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-02553

Asked by: Yi-pei Chou Turvey, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the use of Flock Safety Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras in Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-02524

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will strengthen future monitoring of farm-to-wild genetic introgression in wild salmon, in line with the recommendation from the Scottish Government-funded study, Spatial variability in farm-to-wild introgression in Scotland’s wild Atlantic salmon populations revealed using a novel spatial statistical survey design, which was published on 8 August 2026, for carefully structured juvenile sampling programmes and appropriate statistical approaches to provide credible estimates of the extent and severity of introgression pressures.

Question reference: S7W-01845

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it, the Energy Consents Unit or the National Planning Hub holds data on the cumulative electricity and water demand of all data centre proposals currently in the planning system, and if not, what its position is on commissioning such data before further determinations in relation to these proposals are made.

The Scottish Government is aware of proposed data centre developments and is communicating with developers to understand the effect across the country. We are regularly engaged with Scottish Water and the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to understand the potential effect on existing infrastructure.

This matter is under active consideration by the Scottish Government, and Parliament will be kept informed of the outcomes of those considerations – including the potential for planning guidance – in due course.

Question reference: S7W-01858

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it maintains, or plans to create, a list of the number, location and size of all current and proposed data centres in Scotland, and whether this is available to the public.

Planning applications for data centres are a matter for the relevant local authority in the first instance. Planning applications and supporting documentation are available to view on the relevant local authority web pages.

Question reference: S7W-01844

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish guidance on the factors that define a green data centre, and whether, pending publication of that guidance, it will invite planning authorities to defer determining applications for hyperscale data centres.

Question reference: S7W-01783

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many schools use the Gatsby Benchmarks to assess their careers guidance provision, and what the average benchmark score achieved is.

The Gatsby Benchmarks are a careers guidance framework used in England.

Careers support is devolved and the Gatsby Benchmarks do not form part of Scotland’s approach. While individual schools may choose to use the framework if they consider it useful, the Scottish Government does not collect or hold information on its use. Information on the number of schools using the Gatsby Benchmarks, or on any benchmark scores achieved, is therefore not held centrally.

Question reference: S7W-02176

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the introduction of shorter target times for the diagnosis and treatment of rapidly progressing cancers.

Question reference: S7W-02023

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission's independent report Ascribing sentience to fish: potential policy implications, published on 16 May 2025, what (a) assessment it has made of the findings of this report, (b) dialogue it has had with (i) scientists and (ii) other experts on this subject, and (c) plans it has to update legislation to reflect this research.

The farmed fish welfare guidance that we are developing will take into consideration the recommendations from the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission’s report in order to deliver positive welfare outcomes for fish, whilst being grounded in robust, achievable and enforceable industry practice. We will also be working with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure we have expert input from scientific, industry and welfare perspectives.

The welfare of farmed fish is already assured under the Welfare of Animals (Scotland) Act 2006 and Article 3.1 of assimilated Council Regulation (EC) 1099/2009. We have no current plans to introduce additional legislation.

Question reference: S7W-02120

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on the NHS Minor Ailment Service, in each financial year from 2021-22 to the latest date for which information is available.

The NHS Pharmacy First Scotland Service was launched on 29 July 2020.

This service constitutes a redesigned minor ailment and common conditions service, expanding on the pre-existing Minor Ailment Service and is available from all community pharmacies in Scotland.

The requested information is shown in the following table.

Pharmacy First Service

Paid Financial Year	Gross Ingredient Cost (£)	Remuneration (£)	Total Costs (GIC + Remuneration, £)
2021-22	5,897,795	32,708,021	38,605,815
2022-23	8,962,115	30,543,748	39,505,863
2023-24	11,973,661	30,773,859	42,747,521
2024-25	14,320,232	32,434,191	46,754,423

Source: Public Health Scotland: Prescribing Information System

Community pharmacy contractors receive two distinct types of payment; remuneration for the service they provide and reimbursement for the products they dispense (presented as Gross Ingredient Cost).

Question reference: S7W-02175

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of current cancer waiting time standards, specifically for patients with aggressive cancers.

The Scottish Government commitment to ‘carrying out a clinically led review of latest data and evidence to determine whether there is merit in specific additional or alternative cancer waiting times standards for different types of cancer and cancer treatment’ is underway.

A project steering group is being established which will support the review, determining if any amendments to the standards would enhance patient experience and meet the needs of the NHS for the future.

Evidence review commissions were shared with key partners in April with the full clinical consensus review expected to conclude with recommendations within 18- 24 months.