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-41983

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what funding The City of Edinburgh Council is receiving to address pothole repairs, and how this compares with investment levels in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-42632

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to continue funding the Climate Just Communities programme beyond March 2026, and when it expects to make a decision on any future support.

Question reference: S6W-42609

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of active travel investment on reducing road accidents involving cyclists in Lanarkshire.

Question reference: S6W-42454

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many representations have been received (a) in support of and (b) opposed to the proposed golf course on the wildlife site at Coul Links near Embo in Sutherland, which NatureScot has described as "internationally important".

The Highland Council’s report of handling recorded 1,047 representations: 746 objections, 314 in support, and 9 neutral.

Separately, the Scottish Government has received a total 411 individual written representations in relation to the proposed development. A detailed breakdown of how many are in support or opposed is not available; however all relevant matters raised will be taken into account through the decision-making process.

In addition, petitions opposing the proposal have been submitted to the Scottish Government, including from: Not Coul (currently over 92,000 signatures), the Scottish Greens (around 4,500), and RSPB (around 11,000).

Question reference: S6W-42418

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many adopted children have been surrendered under section 25 of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 in each of the last three years, and what percentage of total adoptions this represents during each of these years.

The Scottish Government does not hold information at the level of detail requested. Analysis of related data collected for Looked After Children Statistics is included in the following table.

Year[1]	Total number of looked after children[2, 3]: returned under Section 25 of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, or where adoption did not proceed under Section 26 of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007	Total number of looked after children adopted
2021-22	10	211
2022-23	11	237
2023-24	7	182

[1] Year refers to the 12-month period ending on 31 July.

[2] Total number of looked after children refers to the number of looked after children either returned to the local authority under Section 25 of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, or where adoption did not proceed, under Section 26 of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, during each year.

[3] An adoption order was not issued for children counted in these figures, which have therefore not been shown as a percentage of all adoptions, where an adoption order was issued.

Question reference: S6W-42420

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many children have been surrendered by birth parents and, comparatively by adoptive parents, under section 25 of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, in each of the last three years.

Question reference: S6W-42411

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-41875, S6W-41876, S6W-41877, S6W-41879, S6W-41880, S6W-41882 and S6W-41884 by Neil Gray on 1 December 2025, what information it currently collects from NHS boards on patients who travel outwith their home board area to receive secondary or tertiary care, and whether it plans to introduce standardised national reporting on (a) patient numbers, (b) travel, accommodation and subsistence costs, (c) the use of remote consultation alternatives such as Near Me and (d) funded patient escorts, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

The Scottish Government does not collect patient data directly. It is for Public Health Scotland (PHS) to collect outpatient, inpatient and day case activity data from hospital administrative systems.

PHS publishes official statistics on cross boundary flow quarterly within its Stage of Treatment Waiting Times publications. This includes inpatient, day case, and new outpatient data. The most recent publication that includes cross boundary flow data can be accessed here: Stage of treatment waiting times - Inpatients, day cases and new outpatients 28 October 2025 - NHS waiting times - stage of treatment - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

PHS’s annual Acute Hospital Activity and NHS Beds Information report includes information on cross boundary flow. The latest publication covers the period between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 and can be found here: Acute Hospital Activity and NHS Beds Information (Annual) - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

Costs associated with patient travel, accommodation, subsistence and funded patient escorts are managed locally by individual NHS boards and are funded from their respective budgets. The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally and there is currently no intention to standardise national reporting on these measures.

Similarly, there are no current plans to nationalise reporting on the use of remote consultation platforms, including Near Me.

The Scottish Government’s approach reflects the principle of local accountability for service delivery and associated costs. NHS boards are responsible for managing patient transfers and related expenses within their allocated budgets. National reporting is focused on treatment activity and waiting times, which are published by PHS to ensure transparency and consistency.

Question reference: S6W-42481

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will require transmission operators to underground new distribution overhead lines in island communities.

Legislation and regulations relating to electricity networks are reserved to the UK Government, with the National Energy System Operator (NESO) responsible for the strategic approach to the development of the electricity system across Great Britain.

The Scottish Government has no powers to direct network companies to prioritise one technology or route over another when developing their build plans.

Network companies are regulated by Ofgem and when developing project proposals they must give due consideration to their license obligations, which require them to be economic and efficient in respect of costs to the consumer.

Question reference: S6W-42467

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the decision taken in the UK Budget to provide a permanent business rate discount for retail and hospitality in England from April 2026, what discussions it has had with its Tax Advisory Group regarding the possible implications of this for retail investment in Scotland.

The Tax Advisory Group (TAG)’s most recent meeting took place on 21 October 2025, prior to the UK Government’s budget on 26 November 2025. The group’s final meeting of this Parliament is expected to take place in early 2026.

The minutes for TAG meetings are published at Tax Advisory Group - gov.scot

Ministers regularly discuss matters of importance including budget priorities and the views of stakeholders in the run-up to the Scottish Budget. As is normal, decisions on non-domestic rates policy for 2026-27 will be set out in the Scottish Budget on 13 January 2026.

Question reference: S6W-42425

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42190 by Neil Gray on 5 December 2025, how many NHS 24 staff it calculated were needed for staffing levels to meet the required service standards for winter 2025-26, broken down by job role.