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-38572

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the long-term recovery outcomes for patients on state-funded methadone programmes.

Question reference: S6W-38475

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that there is a shortage of radiologists of around 25%, and what the reasons are for this being the case.

Over the last ten years the Consultant Radiologist workforce has increased by 27.7% (from 304.5 WTE as at March 2015 to 388.9 WTE as at March 2025). Consultant Radiologist vacancies have decreased by 3.4% over the last year to 22.4 WTE as at March 2025, which is a vacancy rate of 5.5%.

The Scottish Government continues to invest heavily in radiology training. We are currently funding around 190 specialty training places in clinical radiology, including 78 extra places which have been added since 2014, based on modelling and future workforce need. This enables doctors to train and enter the workforce following completion of training - which takes a minimum of 5 years. Clinical radiology specialty training programmes have been filled at 100% in Scotland from 2014 to 2024, with 230 resident doctors successfully completing this training in this period.

Question reference: S6W-37222

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it owns the site of the former hotel at Carrick Castle, and, if (a) so, what its current plans are for the site and (b) not, for what reason the Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey site register states that it does.

Question reference: S6W-38447

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many green jobs have been created in Scotland since 2021, broken down by (a) sector, (b) region and (c) whether the funding was from public or private sources.

It is not possible to assess how many new green jobs have been created by region and sector, however the PwC Green Jobs Barometer shows that 5.6% of all job adverts in Scotland in 2024 were for jobs that have a positive impact on the environment, up from 4.0% in 2023. This helped Scotland once again retain first place among 12 nations and regions of the UK in the overall Green Jobs Barometer, once again showing that Scotland is leading the way in delivering a green jobs revolution and unlocking the tremendous potential that our energy transition and wider net zero journey holds.

In 2022 Scotland’s net zero economy (defined narrowly around low carbon and renewable energy) generated an estimated £13bn turnover and supported an estimated 25,700 direct full-time equivalent jobs. This is the most recent ONS data. Sectoral break downs are available via the ONS. These data are based on a UK-wide survey, and so are subject to a 95% confidence interval of between 23,200 and 28,100 at Scotland level. They are not available by region. These figures will include existing jobs which have transitioned over from outside of low carbon and renewable sectors. Looking at the broader impact of the sector, it is estimated that the renewable energy industry supported over £6.6bn of GVA and over 47,000 FTE employment across the Scottish economy in 2022 (Fraser of Allander Institute, 2025).

Question reference: S6W-38461

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any assessment has been made of any long-term economic benefits of replacing methadone with Buvidal for eligible patients.

Question reference: S6W-38206

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much Baroness Helena Kennedy KC was paid in her role as chair of the Independent Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-38214

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35205 by Jim Fairlie on 11 March 2025, whether it has reconvened the working group with third sector representatives to explore delivery options for free bus travel for asylum seekers, and, if it is the case that it has not yet done so, when this commitment is likely to be delivered.

Question reference: S6W-37652

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is undertaking any ongoing survey of local residents to capture their views regarding any changes in the community in relation to (a) drug-related litter, (b) instances of drug dealing and (c) street smoking or injecting, within the vicinity of the Thistle safer drug consumption facility.

The Thistle will undergo a comprehensive, independent evaluation, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research and led by a collaboration of academic institutions, including the University of Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian University, and other expert research partners.

The evaluation includes a specific focus on the impact of the Thistle on the wider community, this will be assessed using repeated community surveys to examine trends in community cohesion, wellbeing, and perceptions of safety/crime compared to control areas. Repeated focus groups with the local community will also explore how perceptions evolve as the intervention becomes embedded.

Ongoing engagement with local residents, businesses, and stakeholder forms an integral part of the pilot’s delivery. Capturing lived experience and local perceptions is essential to assessing the effectiveness of the facility and ensuring future policy and service development are informed by those most affected by this.

Question reference: S6W-38252

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the number of applicants that were (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful in applying for a Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme payment for 2025-26, broken down by local authority area.

The application window for the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme (SUSSS) scheme year 2025 does not open until 1 September 2025.

In the following table, details are provided of the number of businesses that had a successful or unsuccessful application under the SUSSS in 2024, broken down by local authority area. Applications included as unsuccessful are those applications which were rejected as they did not meet the scheme eligibility criteria.

Local Authority	Successful	Unsuccessful
Aberdeenshire	9	1
Angus	8	0
Argyll and Bute	78	1
City of Edinburgh	1	0
Dumfries and Galloway	6	1
East Ayrshire	10	0
East Lothian	2	0
Highland	478	8
Inverclyde	2	0
Midlothian	1	0
Moray	7	0
North Ayrshire	8	0
Orkney	6	0
Perth and Kinross	36	1
Renfrewshire	1	0
Scottish Borders	10	0
Shetland	53	4
South Ayrshire	2	0
South Lanarkshire	6	1
Stirling	19	0
West Dunbartonshire	1	0
Western Isles	370	11
Total	1114	28

Question reference: S6W-38266

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reviewed the impact of the national guidance on reimbursement for home dialysis costs to include utility costs, including water and electricity, following its introduction in March 2024.

In January 2024, we implemented a Scotland-wide policy reimbursing home dialysis patients for their extra electricity costs incurred in their treatment. At the time of implementation, there was a commitment to undertake a review 6-12 months later to ensure that the Policy had been fully applied across all NHS Boards. This Review has been completed and concluded that all Boards had reimbursement policies for eligible patients. This removes the financial disincentive to making a choice for home dialysis over in-centre treatments, allowing personal choice in where and how to receive treatment.