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-37445

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken, since the publication of the International Court of Justice's 19 July 2024 advisory opinion, to ensure that public bodies are enacting the Scottish Government's 2014 public procurement policy note in relation to discouraging trade and investment from illegal settlements.

Regulations implementing international obligations in relation to public procurement permit bidders to be excluded from tender exercises in certain circumstances. This includes when the bidder can be shown to have engaged in grave professional misconduct. The Scottish Government's long-standing view is that the exploitation of assets in illegal settlements is likely to be regarded as constituting grave professional misconduct for this purpose. Any decision to exclude a bidder from a procurement process must, however, be taken on a case-by-case basis by the contracting authority awarding the contract, and must be grounded in evidence. To that end, the Minister for Business wrote to public bodies in October 2024 to inform them that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights' (OHCHR) database of companies active in listed activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory had been updated, and that this should be considered as part of due diligence processes.

As I confirmed in response to S6O-04782 on 11 June 2025, I have asked officials to advise on what further work can be done to strengthen our approach here.

All answers to Oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at All answers to Oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at Official Report: search what was said in Parliament | Scottish Parliament Website

Question reference: S6W-38372

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what recent capital budget commitments it has made to tackle the housing emergency.

To tackle the ongoing Housing Emergency, the Scottish Government is investing £768 million in the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) for 2025-2026, a 38% increase compared to 2024-2025. Of this, £688 million is capital, which is a 44% increase compared with the previous year. This includes £40 million targeted towards acquisitions to support the local authorities with the most sustained temporary accommodation pressures.

In addition are also investing an additional £4 million in the Ending Homelessness Together budget for 2025-2026 to help local authorities, frontline services and relevant partners prepare for new prevention measures and to help them to respond to the housing emergency by preventing homelessness before it occurs.

We have also announced a long-term commitment of £100 million for Mid-Market Rent – and with institutional investment we will grow that fund to at least £500 million to support the construction of around 2,800 mid-market rent homes.

Question reference: S6W-38410

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what safeguards are in place to ensure that (a) academic quality and (b) student experience are maintained in any universities that are undertaking major financial restructuring.

Question reference: S6O-04822

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Armed Forces Covenant obligation on NHS boards to have due regard for the unique challenges faced by service children, what discussions the veterans minister has had with ministerial colleagues in relation to ensuring that relocations for military postings do not lead to service children being reprioritised to the back of NHS waiting lists, including through the provision of guidance to clinical teams to ensure that this does not happen.

Access to NHS treatment is based on clinical need, however we recognise that service children should not be disadvantaged when accessing the NHS as a result of their parent’s service in the Armed Forces.

We regularly communicate the Covenant legal duty and paying ‘due regard’ to all NHS Boards via the NHS Armed Forces and Veterans Champions, who are responsible for ensuring its implementation.

Additionally, the General Practice Armed Forces and Veterans Recognition Scheme aims to raise awareness of the health challenges that veterans and Armed Forces families face as a result of military service.

Question reference: S6O-04823

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the consultation by Alexander Dennis on the future of its facilities in Falkirk and Larbert.

This will be a hugely worrying time for the workforce at ADL, their families and the wider community. We have engaged extensively with Alexander Dennis and its parent company NFI to ensure that every possible avenue is explored to mitigate the need for redundancies. This has included discussions with myself, the First Minister, leadership within Scottish Enterprise, Transport Scotland, trade unions, and the UK Government.

The Scottish Government will continue to explore any and all options throughout the consultation period to allow the firm to retain their hard-working employees and manufacturing and production facilities at Falkirk and Larbert.

Question reference: S6O-04855

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Forth Valley regarding access to health services for communities that rely on local bus links.

Question reference: S6O-04850

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with local stakeholders regarding the protection of wild goats in the Scottish Borders.

Question reference: S6O-04854

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the aim under action 20 of the Housing to 2040 strategy to streamline and accelerate the adaptations system.

Question reference: S6O-04857

Asked by: Marie McNair, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to meet the demand for ADHD and autism assessments.

Question reference: S6O-04853

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to reform the planning appeals process.