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-39006

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms are in place to allow fishing vessel owners to appeal a finding of non-compliance with the economic link requirements.

Non-compliance with the Economic Link licence occurs where a vessel has failed to meet the 55% landings threshold and failed to agree a quota payback.

Vessel owners are provided with the opportunity to query the landings data and the quota payback calculation.

There have been no instances of a vessel seeking to appeal the application of quota pay-back for not meeting the Economic Link compliance criteria since 2019.

Question reference: S6W-39001

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what actions its Marine Directorate has taken when vessels have failed to meet the economic link requirements, and how many vessels have been subject to quota payback as a result since 2019.

Question reference: S6W-38965

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the Wild Wrasse Fishery report that covers 2023.

Question reference: S6W-38967

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 10 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that Hamilton Sheriff Court maintains a full complement of police officers, and what safeguards are currently in place to protect court staff and the public when there is no police presence during proceedings.

While the deployment of police officers is an operational matter for the Chief Constable, it is for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) to undertake risk assessments to identify and mitigate any potential risks to court users, court staff, Judiciary and justice partners. I can confirm that Police Scotland and SCTS to work in partnership to ensure that court security is maintained, whilst making best use of resources.

Question reference: S6W-38910

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to review the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, as established by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, including any impact of access rights on private landholders.

Question reference: S6W-39102

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many publicly operated electric vehicle (EV) charge points have been installed in the Scottish Borders in each year since 2015.

The UK Government regulates public electric vehicle (EV) charging and publishes Official Statistics on public charging infrastructure on a quarterly basis by local authority area. The most recent data was published in April this year and showed 109 public charge points in the Scottish Borders. Further data may be available from the UK Government upon request.

Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electric-vehicle-public-charging-infrastructure-statistics-april-2025

Question reference: S6W-39059

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 9 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it reportedly did not contribute to the UK progress update to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee on 29 May 2025.

The Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee issued Decision VII/8s in October 2021, which found that Scotland and the UK are not compliant with the requirements of the Aarhus Convention in relation to access to justice. The UK was required by the Compliance Committee to submit an action plan and progress reports detailing how compliance was to be achieved.

The Scottish Government contributed to the action plan submitted in July 2022 and the progress report submitted in October 2023. A final progress report was initially due to be submitted in October 2024, however following changes in the UK Government an extension was agreed for submission of the final progress report to November 2024. The Scottish Government contributed to the final progress report. May 2025 represented an informal opportunity to provide any additional substantial updates ahead of the meeting of the Compliance Committee on 2 June. The Scottish Government continues to work towards strengthening compliance but had no substantial updates to add to the update already provided in November 2024.

Question reference: S6W-38921

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to assess any merits of activating the break clause in Transport Scotland’s current contract with Serco for the Northern Isles Ferry Services.

Question reference: S6W-38938

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many buses have been ordered by Transport Scotland or the Scottish Government from manufacturers in China in the past five years.

Neither Transport Scotland nor the Scottish Government have ordered any buses in the past five years.

Since 2020, Transport Scotland has supported the Scottish bus sector with over £150 million of grant funding to support operating companies to acquire 800 zero emission buses and their supporting charging infrastructure. This is a rapid increase from the 20 zero emission buses on the road in 2020, and we have been right to set ambitious targets for the sector.

Question reference: S6W-38915

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 9 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether there has been an assessment of the potential impact on dementia services of any budget reductions by Integration Joint Boards.