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: S7W-02581

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether Transport Scotland or Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) has evaluated the feasibility of procuring future vessels, including zero-emission ferries, through international tax lease structures such as the Agrupación de Interés Económico (AIE) in Spain to reduce final purchase prices while maintaining shipbuilding in Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-02570

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the upcoming mandatory fortification of certain wheat products with folic acid, what plans it has to protect members of vulnerable groups for whom exposure to folic acid may have negative health effects, such as those on certain cancer treatments.

Question reference: S7W-02326

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 19 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the recent wildfire in the Cairngorms National Park, for what reason it (a) made a request for vehicles from the Ministry of Defence, specifically water bombing helicopters, that the Ministry does not possess, and (b) turned down an offer from the Ministry of Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters as part of efforts to combat the fire.

As part of the response to the significant wildfire in the Cairngorms two commercially hired helicopters were in use for water bombing the fire. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) assessed that additional aerial support to drop water on the fire could aid the response. The Scottish Government sought to explore every available avenue of support and that included requesting military assistance in the form of aerial support to drop water on the fire from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to supplement the existing aerial resources that were in place. The response was that the MoD did not currently possess aerial firefighting assets stationed within the UK.

The MOD did offer Chinook helicopters for the movement of people, troops and logistical support. However, the Scottish Government received assurance from SFRS that it had sufficient firefighters and volunteers along with logistical support to deal with the fire and therefore the offer of this other military support was not taken up.

Question reference: S7W-02189

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kirsten Oswald on 19 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what compensation will be offered to businesses that had retained firefighters on-call during the wildfire at Cairngorms National Park, which started in July 2026.

The Scottish Government recognises and greatly values the commitment of on-call firefighters and the flexibility of their primary employers in allowing them time off to provide the essential fire and rescue cover across Scotland. On-call firefighters are expected to obtain their employer's agreement to be released, where appropriate, for operational duties. On-call firefighters have contracts of employment with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) and receive an annual retainer fee together with additional payments for incident attendance, training and other approved activities. These payments are made directly to the firefighter rather than to their primary employer. Businesses which employ on-call firefighters do not receive compensation when employees are released from their primary employment to respond to operational incidents.

Question reference: S7W-02298

Asked by: Sanne Dijkstra-Downie, MSP for Edinburgh Northern, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 19 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards establishing a publicly owned national energy company, as first announced in 2017, and whether it remains committed to creating such a company.

Public investment in Scotland has previously been explored in the context of a publicly owned energy retail company supplying energy to households. Initial exploration of the retail company proposal, including the outline business case, highlighted key barriers to the Scottish Government advancing public investment, particularly around devolved and reserved responsibilities.

The Scottish Government is committed to maximising the public benefits of the energy transition and continues to explore opportunities to invest in energy-related projects, technology and infrastructure within devolved competence.

Question reference: S7W-02349

Asked by: Michelle Campbell, MSP for Renfrewshire North and Cardonald, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 19 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, for each local authority, (a) how many businesses received non-domestic rates relief and (b) the total value of relief awarded, in (i) 2024-25 and (ii) 2025-26.

The requested information can be found in Table 4 of both the Non-domestic rates relief statistics 2024 and the Non-domestic rates relief statistics 2025.

The figures in these publication are based on Billing System Snapshots, an annual property-level data return provided to the Scottish Government by councils. Values of reliefs are estimates based on the reliefs in place on the snapshot date. The values of reliefs reported are the total values of reliefs, funded by both the Scottish Government and by councils.

Outturn values of reliefs, including a breakdown by council area, are published in Non-domestic rates income statistics.

Question reference: S7W-02157

Asked by: David Linden, MSP for Glasgow Baillieston and Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kirsten Oswald on 19 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to introducing measures adopted elsewhere in Europe to reduce the prevalence of illegally modified e-bikes in Scotland, such as restrictions on the sale of speed-limiter tuning kits.

The Scottish Government is committed to working alongside all of our partners to tackle the antisocial and criminal use of vehicles, including e-bikes. Officials regularly consider actions taken in other jurisdictions to tackle common issues.

Any new restrictions would need to be compatible with the limitations posed by the Scotland Act (such as the reservation of internet services) and the Internal Market Act.

Question reference: S7W-02067

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 19 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the land area that would be required to accommodate 5.4GW of ground-mounted solar capacity by 2035, based on an illustrative scenario in which 60% of Solar Energy Scotland’s 9GW ambition is delivered through ground-mounted solar, and, if so, what (a) land area, in hectares, and (b) percentage of Scotland’s total land area this would represent.

Question reference: S7W-02156

Asked by: David Linden, MSP for Glasgow Baillieston and Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kirsten Oswald on 19 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) e-bikes and (b) e-scooters have been seized by Police Scotland in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority area.

The following table shows a breakdown of e-bikes and e-scooters seized by Police Scotland in 2023, 2024, and 2025. Information is available by local policing division, not by local authority.

Police Division	2023		2024		2025
	e-bikes	e-scooters	e-bikes	e-scooters	e-bikes	e-scooters
A - North East	8	6	19	6	86	46
C - Forth Valley	1	2	5	15	6	21
D - Tayside	2	5	15	12	21	22
E - Edinburgh	17	13	48	25	87	40
G - Greater Glasgow	46	12	192	28	221	60
J - Lothian and Borders	7	1	9	18	29	17
K - Renfrewshire and Inverclyde	0	0	9	1	6	7
L - Argyll and West Dunbartonshire	4	0	16	3	13	2
N - Highlands	1	0	3	3	7	2
P - Fife	5	1	4	0	11	4
Q - Lanarkshire	5	3	6	4	35	12
U - Ayrshire	4	0	3	6	23	7
V - Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	1	0	2	4

Question reference: S7W-02153

Asked by: David Linden, MSP for Glasgow Baillieston and Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kirsten Oswald on 19 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the outcomes of Police Scotland's Operation Armour in Aberdeen, which targeted the illegal use of personal light electric vehicles (PLEVs), such as e-bikes and e-scooters, and associated antisocial behaviour and criminality, including the number of vehicles seized; what information it has regarding (a) the number and nature of charges brought and subsequent (i) prosecutions and (ii) convictions, and (b) any changes in reported antisocial behaviour attributable to the operation; what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding the potential roll-out of the operation beyond Aberdeen, including through a national framework or funded programme for targeted enforcement against such behaviour, what assessment it has made of any links between the activities targeted by the operation and other criminality, including the supply of illegal drugs and breaches of bail conditions, and what plans it has to review the adequacy of the legislation covering PLEVs, in light of the experience of Operation Armour and similar operations.

The Scottish Government welcomes initiatives from Police Scotland to target antisocial behaviour and strengthen enforcement of law in this area.

Police Scotland have confirmed the following were seized during Operation Armour: 5 SurRon style electric motorcycles; 19 adapted e-bikes; 15 electric scooters; 5 petrol motorcycles; 1 van; and 1 car. Additionally, drugs and cash were also seized. In total, 50 people were charged with various road traffic offences, which include Dangerous Driving, Disqualified Driving, driving an unregistered vehicle without a licence, driving an unregistered vehicle without insurance, driving on footpaths and not wearing a crash helmet. Four people were also charged with drug supply during the operation.

Legislation regarding PLEVs is reserved to the UK Government.