The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S7W-01598

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 30 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact on Merchiston Castle that the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) on the Edinburgh Napier Merchiston Campus could have.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken a specific assessment of any potential impact on Merchiston Castle arising from the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) within buildings on Edinburgh Napier University's Merchiston Campus.

As part of its outcomes framework and assurance model the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) engages directly with institutions on estate matters and has maintained oversight of issues relating to RAAC across the tertiary education sector. The Scottish Government remains in regular contact with the SFC regarding it’s assessment of sector-wide risks, issues and impacts.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01597 on 30 July 2026. 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: S7W-01607

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 30 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether any guidance has been published for Scottish universities on the steps they can take to address the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in buildings on their campuses.

Scottish Universities, as with all those with responsibility for building ownership and property management, should follow the advice and guidance on the identification, management and mitigation of risks associated with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) provided by professional organisations such as the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE).

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) continues to engage with colleges and universities on estate-related matters, including issues relating to RAAC, and keeps the Scottish Government informed of sector-wide developments.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01597 on 30 July 2026. 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: S7W-01597

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 30 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with Edinburgh Napier University regarding the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in buildings on its Merchiston Campus.

Responsibility for the management, maintenance and safety of university buildings rests with the institution as the owner of the estate. Responsibility for engagement with institutions on these matters lies with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). As part of its outcomes framework and assurance model the SFC engages directly with institutions on estate matters and has maintained oversight of issues relating to RAAC across the tertiary education sector.

The Scottish Government remains in regular contact with the SFC regarding it’s assessment of sector-wide risks, issues and impacts.

Question reference: S7W-02118

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) total expenditure on prescription medicines and (b) average cost per prescription item dispensed was, in each financial year from 2021-22 to the latest date for which information is available.

Question reference: S7W-02125

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent surveys by Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) Fife, which indicate that safe and essential educational provision has been compromised by restrictive school budgets across Fife, and whether it plans to provide emergency support to local authorities experiencing difficulties in supplying basic education supplies for classrooms, including jotters and chairs.

Question reference: S7W-02126

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce centralised data collection regarding the numbers of reported potholes on roads and public pathways across Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-02119

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on prescribing (a) aspirin and (b) paracetamol, in each financial year from 2021-22 to the latest date for which information is available.

Question reference: S7W-01904

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kirsten Oswald on 29 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reform inheritance law in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has no immediate plans to reform inheritance law in Scotland. The most recent consultations on testate and intestate succession took place in 2015 and 2019. The analysis of the consultation findings concluded that there was no clear consensus on substantive reforms to the law. Research into aspects of succession has also been commissioned and we await the findings. The Scottish Law Commission is considering reforms to executry law as part of their current programme of law reform.

Question reference: S7W-01905

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kirsten Oswald on 29 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether inheritance law contributes to any monopolisation of land ownership in Scotland.

The Scottish Government previously considered this issue through the work of the Land Reform Review Group, an independent group established by the Scottish Government to review land reform in Scotland. Section 6 of the Group's 2014 Report to Ministers considers previous recommendations by the Scottish Law Commission to remove the distinction between heritable and moveable property in succession law. The Group concluded that they were unlikely to have a significant influence on Scotland's concentrated pattern of land ownership.

The Scottish Government subsequently consulted on the Scottish Law Commission recommendations on succession law, including proposals relating to the distinction between heritable and moveable property. Concerns were expressed by a number of respondents about issues that might be encountered by land based businesses, such as farms. These issues could have an impact on their viability and, ultimately, on the rural economy. The Scottish Government decided not to proceed with those recommendations.

Question reference: S7W-01719

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kirsten Oswald on 29 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-01042 by Kirsten Oswald on 7 July 2026, regarding the number of incidents involving possession of a knife or bladed article that have been recorded in schools in each of the last five years, whether it will provide a breakdown of these figures by local authority.

Table 1 shows the number of police recorded crimes of Having in a school an article with a blade or point, by Local authority, from 2021-22 to 2025-26.

Table 1: Recorded crimes of Having in a school an article with a blade or point (used and not used) by Local authority, Scotland, 2021-22 to 2025-26.

Crime type	Local authority	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Scotland	98	112	94	121	99
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Aberdeen City	6	4	6	7	8
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Aberdeenshire	14	11	12	16	13
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Angus	4	5	1	3	1
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Argyll & Bute	2	1	0	2	3
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Clackmannanshire	0	1	1	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Dumfries & Galloway	8	7	5	4	1
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Dundee City	2	4	3	1	4
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	East Ayrshire	1	1	4	3	3
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	East Dunbartonshire	1	0	0	4	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	East Lothian	1	1	0	0	1
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	East Renfrewshire	0	0	2	0	2
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Edinburgh, City of	7	8	8	8	6
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Falkirk	4	7	2	7	3
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Fife	10	11	6	5	14
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Glasgow City	9	9	8	16	15
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Highland	4	4	4	2	1
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Inverclyde	1	2	1	2	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Midlothian	1	4	5	2	2
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Moray	5	2	2	4	5
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Na h-Eileanan Siar	0	0	1	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	North Ayrshire	2	9	3	6	1
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	North Lanarkshire	3	5	0	5	4
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Orkney Islands	1	0	0	1	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Perth & Kinross	1	2	1	4	2
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Renfrewshire	1	2	1	3	3
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Scottish Borders	1	2	5	3	1
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Shetland Islands	0	0	0	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	South Ayrshire	0	2	4	1	3
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	South Lanarkshire	5	6	6	5	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	Stirling	1	1	0	3	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	West Dunbartonshire	1	0	2	1	1
Having in a school an article with a blade or point	West Lothian	2	1	1	3	2
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Scotland	37	27	35	28	28
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Aberdeen City	2	1	2	3	5
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Aberdeenshire	2	3	4	3	3
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Angus	1	0	0	2	1
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Argyll & Bute	0	0	0	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Clackmannanshire	3	0	0	1	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Dumfries & Galloway	1	1	1	1	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Dundee City	1	0	1	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	East Ayrshire	0	1	0	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	East Dunbartonshire	0	1	0	1	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	East Lothian	0	0	1	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	East Renfrewshire	1	0	2	0	1
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Edinburgh, City of	3	3	3	1	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Falkirk	2	2	2	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Fife	4	3	2	4	8
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Glasgow City	5	2	7	4	1
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Highland	0	2	0	2	1
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Inverclyde	0	0	0	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Midlothian	0	0	0	1	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Moray	1	1	5	2	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Na h-Eileanan Siar	0	0	0	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	North Ayrshire	0	2	1	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	North Lanarkshire	0	2	1	1	4
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Orkney Islands	0	0	0	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Perth & Kinross	1	1	1	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Renfrewshire	2	1	0	1	1
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Scottish Borders	0	0	1	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Shetland Islands	0	0	0	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	South Ayrshire	0	0	1	0	2
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	South Lanarkshire	5	1	0	0	1
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	Stirling	3	0	0	0	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	West Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	1	0
Having in a school an article with a blade or point used in other criminal activity	West Lothian	0	0	0	0	0
Total recorded crimes of having an article with a blade or point in schools	Scotland	135	139	129	149	127

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Question reference: S7W-01598

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Question reference: S7W-01607

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Question reference: S7W-01597

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Question reference: S7W-02118

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Question reference: S7W-02125

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Question reference: S7W-02126

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Question reference: S7W-02119

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Question reference: S7W-01904

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Question reference: S7W-01905

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Question reference: S7W-01719

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