000 privately owned homes back into use as warm, safe and secure housing since 2010.

Question reference: S6W-34776

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment has been made of the uptake of the Fair Work Framework among employers in Scotland’s (a) offshore oil and gas, (b) offshore wind and (c) maritime industry.

In the absence of powers over employment legislation, through our flagship Fair Work First approach, the Scottish Government is applying Fair Work First criteria to public sector grants, other funding, and contracts where relevant and proportionate to do so, driving up minimum standards in fair work practices across the labour market. It is for individual funders and buyers to monitor delivery of Fair Work First criteria through their funding and contracting arrangements.

No specific assessment has been undertaken of the uptake of the Fair Work Framework in Scotland’s (a) offshore oil and gas, (b) offshore wind, and (c) maritime industries.

The Scottish Government has committed to undertake an evaluation of Fair Work First in 2025-26, working with the Fair Work Convention and engaging key stakeholders, including the STUC, to understand how effectively this policy is being delivered and what more can be done to strengthen the approach.

Question reference: S6W-34503

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28038 by Mairi McAllan on 14 June 2024, whether Scottish Water is now in a position to provide a detailed response on resolving water deficits in each water zone.

As shown in Scottish Water’s Long Term Strategy which was published on 4 February 2025, resolving water deficits is a matter for everyone not simply Scottish Water. At 180 litres per person per day Scotland has one of the highest rates of water consumption, compared to 125 litres in Germany and 105 litres in Denmark. As set out in its Strategy, it is important that Scottish Water continues to reduce rates of leakage, support demand reduction by customers and invest in new water sources and water treatment works.

Scottish Water will publish its draft business plan for the 2027-33 period this summer which will set out prioritised investment proposals to reduce the number of zones in deficit and secure supplies for customers. Each zone is unique and will have its own set of measures to put in place to secure supplies for customers.

Question reference: S6W-34468

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what upgrades are planned for the A82 in 2025-26.

From a trunk road maintenance perspective, the following upgrades are currently being planned for the A82 in the 2025-26 financial year:

Renton Rd U/B to Cardross Rd U/B – Structural Maintenance

Lomond Gate roundabout to Barloan Toll roundabout NB & SB - Structural Maintenance
A82 Dalnottar Int to Dumbarton Rd Jct NB - Structural Maintenance
Between Dunglass roundabout and Dumbuck – Drainage improvements
A82 Invermoriston to Drumnadrochit - New northbound layby
A82 Glen Coe - Rock slope mitigation works
A82 Grotaig - Rock slope mitigation works
Glenurquhart Road, Inverness – Footway improvements
Auch Estate - Edge strip hardening works
Stoneymollan to Luss - Junction improvements
Glen Falloch - Vehicle restraint upgrades
Fort William to Spean Bridge - Vehicle restraint upgrades
A82 Lomondgate Roundabout - upgraded road markings and localised widening
A898/A82 interchange - Road safety measures identified from an investigation in 2024/25 will be programmed for construction.
A82 Erskine to Dunglass - installation of an advanced direction sign (pending resolution of slope remediation works)
A82 1110 Leagann Bridge - Concrete repair
A82 1160 Ceannside Bridge – Re-waterproofing and concrete repairs
A82 1390 Borlum Bridge – Re-waterproofing
A82 615 C19 Auch 4 Culvert - Verge repair
A82 500 Allt Fionne Ghlinne N Bridge – Parapet replacement
A82 1080 W53 Loch Lochyside 2 Retaining Wall - Gabion repairs
A82 240 Fruin Old Bridge - Scour repairs

The exact dates for the works are still to be confirmed as all schemes are in the process of being investigated.

Question reference: S6W-32896

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many times it has corresponded with (a) Hampton Group International, (b) the UK Chinese Business Association and (c) Pitch@Palace in the last 12 years; what any such correspondence related to; whether Yang Tengbo is named in any such correspondence, and, if so, whether it will conduct an urgent review of any correspondence relating to Yang Tengbo.

Question reference: S6W-34453

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates that it will deliver on its commitment to allocate 10% of NHS spend to mental health and 1% to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).

