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-01602

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment in the Scottish National Party manifesto to enact a statutory price cap on essential food items, when the policy was first intimated to grocery retailers and/or their representatives.

Question reference: S7W-01582

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide information regarding the processes that are in place to monitor an individual's interactions through the different stages of the justice system, from their first interaction with the police to their last interaction with the justice system, including whether they receive a single system number until they are sentenced or if this number changes but is linked to others in order to track the process on a macro rather than a micro level.

As each Justice organisation has their own administrative system to record information for operational purposes, it is not possible to monitor an individual’s interactions throughout the different stages of the justice system. Whilst a Scottish Criminal Records Office (SCRO) number is assigned to an individual and can be used to help identify them within management information systems, doing so is challenging as each organisation has their own approach to measuring activity. For example Police Scotland recording is done at the crime (or incident) level, Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service recording is based at person level and Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service recording is at case level.

SG has developed a Criminal Justice Journey Times dataset in collaboration with colleagues in COPFS and SCTS. This dataset allows times to be calculated for different stages of an accused’s journey through the justice system. The overall journey time is taken to be from the time an offence becomes known to the police to the time a verdict is reached in court.

Question reference: S7W-01568

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Simita Kumar on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide information regarding who represented the Anti-Racism Coalition at the meeting attended by the First Minister and the Scottish Refugee Council in June 2026, following disorder in Glasgow and other parts of Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-01571

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Simita Kumar on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government who has been involved in the establishment of the Anti-Racism Coalition and determining its terms of reference.

Since February 2026, the Scottish Government has had Roundtable meetings with the following funded organisations who support delivery of the Anti-Racism Delivery Plan, published in March 2026:

Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland (AROS)
Article 12 in Scotland
Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure Scotland (BEMIS)
Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER)
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Organisations (CEMVO)
Intercultural Youth Scotland (IYS)
Minority Ethnic Carers of People Project (MECOPP)

A Terms of Reference for these Roundtables is being developed collaboratively and will be published once agreed.

Separately, a range of different stakeholder organisations are reflecting shared concerns about the nature and extent of protest activity, disorder and incidents of hate, prejudice and intimidation and their impact on faith communities, adversely racialised communities, people seeking asylum and refugees. This is independent of government and there is not a formal or constituted body as such called the Anti-Racism Coalition. These organisations include:

Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland
Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure Scotland (BEMIS)
Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER)
Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Organisations (CEMVO)
Scottish Refugee Council

Question reference: S7W-01573

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Simita Kumar on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that Scotland's African and black communities and citizens are represented on the Anti-Racism Coalition.

A range of different stakeholder organisations are reflecting shared concerns about the nature and extent of protest activity, disorder and incidents of hate, prejudice and intimidation and their impact on faith communities, adversely racialised communities, people seeking asylum and refugees. This has been independent of government and there is not a formal or constituted body as such called the Anti-Racism Coalition.

The following organisations that raised concerns represent the diverse experiences of adversely racialised communities in Scotland:

Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland
Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure Scotland (BEMIS)
Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER)
Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Organisations (CEMVO)

Question reference: S7W-01676

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the 2026 Scottish National Party manifesto commitment to enact a statutory price cap on essential food items, what its response is to comments from the Scottish Retail Consortium, as reported in The Sunday Times on 12 July 2026, that, 12 weeks on from the policy announcement, the organisation remains "completely in the dark on even the most rudimentary details" of the proposals.

Question reference: S7W-01675

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the 2026 Scottish National Party manifesto commitment to enact a statutory price cap on essential food items, what its response is to comments by the Food & Drink Federation Scotland, as reported in The Sunday Times on 12 July 2026, that such a policy could lead retailers to source a greater proportion of imported food products in place of domestically produced goods.

Question reference: S7W-01586

Asked by: Pauline Stafford, MSP for Bathgate, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kirsten Oswald on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what preventative action it is taking to address graffiti, and what consideration it has given to restricting access to aerosol paint by young people, including through increasing the minimum age for its purchase.

The Scottish Government is currently reviewing the Antisocial Behaviour (etc.) (Scotland) 2004 Act, and the provisions on the sale of spray paint fall within the scope of that review.

The Scottish Government supports local authorities and Police Scotland, who lead the response to graffiti, in working with communities to prevent and tackle antisocial behaviour. Under the 2004 Act, each local authority and the Chief Constable have a joint duty to prepare and keep under review an antisocial behaviour strategy for their area. Prevention is also supported nationally, including through Phase 7 of CashBack for Communities, which is providing £26 million over three years for projects that steer young people away from crime and antisocial behaviour.

Question reference: S7W-01604

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment in the Scottish National Party manifesto to enact a statutory price cap on essential food items, what its response is to the comments from members of its own Retail Industry Leadership Group in The Sunday Times on 5 July 2026 that the policy risks "higher prices for other items in shops" and "reduced footfall for some retailers".

Question reference: S7W-01603

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment in the Scottish National Party manifesto to enact a statutory price cap on essential food items, what representations it has received on the policy from (a) industry bodies and (b) trade associations.

The Scottish Government remains committed to committed to publishing draft legislative provisions and progressing work on the price cap on essential food items. We have engaged constructively with a range of industry bodies and trade associations, which have shared their views on the proposal. Their expertise and experience are helping to inform our consideration of the policy and will continue to do so as development of the proposal progresses.