The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S7W-00773

Asked by: Sanne Dijkstra-Downie, MSP for Edinburgh Northern, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to amend schedule 1 of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 to include data centres.

The Scottish Government has no plans to amend schedule 1 of The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 (the EIA Regulations). Decision-makers have a responsibility to consider the environmental implications of all planning applications. In cases where a proposal is likely to have a significant environmental effect, these powers are further supplemented by the requirements and procedures set out in the EIA Regulations.

Question reference: S7W-00810

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Scottish National Party 2026 manifesto commitment, when the National Booking System for the NHS will be launched.

The Scottish Government’s strategic approach is to deliver digital appointment functionality through MyCare.scot as part of the wider Digital Front Door programme. Building on existing common national digital capabilities and infrastructure, this will support a more consistent, scalable and interoperable appointments experience across health and social care services in Scotland.

MyCare.scot was initially rolled out with dermatology outpatients in Lanarkshire, enabling registered patients in that cohort to view their outpatient appointments online. The technology is now being expanded incrementally to support additional services across Scotland, starting with services supported by Trak Care.

Appointment viewing, management and booking functionality will be introduced progressively in partnership with NHS Boards, covering both primary and secondary care appointment types as development and integration work is completed. Rollout is expected to begin across NHS Boards by the end of 2026, with continued expansion aligned to the Digital Front Door roadmap.

Question reference: S7W-00831

Asked by: Laura Moodie, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jackie Dunbar (on behalf of the SPCB) on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, regarding the eligibility criteria for the issue of security passes, when it last reviewed criteria for spouses or partners of Members, whether it will consider allowing the transfer of such eligibility to other significant family members as well as extending similar access arrangements to senior staff employed by Members, and what the rationale is for its current policy position on these matters.

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) keeps arrangements relating to parliamentary passes, access permissions and personnel security requirements under regular review. A specific review of security passes, vetting requirements and access permissions is currently underway to ensure that arrangements are proportionate and appropriate to the threat and risk faced by the Parliament and reflect national security advice provided by security partners. The review will also take account of the recommendations of the Inclusive Parliament Review and the SPCB’s commitment to fostering a safe, inclusive and respectful working environment through its zero-tolerance approach to all forms of unacceptable behaviour. The outcome of that review will inform any future changes to pass eligibility, access permissions and personnel security requirements.

There are no plans at present to extend pass eligibility to additional family members of Members, as there is no security rationale to do so. Existing arrangements recognise the special status of spouses or partners only in limited circumstances, including accompanying Members to official events and functions. The SPCB also keeps under review the arrangements for Members’ staff. Following approval by the previous SPCB of a revised Personnel Security Policy, Members’ local office staff were brought within the scope of the Parliament’s personnel security framework. Accordingly, any staff working for a Member, whether in a paid or voluntary capacity, must be security cleared before they can become passholders or be given access to parliamentary assets.

The SPCB’s approach is based on the principle that access to the parliamentary estate should be granted only where there is a clear business need to enter the building. Parliamentary passes are therefore issued to individuals whose role or function requires regular access to the estate. The minimum baseline for most parliamentary passholders is currently Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) security clearance. This reflects UK Government personnel security guidance that CTC clearance is appropriate for individuals whose role involves proximity to public figures who may be at particular risk from terrorist attack, access to information or material which may be of value to terrorists, or unescorted access to locations assessed to be at particular risk from terrorist attack. Members of the Scottish Parliament are public figures and, as elected representatives, may be subject to threats and risks which require appropriate protective security measures. The requirement for a clear business need, together with proportionate personnel security measures, helps protect Members, their staff, parliamentary information and the wider parliamentary community. It also supports the Parliament’s ability to maintain appropriate controls over access to the estate and helps safeguard against improper influence, lobbying activity or other misuse of parliamentary assets.

Question reference: S7W-00836

Asked by: Senga Beresford, MSP for South Scotland, Reform UK
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-00602 by Maree Todd on 8 June 2026, what assessment it has made of whether the current provision of maternity services for women in Wigtownshire is compatible with its obligations under articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and, in light of the minister stating that the independent chair of the national review of maternity services will be appointed “in due course”, whether it will confirm (a) by what date this review will commence its work and (b) how it reassures pregnant women in the region that their Convention rights are currently being protected.

The Scottish Government takes its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, including Articles 2 and 8, extremely seriously.

While we understand that challenges remain around timely access for women in Wigtownshire, we have not identified any evidence to suggest that the current provision of maternity services is incompatible with Convention rights.

Maternity services continue to be provided for women in Wigtownshire, including local antenatal and postnatal care, scanning and the option of midwife-supported home birth for women who choose to birth locally.

The Scottish Government expects all NHS Boards to provide maternity services that are delivered as close to home as practically possible, while ensuring the safety of mother and baby. Within the policies we set, it is for NHS Boards to determine how best a service should be delivered to meet the needs of their local population.

In her statement to parliament on 11 June, the Cabinet Secretary made clear that the needs of women in Wigtownshire will be taken into consideration by the newly appointed independent chair of our national maternity services review. This work will commence after Summer and will be done at pace. We expect the review to be completed within 9 months.

Question reference: S7W-00755

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-00001 by Neil Gray on 28 May 2026, whether it will provide the names of the SFRS Retained fire stations that have had a first pumping appliance unavailable for 50% of the time or more, in each of the last five years.

