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-37258

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for (a) bereaved individuals under the age of 50 whose partner has died and (b) children of individuals where a parent has died under the age of 50.

The Scottish Government provides a range of advice and support for people experiencing bereavement.

Our emotional and wellbeing support for adults includes:

Providing funding to Cruse Scotland for the National Bereavement Helpline, which provides free listening and counselling support to people right across Scotland.

Since 2021, we have invested £66 million in our Adults Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund which supports a wide range of grassroots projects to provide compassionate wellbeing support. This fund prioritises supporting people experiencing bereavement and loss; and during 2023-24 we supported 196 such projects.

Working in partnership with Public Health Scotland and SeeMe to deliver a package of support for employers to enable them to support their employee's mental health more confidently; and we have already included a focus on grief and bereavement.

Our Mind to Mind website (hosted on NHS Inform) provides advice and information to the public about improving their wellbeing. The website includes advice and signposting information to support organisations for people (of all ages) who are experiencing grief and bereavement.

Our Suicide Prevention strategy and soon to be published new Palliative Care Strategy will set out the specific support available for people bereaved in these ways.

For children and young people, the loss of a parent can have a profound effect, so it is vital that support is provided at the right time, and in appropriate settings. Our emotional and wellbeing support for this group includes:

Working with Education Scotland to review learning and teaching resources, as well as support for school staff, so that schools can play their role in supporting the needs of bereaved children and young people.
Continuing to provide £16 million annually to local authorities to ensure that every secondary school has access to school counselling services.
Schools being able to refer children and young people to the Seasons for Growth programme, which offers peer and small group bereavement support.
Since 2016, our Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Funds have provided funding of £14.5 million annually to 115 organisations – including to Child Bereavement UK, Richmond's Hope , and Cruse Scotland who provide vital support to children and young people who are bereaved.

We recognise that the death of a loved one can cause financial and practical challenges for families. Our Funeral Support Payment provides a contribution towards funeral costs for those who receive a low-income qualifying benefit. Since launching the payment in 2019, we have provided £56.9 million of support to over 29,000 people. We are also committed to extending Carer Support Payments from 8 weeks to 12 weeks after the death of a cared for person, and this payment also connects carers to wider forms of support at this difficult time.

Question reference: S6W-37246

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many property factors have been removed from the property factor register as a result of contraventions of the Code of Conduct for Property Factors in each year since 2011.

Question reference: S6W-37268

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted any analysis on the cost per person to successfully transition an individual into employment through its Young Person's Guarantee, and, if so, what that cost was.

The Young Person’s Guarantee last and final update report was published in March 2023 and outlines the outcomes and opportunities provided by the funding from the Young Person’s Guarantee.

A joint implementation evaluation of No one Left Behind and Young Person’s Guarantee was published in Autumn 2023 which explores how well they had been implemented, the experiences of service providers and service users, and lessons from early delivery.

Since April 2023, the Young Person’s Guarantee has been mainstreamed across Government, with activity across education, skills and employability supporting young people into opportunities.

Question reference: S6W-37079

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will issue formal guidance to schools, health services and prisons to ensure that the rights of women and girls to single-sex spaces are upheld, in full compliance with the Equality Act 2010.

The Scottish Government has set up a short life working group to consider existing policies, guidance and legislation which may be impacted by the judgment.

This work will position us towards a state of readiness to take all necessary steps when the EHRC’s revised Statutory Code of Practice on services, public functions and associations and updated guidance are published.

All public bodies must comply with the law.

Question reference: S6W-36895

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential risk to taxpayers from any future liability that could arise from owning or operating the Grangemouth refinery.

Further to my answer to S6W-36894 on 13 May 2025, we understand that significant financial investment would be required to retain refinery operations at Grangemouth. Given the expansive fiscal levers at its disposal, the UK Government must utilise all routes to securing a sustainable future for the Refinery site.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-36553

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any funds received by local authorities from the extended producer responsibility scheme will be used to reduce council tax bills and, if so, how this will be implemented.

Council tax is a local tax, set and administered by individual local authorities, who had full flexibility in setting rates for 2025-26. The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. It is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their local communities. There will be no reduction in the local government finance settlement as a result of extended producer responsibility for packaging payments in the first year of the scheme (2025-26).

Question reference: S6W-37467

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Trading Standards Scotland regarding the sale of single-use vapes.

The Scottish Government has engaged with Trading Standards throughout the drafting of The Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 (the Vapes Regulations).

Trading Standards responded to the two consultations held on the Vapes Regulations, and provided feedback regarding the definition of a single-use vape, enforcement powers and implementation. This was taken on board in the final draft. A request from Trading Standards for the power to issue fixed penalty notices for offences under the Vapes Regulations was introduced through The Environmental Protection (Injurious Articles) (Fixed Penalty Notices and Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2025, along with further enforcement powers.

Officials have also met with Trading Standards on several occasions to discuss the drafting of the Regulations and associated guidance and will continue to engage up to and following the implementation of the ban on relevant issues associated with the regulations and their enforcement.

Question reference: S6W-37093

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many wind farms are located on land owned by it, and what the total installed capacity, in megawatts, of those wind farms is.

There are twenty-five operational windfarms on Scotland’s national forests and land, managed by Forestry and Land Scotland.

Windfarm	Number of MW on Scotland’s National Forests and Land (*several projects are located largely on neighbouring private land)
Deucheran Hill	16
Cruach Mhor	26
Beinn An Tuirc 1	9*
Black Law	20
Rothes 2 (Cairn Uish Hill)	7*
Whitelee 1	163
An Suidhe	19
Camster	22
Arecleoch	106
Myres Hill	2*
Mid Hill	53
Stroupster	16
Little Clyde	25
Burn of Whilk	23
Beinn An Tuirc 2	44
Whitelee 2	193
Harestanes	136
Clashindarroch	37
A' Chruach	43
Kilgallioch	73
Blackcraig	5*
Beinn An Tuirc 3	50
West Benhar	30
Halsary	28
South Kyle	240

Question reference: S6T-02522

Asked by: George Adam, MSP for Paisley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any implications for Scotland’s public services of the UK Government’s proposed reforms to the immigration system.

Question reference: S6T-02523

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the announcement that NHS Grampian has been escalated to stage 4 of NHS Scotland's National Performance Framework for finance, leadership and governance.