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-40537

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the announcement by NHS England in July 2025 that the triple combination medicine vanzacaftor–tezacaftor–deutivacaftor (Alyftrek) is to be made available to patients with cystic fibrosis, including some with rare forms of the disease who will now be eligible for a triple therapy for the first time, whether such therapy will be available by NHS Scotland, and, if so, by what date.

Question reference: S6W-40551

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the acquisition of the Griffin Forestry Estate by Gresham House FF VI LLP, which was concluded in July 2025, what assessment it has made of the potential impact of this on (a) community wealth building, (b) sustainable development, (c) local democracy, (d) environmental quality, and (e) biological diversity.

Question reference: S6W-40542

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent reported increase in shoplifting incidents across Lanarkshire, what action is it taking to address such retail crime, and how it is supporting businesses and communities impacted by this.

Question reference: S6W-40552

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost was of any penalties that it issued to Openreach in each year since 2016, and for what reasons it applied those penalties.

Question reference: S6W-40527

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Independent
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-37508 by Jim Fairlie on 29 May 2025, whether NatureScot presented its final version of the species licensing review to the Scottish Ministers in April 2025, and, if so, by what date the findings will be published.

Question reference: S6W-40540

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost is of each contract required for chartering the MV Alfred from Pentland Ferries, including extensions.

Question reference: S6W-40303

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on whether stabilisation centres are used in any other European country as a flagship response to addiction, and, if so, whether it will provide international evidence of outcomes.

Question reference: S6W-40274

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made on the impact on Scotland's economy of the report by Offshore Energy UK suggesting that, without replacing the Energy Profits Levy in the next year with a profits-based mechanism to encourage investment and output, North Sea oil and gas production could disappear “within years, not decades”.

The fiscal regime for offshore oil and gas, as well as the regulatory regimes for licensing and consenting, are all matters that are currently reserved to the UK Government.

We continue to call on the UK Government to listen carefully to concerns being expressed by businesses and trade bodies around the impacts of its Energy Profits Levy.

We are now awaiting the UK Government’s response to its recent consultation, which must clearly set out how a stable and long-term fiscal regime will be used to deliver business and investor certainty for the North Sea. The Energy Profits Levy was always supposed to be a temporary measure and we must see the earliest possible end date, as it is now affecting investment and jobs in the North East.

Question reference: S6W-40292

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported projected loss of over 900 police officers to retirement by summer 2026.

The recruitment and deployment of police officers is a matter for the Chief Constable. Police Scotland keeps retirement rates under review to ensure that new officer recruitment intakes are underpinned by workforce planning data. Since the beginning of 2024 Police Scotland has welcomed around 1,500 new officers, to ensure sustainability of the workforce.

The Chief Constable has made it clear that frontline strength goes beyond an overall officer headcount. Police Scotland’s Three-year Business Plan 2024-2027 sets out an ambitious programme of workforce modernisation, reducing back-office duplication.

The Scottish Government has increased police funding year-on-year since 2016-17, investing more than £14.6 billion since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013, with £1.64 billion being invested this year. Scottish Government funding in 2024-25 enabled Police Scotland to undertake the highest level of recruitment since its inception and Scotland continues to have more police officers per capita than England and Wales.

Question reference: S6W-40181

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided for public information campaigns to warn of the dangers of hillwalking in Scotland, in each of the past five years.

The Scottish Government understands the importance of Scotland’s hills and mountains and provides investment to help Scots and visitors to Scotland to enjoy them safely.

In addition to the Scottish Government’s annual grant of £300,000 to Scottish Mountain Rescue, sportscotland annually invests around £2million of Scottish Government and National Lottery funding to help ensure the safety of mountain users. This includes investment into Glenmore Lodge, sportscotland’s Avalanche Information Service (SAIS), and the Mountain Weather Information Service.

In 2025-26, sportscotland is investing up to £274,446 into Mountaineering Scotland, the sport’s governing body, which helps to support work on mountain safety. Mountaineering Scotland offer training and information to mountain users to promote safety, self-reliance, and the enjoyment of our mountain environment. They also chair the Mountain Safety Group, which was established to monitor and review mountain safety strategy, collaborate with partners, and provide leadership across mountain safety.

Sportscotland investment in Mountaineering Scotland over the previous five years is as follows:

2020 – 2021- £268,850

2021 – 2022 - £226,260

2022 – 2023 - £244,300

2023 – 2024 - £254,260

2024 – 2025 - £252,050