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-40057

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 22 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made an assessment of the cost to remove asbestos from 177 police stations in Scotland.

Management of the Police Scotland estate, including assessments of the condition of its buildings, is an operational matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority. The Scottish Government supports Police Scotland’s commitment to providing a safe environment for officers, staff and the public.

The Scottish Government recognises the hazard of asbestos and the risks to health that it poses, however the management of asbestos in buildings is a reserved matter for the UK Government, and the Health and Safety Executive has UK wide responsibility for enforcement of the legislation and regulations.

We are investing a record £1.64 billion in policing in 2025-26. This includes £70 million of capital funding for investment in police assets, including the police estate.

Question reference: S6W-39833

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any impact on its National Strategy for Economic Transformation, what its response is to reported comments by tech entrepreneur, financier and co-founder of Arm, Hermann Hauser, that there are three litmus tests for tech takeovers, whether control of the technology is still in the UK, whether there is access from other countries, and, if not, whether the UK seller has guaranteed, unfettered, secure access, and that, if the answer to all three is no, then the "danger is of becoming a new vassal state to these tech giants… of a new kind of colonialism”.

We recognise Dr Hermann Hauser’s long-standing role in shaping UK innovation policy and his warning about the risks of over-dependence on global technology giants. His comments underline the importance of ensuring that Scotland retains secure and reliable access to the technologies our economy and public services rely on, particularly in circumstances where those technologies were created as a result of Scottish innovation.

While decisions on mergers and acquisitions are reserved to the UK Government, our National Strategy for Economic Transformation sets out how Scotland is strengthening its own capacity — by investing in skills, high growth entrepreneurship, commercialisation of research, emerging industrial clusters and access to finance — so that innovative companies can grow and anchor here, reducing strategic dependency while remaining globally connected.

Question reference: S6W-39974

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the separate publication of audiology waiting times was discontinued in 2014, and whether it will consider reinstating this reporting to improve transparency and accountability.

From 2014 data on Audiology service waits was included as part of the 18 weeks referral to treatment waiting time data Public Health Scotland (PHS) publication. In March this year, PHS communicated that as part of their ongoing work to ensure their suite of statistical publications meets user needs, they decided to pause the 18 weeks RTT national data collection, analysis and publication. The 18th March 2025 publication was the last planned publication.

It is important to note that PHS will continue to publish comprehensive statistics on waiting times which will help demonstrate the impact of the additional funding to reduce waiting times. By pausing the 18 week RTT statistics, PHS will be able to shift resources towards developing statistics on the number of 8 key diagnostic tests carried out per quarter. This change in focus is needed for the public to understand how we are progressing with our commitment for 150,000 extra appointments, diagnostics and treatment in 2025-26.

Given the importance of audiology, as part of the Scottish Government’s implementation of the Service Renewal Framework consideration is being given as to how to strengthen visibility and accountability on audiology waiting times to ensure planning of services reflects actual need and supports equitable access. This has been prioritised as part of the first year work programme of SRF implementation.

Question reference: S6T-02665

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Royal College of Nursing’s reported concerns regarding the decline in the number of nursing students, in light of recent UCAS figures showing that the number of accepted places on nursing courses beginning this autumn in Scotland is 5% lower than last year.

Question reference: S6T-02667

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Nuclear Industry Association's reported view that Scotland will miss out on thousands of new jobs due to its stance on nuclear energy.

Question reference: S6F-04296

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government will support town and city centres as retail destinations.

Question reference: S6F-04300

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to protect renters in the private sector from homelessness.

Question reference: S6F-04294

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04313

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the potential impact on households in Scotland of the forecasts from the Food and Drink Federation that food and drink inflation could reach 5.7% by December.

Question reference: S6F-04293

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.