Latest data published by Public Health Scotland on 25 February 2025 shows total spend on mental health in Scotland has increased by £179.6 million to £1.486 billion in 2023-24. That is 9.03% of total net NHS expenditure, up from 8.53% in 2022-23. Spend on child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) has increased by nearly £19.4 million to over £134 million. This is 0.82% of total spend, up from 0.75% in 2022-23.

We remain committed to delivery of the commitment and the latest data shows good progress is being made, however, as we all know, there are continued and unprecedented challenge to the public finances.

That means that achieving the targets in practice will depend on the outcome of future budgets. It is also dependent on the financial decisions taken by NHS Boards, and their partners, on the continued local investment needed to achieve the targets.

We will continue to closely monitor our progress towards both the 10% and 1% over the remainder of the Parliamentary term.

Question reference: S6W-34443

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many shared headteacher roles have been in place in schools in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Following clarification, this question refers to multi-establishment leadership models.

The following table shows the number of schools which share a headteacher with at least one other school, known as multi-establishment leadership models, by Local Authority. This does not include Grant-Aided schools or centrally employed headteacher posts. Data from before 2007 is not available.

Table 1. Schools in a multi-establishment leadership model, by Local Authority, 2007-2023.

LA Name	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Aberdeen City	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	4	2	0	2	0	0	2	2
Aberdeenshire	4	12	10	16	12	8	8	8	16	12	12	14	16	18	16	18	25
Angus	5	7	7	8	6	12	12	12	10	6	6	8	8	8	10	10	12
Argyll and Bute	6	6	12	4	6	8	16	19	21	26	29	32	28	28	32	32	38
City of Edinburgh	1	0	2	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0	2	3	2	0	0	2	2	2	4	2	2	2	2
Dumfries and Galloway	4	6	17	9	15	13	15	64	69	64	68	68	61	64	67	69	64
Dundee City	1	1	1	1	2	0	2	2	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	2
East Ayrshire	2	2	13	10	4	6	2	4	4	4	4	4	6	4	6	4	0
East Dunbartonshire	2	2	4	4	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	2
East Lothian	1	1	1	1	2	2	4	4	2	3	5	6	8	9	4	6	6
East Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	2	0
Falkirk	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	11	8	8	12	12	6	4	4	4	8
Fife	4	4	10	10	8	11	7	9	20	29	35	38	32	40	42	48	48
Glasgow City	4	2	5	3	3	0	0	3	2	2	4	6	4	6	6	6	10
Highland	28	50	47	59	62	67	72	71	66	72	87	90	95	96	90	83	91
Inverclyde	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Midlothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	4	6	6	2	4	0
Moray	2	4	4	4	4	6	4	6	6	10	8	8	8	8	8	8	6
Na h-Eileanan Siar	13	10	10	18	16	10	6	12	12	10	12	12	14	22	18	18	15
North Ayrshire	1	0	0	2	4	8	11	13	11	12	12	10	10	6	6	10	12
North Lanarkshire	0	0	0	4	6	4	8	10	4	4	4	9	7	7	13	13	13
Orkney Islands	6	6	6	4	6	4	9	9	8	8	6	6	7	6	10	5	8
Perth and Kinross	0	0	4	8	8	8	10	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	8	8
Renfrewshire	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scottish Borders	18	22	45	43	41	38	42	42	42	38	36	36	32	32	27	28	29
Shetland Islands	6	6	2	4	4	4	6	4	2	4	5	5	4	4	8	2	2
South Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	2	2	6	8	8	10	12	14	12	12	14	10	12
South Lanarkshire	14	14	16	16	18	16	16	12	14	14	14	14	16	14	14	14	14
Stirling	8	12	12	10	13	17	17	16	14	10	10	10	12	13	12	12	12
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	6	4	4	6	4	6	8	8	8	12
West Lothian	4	6	8	8	8	8	10	8	10	8	6	4	10	10	10	10	16
All Local Authorities	134	173	236	248	257	264	296	364	369	374	409	426	426	437	445	442	469

Question reference: S6W-34405

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses have received support through the Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) scheme in each year since 2021, broken down by parliamentary region.

Question reference: S6T-02391

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report, In Their Own Words: Children's Experiences in Temporary Accommodation, which was commissioned by Shelter Scotland and shows the impact that a stay in temporary accommodation can have on children's safety, health and education.

Question reference: S6F-03860

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.