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-34809

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Peel Ports regarding the potential development of a cruise ship berth on the upper Clyde.

The Scottish Government has not held discussions with Peel Ports regarding a potential development of a cruise ship berth on the Upper Clyde. Transport Scotland officials communicate with ports, including Clydeport, on a wide range of issues including development opportunities. Ports are deemed to be commercial businesses, and decisions on how best to utilise their resources are the responsibility of the port authority.

Question reference: S6W-34805

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support it has given to the Aberdeen Energy Transition Zone in each of the last three financial years.

A breakdown of the funding support provided by the Scottish Government to the Energy Transition Zone project over the past three financial years is provided in the following table.

	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	Total
Energy Transition Fund	£9,000,000	£5,541,000	£2,505,000	£17,046,000
Just Transition Fund - National Energy Skills Accelerator	£39,960	£960,040	Nil	£1,000,000
Just Transition Fund - Energy Transition Skills Hub	£1,180,000	£470,000	£2,850,000	£4,500,000
Just Transition Fund - Supply Chain Pathway and Energy Transition Challenge Fund	£1,280,000	£2,840,000	£2,840,000	£6,960,000
Total	£11,499,960	£9,811,040	£8,195,000	£29,506,000

Question reference: S6W-35128

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many assaults on (a) staff and (b) prisoners have been recorded at HMP Barlinnie in each of the last five years.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The number of assaults on staff in HMP Barlinnie in the last 5 years are as follows:

HMP Barlinnie
Year	Staff
2020	35
2021	49
2022	30
2023	45
2024	63

The number of assaults on Prisoners in Barlinnie in the last 5 years are as follows:

HMP Barlinnie
Year	Prisoner
2020	123
2021	163
2022	117
2023	120
2024	253

Question reference: S6W-35170

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support an increase in (a) training and (b) employment in the offshore wind supply chain for seafarers in north east Scotland.

The Scottish Government is investing up to £500 million over five years to anchor our offshore wind supply chain in Scotland. This investment will support market certainty, and help create a highly productive, competitive offshore wind economy that supports thousands of new jobs, including in north east Scotland.

The Scottish Government has also invested millions of pounds via the Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray, including the development and rollout of a digital energy skills passport (£3.7m), investment in a skills hub within the ETZ Skills Campus (£4.5m), support for the National Energy Skills Accelerator (NESA) (£1m), and funding for Net Zero Bottlenecks in Moray (£210k).

We have also convened a ‘Team Scotland’ short-life working group (SLWG) to develop an offshore wind skills action plan at pace which will identify and address gaps in training provision. The SLWG is jointly chaired by the Director of Offshore Wind in the Scottish Government and the CEO of Scottish Renewables, ensuring collaboration between the public sector and industry.

Question reference: S6W-35131

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners will be released early from HMP Barlinie due to overcrowding while the replacement prison for it remains incomplete.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS will publish information on the early release under the changes to sentencing for short-term prisoners on our website, and we have previously published information on releases under the emergency release legislation again on their website.

SPS seek to be as open and transparent as possible, whilst continuing to meet our statutory obligation to ensure that those in our care have their personal information protected; as such we cannot publish a breakdown of establishments as some of the data could relate to a small group of individuals, which may lead to their inadvertent identification.

Question reference: S6W-35125

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the delay to the replacement of HMP Barlinnie on (a) prison overcrowding and (b) early release policies.

SPS will publish information on the releases under the changes to sentencing for short-term prisoners on their website and SPS has previously published information on releases under the emergency release legislation also on their website.

SPS continue to be as open and transparent as possible, whilst continuing to meet their statutory obligation to ensure that those in their care have their personal information protected; as such SPS cannot publish a breakdown of establishments as some of the data could relate to a small group of individuals, which may lead to their inadvertent identification.

Question reference: S6W-35123

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 21 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates since 2014 it has received an updated timescale for the completion of HMP Glasgow, and what the revised date given was at each update.

The Scottish Government has received regular updates from the Scottish Prison Service on HMP Glasgow in line with updates to the Infrastructure Investment Plan since 2014:

In March 2014 the Scottish Government was updated that there was an on-going site search and completion dates for the project remained uncertain.
In March 2016 the Scottish Government was updated that estimated operational date was 2022.
In September 2016 the Scottish Government was updated that estimated operational date was 2023.
In April 2019 the Scottish Government was updated that estimated operational date was 2024.
In November 2020 the Scottish Government was updated that estimated operational date was 2026.
In May 2023 the Scottish Government was updated that the project time-line was uncertain.
In July 2023 the Scottish Government was updated that the most likely time-scale for construction completion was 2027 but there were risks associated with this.
In May 2024 the Scottish Government was updated that the most likely time-scale for construction completion was 2028.

Question reference: S6W-34911

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place for a new Respiratory Care Action Plan when the current plan comes to an end in 2026.

The Respiratory Care Action Plan has another year left in its current lifespan. We will continue to implement the commitments in the Plan over the coming year, alongside our work to explore a new long term conditions strategy to ensure equitable and sustainable access to the services that all people with long term conditions need, while still allowing for targeted action on condition-specific care and support where appropriate. We will take the progress of this work into account as we consider the best way to continue work to improve care and support for people with respiratory conditions in the future.

Question reference: S6W-34910

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will report on the impact of the Respiratory Care Action Plan at the end of the strategy’s life span.

Question reference: S6W-34777

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-33222 by Gillian Martin on 24 January 2025, what the future funding arrangements are for the Energy Skills Passport, and how many applications the Energy Skills Transition Hub has received to date from offshore oil and gas workers.

The initial, industry-led, phase of the development of the Energy Skills Passport has been supported by £3.7 million of Scottish Government Just Transition funding over financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24. This funding has helped to lay the groundwork for a successful Passport, including both cross-sectoral working and the development of a digital solution, leading to the pilot version of the passport launched in January 2025.

We are now looking forward to seeing the Passport develop further, providing more options and pathways for workers to transition between sectors. Success going forward will require the Passport to be fully supported from a range of bodies, including UK Government. The Scottish Government will also remain closely involved as a supportive project partner.

The Energy Transition Skills Hub is supported by £4.5 million in Just Transition Fund capital support. The construction phase of the project is expected to conclude later in 2025.