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-01748

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kirsten Oswald on 29 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce stricter penalties for antisocial behaviour on buses.

The National Bus Travel Concession Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Order 2026 enables Scottish Ministers to suspend or withdraw concessionary travel from any cardholder who breaches a national Code of Conduct. It applies to every user of the National Concessionary Travel Schemes, irrespective of age. Transport Scotland is working with bus operators, Police Scotland and local authorities to finalise the Code and the processes that will sit behind it.

We are separately reviewing the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 in order to establish whether the wider statutory framework remains fit for purpose.

Question reference: S7W-01687

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 29 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the use of funding from the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund, in light of reports suggesting that the Highland Council spent £1.4 million of its allocation of funding on operational costs between 2022-23 and 2025-26.

Children's Services Planning Partnerships (CSPPs) report on their Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF) activity via annual Children’s Services Reports, annual WFWF reports, and Children’s Services Plans.

Annual WFWF reports include data on the use of the funding, including the activities being delivered, the outcomes achieved and the funding allocated to each activity. This information supports our ongoing oversight of how funding is being used and the progress being made towards delivering transformational change for children, young people and families.

Question reference: S7W-01688

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 29 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to meet with the chief executive of Highland Council to discuss reports that the local authority spent £1.4 million of its allocation of the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund on operational costs between 2022-23 and 2025-26.

Scottish Government officials engage regularly with all Children's Services Planning Partnerships (CSPPs), including Highland, as part of the oversight of the Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF) Programme. Ongoing engagement combined with annual reporting supports our understanding of how funding is being used locally, and the progress being made towards delivering transformational change for children, young people and families.

Question reference: S7W-01524

Asked by: Helen McDade, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Friday, 03 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 29 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to Freedom of Information request FOI/202400419507, whether the meeting between the then Deputy First Minister and the WAVE Trust on 1 June 2022 (a) followed an offer to make a charitable donation or (b) was arranged entirely independently of any such offer, and whether it will review its guidance to ensure there can be no perception that access to Scottish Ministers may be influenced by financial offers, including those intended for charitable purposes.

As previously stated in the Scottish Government's response to the Freedom of Information request FOI/202400419507, the then-Deputy First Minister did not engage with or accept the offer of a donation to a charity of his choice from the CEO of the WAVE Trust: https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202400419507/ The meeting was arranged entirely independently of this offer.

The Scottish Ministerial Code already clearly sets out the standards expected of all members of the Scottish Ministerial team. Paragraph 3.22 of the Code notes that ‘…Ministers should not accept gifts, hospitality or services which would, or might appear to, compromise their judgement or place them under an obligation to people or organisations that might try to influence their work in government.’ It is the personal responsibility of each Minister to determine how any activity would engage with the terms of the Code, based on the circumstances around any specific event or interaction.

Question reference: S7W-02093

Asked by: Sanne Dijkstra-Downie, MSP for Edinburgh Northern, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of ScotWind development expenditure is currently expected to be awarded to Scottish-based manufacturing, fabrication, engineering and construction firms and what steps it is taking to increase the participation of domestic businesses in the programme.

Question reference: S7W-02092

Asked by: Sanne Dijkstra-Downie, MSP for Edinburgh Northern, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any economic impact of an increasing proportion of ScotWind expenditure being directed to overseas supply chains, including any impact on jobs, investment, tax revenues and economic growth.

Question reference: S7W-02103

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-00820 by Maree Todd on 16 June 2026, whether there are any plans to run recruitment campaigns to increase the number of people volunteering for clinical trials.

Question reference: S7W-02078

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-01537 by Stephen Gethins on 23 July 2026, which did not address the point raised regarding the £10 million Scottish Heating Oil Support Scheme fund, where any unallocated funds are currently held and what its plans are for such funds when the scheme closes in September 2026, including where any remaining funds will be held thereafter.

Question reference: S7W-02090

Asked by: Sanne Dijkstra-Downie, MSP for Edinburgh Northern, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings ministers or officials have held with ScotWind developers since January 2023 regarding supply chain commitments and what discussions have taken place on increasing the proportion of project expenditure retained within Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-02101

Asked by: Alyn Smith, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will provide an updated code of conduct on the treatment of passengers and staff using public transport, as outlined in the National Bus Travel Concession Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Order 2026.