SFRS Retained fire stations that have had a first pumping appliance available for less than 50% of the time since 2021*
Station	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26	Additional Information
Aberfeldy					?
Aberfoyle	?	?	?	?
Abington			?	?
Acharacle	?	?			?
Achiltibuie	?	?	?	?	?
Alloa			?	?	?	This station also operates an appliance crewed by full-time (wholetime) firefighters.
Applecross				?	?
Ayr					?	This station also operates an appliance crewed by full-time (wholetime) firefighters.
Balfron				?	?
Bathgate					?	This station also operates an appliance crewed by full-time (wholetime) firefighters.
Bettyhill	?	?	?	?	?
Bixter	?	?	?	?	?
Bonar Bridge	?	?	?	?	?
Bo'ness		?	?			This station also operates an appliance crewed by full-time (wholetime) firefighters.
Bressay		?	?	?	?
Broadford			?		?
Callander			?
Cannich	?	?	?	?	?
Colmonell	?				?
Coupar Angus			?	?	?
Crianlarich	?	?	?	?	?	Dormant fire station that is one of the stations under consideration of the Service Delivery Review.
Cullen				?	?
Dalmellington			?		?
Dalry	?	?	?	?	?
Denny	?	?
Dufftown					?
Dunblane					?
Dunkeld			?	?	?
Dunvegan		?
Eday				?	?
Eyemouth			?	?	?
Fair Isle	?
Falkirk	?	?	?	?	?	This station also operates an appliance crewed by full-time (wholetime) firefighters.
Fetlar	?	?	?	?	?	Dormant fire station that is one of the stations under consideration of the Service Delivery Review.
Garelochhead	?	?	?	?	?
Glenelg					?
Helensburgh		?	?			This station also operates an appliance crewed by full-time (wholetime) firefighters.
Hoy	?
John O Groats				?
Kilbirnie	?		?
Kilchoan	?	?	?	?	?
Kinlochewe				?	?
Kinross				?	?
Lanark			?	?	?	This station also operates an appliance crewed by full-time (wholetime) firefighters.
Lesmahagow	?		?	?	?
Linlithgow			?	?	?
Lochaline	?	?	?
Lochcarron			?
Lochinver	?	?	?	?	?
Lochmaddy	?	?		?	?
Mallaig				?	?
Mauchline					?
Muirkirk		?	?	?	?
New Cumnock		?	?
North Berwick	?	?	?	?	?
Scalloway			?	?
Scourie	?	?	?	?	?
Shotts		?	?	?	?
Skelmorlie	?	?		?
Slamannan		?	?	?
South Queensferry	?	?	?	?	?
St. Monans		?	?
Staffin	?	?	?	?	?
Strathaven	?	?	?	?	?
Tongue	?	?	?	?	?
Tranent		?
Tyndrum			?	?
Uig	?	?	?
Valtos			?	?	?
West Calder	?	?	?	?	?
Total	31	36	46	45	49
*Please note that the total number of fire appliances/stations increased in 2023-24 due to the transition from a legacy system, data from affected appliances is unavailable prior to this.
It should also be noted that there are an additional six on-call stations—Colintraive, Corriecravie, Kerrera, Nethybridge, Ratagan, and Muck—that are not currently included in SFRS administrative systems as they are dormant.

Question reference: S7W-00751

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what modelling it has carried out of the construction sector’s capacity to deliver housing at scale, including what estimate it has made of the number of firms capable of delivering developments of (a) 50 to 99 and (b) 100 or more homes, and how this has changed over the last decade.

The Scottish Government recognises the role of developers of all sizes in contributing to new housing delivery, including both large-scale housebuilders and small and medium-sized enterprise developers.

More broadly, we continue to engage with the Construction Leadership Forum’s Skills and Workforce Group as they consider potential opportunities for government and industry to work together even more to sustain and enhance a skilled and competent workforce for Scotland, and we are working to further improve both access to the Construction Industry from Further Education and apprenticeship retention.

Through the establishment of the new national housing agency, More Homes Scotland, we will take a strategic, system-wide approach to increasing housing delivery, working with developers and others to help deliver the homes that Scotland needs.

Question reference: S7W-00886

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to NHS Lothian maternity services to enable the resumption of homebirth services.

Homebirth services in NHS Lothian have never been paused. There may be occasions where a homebirth cannot be attended due to high activity or staffing issues, however this happens very rarely due to the model of on-call midwifery in NHS Lothian.

NHS Lothian currently manages homebirths via the community midwife service, however a new, dedicated home birth team has recently been established and staff recruitment is underway.

Question reference: S7W-00782

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many loans paid out through the Scotland's Energy Efficiency Programme equity loan scheme have been repaid, and how many are unpaid.

Question reference: S7W-00744

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic on 2 June 2026 on phone-free classrooms, whether it plans to limit the extent of any ban to classrooms and/or formal classroom time, or whether it plans to implement a ban across the whole school day and/or campus.

We have committed to implement a national ban on smart phones in learning environments and will begin a consultation to inform this legislation in the first 100 days of this government. The consultation will gather views on the potential scope of the restrictions and will help ensure a range of views from children, young people, parents and carers, and school staff are able to shape the new law.

Our current guidance, published in 2024, is clear that headteachers and education authorities can any take steps they see fit to respond to the disruption caused by mobile phones, including up to full restrictions across the school estate and the school day. We are working with education authorities to update the current guidance to encourage schools to bring in restrictions from the start of August, in advance of the change in law. This guidance will be published this summer, in preparation for the new school year.

I confirmed during my Parliamentary statement that, in line with the government’s public health approach to online harms, my preference is for a full campus ban but that I will consider the consultation responses on this matter.

Question reference: S7F-00018

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 June 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2026

Question to be taken in Chamber.

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