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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6F-04188

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04187

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04200

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2025

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on the Scottish Government’s latest engagement with the UK Government regarding funding and timescales for the development of the Acorn carbon capture and storage project.

Question reference: S6F-04195

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2025

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that up to 100 truckloads of Scotland's waste will be moved each day to England as a result of the landfill ban on biodegradable waste.

Question reference: S6F-04189

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-38376

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Helensburgh Wastewater Treatment Works recording 1,722 spills in 2024 meets the requirement for sewage spills to only happen in exceptional circumstances, in light of the European Court of Justice and Environmental Standards Scotland reportedly emphasising this requirement.

Question reference: S6W-38388

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK Government committing £10 million of new funding in 2025-26 for trading standards in England to tackle underage sales of tobacco and vapes, prevent sales of illicit tobacco and nicotine products, and fund up to 80 more apprentice enforcement officers, how much funding it is committing to (a) support trading standards teams in Scotland with the ban on single-use disposable vapes, which came into effect on 1 June 2025, and (b) address any challenges in stopping sales of illicit tobacco and nicotine products in communities.

Enforcement of Tobacco and Vapes legislation, including the Single Use Vape (SUV) regulations is a local government issue, and in line with the Verity House Agreement we do not ring-fence or direct local authority funding.

Funding is provided annually to Local Government and they have responsibility for working to ensure local budget decisions deliver local and national priorities, including those on the enforcement of existing legislation, including on underage sales and illicit tobacco and vapes and the single use vape ban.

In addition, the Scottish Government has made £300k available for transitional costs associated with the ban on SUVs, and to support recycling and responsible disposal of SUV’s seized by local authorities.

We work closely with the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) to support enforcement of existing legislation, including on underage sales and illicit tobacco and vapes. This includes providing funding of £46k for the SCOTSS national co-ordinator role for Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-38301

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that people with palliative care needs, who do not want to die in hospital, are not admitted to hospital unnecessarily.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone who needs it can access high-quality palliative care that is right for their circumstances.

Through our upcoming palliative care strategy, we will promote person-centred future care planning. Future care planning is important for people of all ages living with long-term conditions, disabilities, frailty in older age or rare conditions, as well as people with life shortening conditions. A future care plan summarises what matters to the individual and has key information for staff providing urgent or emergency care about the person, their health and care. Planning ahead can help people manage or avoid crisis situations and improve experiences of urgent or emergency health and social care, as well as avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions.

The strategy will be published alongside a delivery plan, which will set out our approach to ensuring that everyone who needs it can access timely palliative care and care around dying.

Question reference: S6W-38389

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide financial support to families who wish to move a family member's ashes, in light of reports that this can cost between £5,000 and £10,000, or more if there is an objection to planning permission.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to provide financial support in connection with applications for exhumation.

However, we are committed to simplifying the process as much as possible. Officials are developing regulations under the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 which will remove applications for exhumation from the courts, making the process more straightforward and less expensive for applicants.

Question reference: S6W-38300

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take if the £5 million being allocated to hospices is not enough for them to match 2025-26 NHS staff pay levels.

The Scottish budget for 2025-26 includes £5 million of investment to support independent hospices to provide pay parity with NHS levels. This figure is based on estimates provided by independent hospices. Officials are working with a variety of colleagues across the health directorates to explore mechanisms for providing this funding to hospices, while respecting existing commissioning arrangements with Integration Joint Boards (IJBs).

We expect the £5m for pay parity to significantly help independent hospices in increasing their pay offer for staff. However, as independent hospices are charitable organisations, they are responsible for setting their own staff terms and conditions, including pay arrangements.

The Scottish Government does not undertake financial planning for local services, which is why commissioning and contractual discussions are carried out at a local, operational, level between independent hospices and IJBs.