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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.

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Question reference: S6W-42158

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Good Food Nation key groups, what the remit is of each group, and how often each shall meet.

Question reference: S6W-42129

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6T-02727 by Jim Fairlie on 4 November 2025, when it will publish further details of the awards made under the Future Farming Investment Scheme.

I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-42039 and S6W-42047 on 1 December 2025.

Regarding the allocation of funding to island based businesses, priority status alone did not guarantee funding; investments also had to demonstrate strong alignment with scheme objectives and deliver measurable outcomes. Delivering on the scheme objectives was the most important element of scoring and this approach was designed with stakeholders, including the NFUS.

Many applicants from priority groups applied for standard items of agricultural equipment, mainly for general livestock management, which, while not deemed ineligible, when assessed against other capital investments did not demonstrate strong delivery against the scheme’s objectives. Examples included cattle clippers, sheep shearing machines, footbaths, water troughs, creep feeders, self-locking feed barriers, and feed storage bins.

Although these items are useful for routine livestock management, they were assessed as providing limited measurable benefit in terms of improving environmental performance, resource efficiency, or climate outcomes. For smaller businesses, these capital investments can represent meaningful improvements, however within a competitive assessment framework they did not score as highly as proposals that delivered more substantial benefits in line with the schemes purpose and objectives.

Many people will be disappointed if they were not successful, but there are many others who were and will share in £21 million that will make a real difference to their business. The following table provides a summary of items grant offers were issued for, demonstrating positive investment in the sector and supply chains to deliver on environmental performance, resource efficiency, and climate outcomes.

Category	Number of Investments Supported	Total Grant Value (£)
Livestock Handling and Weighing Equipment	915	£ 5,694,830.39
Precision Farming Equipment	284	£ 2,530,230.36
Soil Health Equipment	145	£ 1,695,552.90
Slurry Handling and Spreading Equipment	108	£ 1,410,649.63
Water Efficiency Equipment	177	£ 1,477,182.74
Efficient Feeding of Livestock Equipment	84	£ 1,178,298.11
Livestock Comfort Equipment	165	£ 1,535,480.88
Sustainable Grassland Improvement Equipment	189	£ 1,293,011.92
Livestock Feeding and Feed Handling Equipment	353	£ 1,299,048.96
Biodiversity and Habitat Enhancement	293	£ 800,281.81
Livestock Health Monitoring Equipment	76	£ 589,051.32
Crop Management - Moisture and Temperature Monitoring	114	£ 590,782.22
Environmental Management - Livestock Grazing Control	58	£ 475,468.00
Grazing Management Equipment	207	£ 405,462.87
Livestock Improved Ventilation Equipment	48	£ 320,395.37
Livestock EID Equipment	305	£ 281,858.42
Efficient Dairy Farming Equipment	19	£ 153,504.50
Livestock Standard Management and Care Equipment	113	£ 127,337.91
Energy Efficiency Equipment - Grassland Management	52	£ 107,511.18
Livestock Management Remote Monitoring Equipment - Cameras	56	£ 61,162.45
Livestock Management Remote Monitoring Equipment - Drones	23	£ 58,651.68
Energy Efficiency Equipment - Lighting	28	£ 33,790.67
Efficient Livestock Health Treatment Equipment	32	£ 26,403.00
Environment Monitoring Equipment	9	£ 16,294.98
Livestock Improved Welfare Equipment	28	£ 12,564.20
Wildlife Monitoring Equipment	3	£ 1,800.00

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-42050

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) has undertaken and (b) will undertake an analysis to determine the total (i) number of civil servant hours spent on and (ii) cost of administering the Future Farming Investment Scheme to date.

Question reference: S6W-41984

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to address the reported shortage of care workers in rural communities in the South of Scotland, and what impact it considers that this is having on hospital discharge times.

Whilst the Scottish Government is not a social care provider or employer, we work closely with partners across the sector to provide support that employers can access, that will allow them to attract and retain staff within the social care sector.

The Scottish Government funds the caretocare.scot website, which provides information and tools on careers in the adult social care sector.

The Scottish Government have also continued funding to enable all social care providers to advertise vacancies on the MyJobScotland recruitment website at no cost.

We have worked with partners to establish the Centre for Workforce Supply (CWSS), which helps to support ethical and sustainable international recruitment across the sector and have just announced the opening of a £500,000 scheme to support employers to recruit displaced international care workers into jobs in Scotland.

We do not hold any information on the extent that staff shortages affect hospital discharge times. Whist the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care support policy in Scotland, it is for local Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to ensure that social care support services are in place to provide their population with the appropriate support in the right place and at the right time.

Question reference: S6W-42015

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of frequent cancellation and reassignment of care packages on social care workforce stability, retention and continuity of carers for service users.

The Scottish Government values our dedicated, caring and professional social care workforce.

The Scottish Government has not made any assessments on the impact of any issues involving care packages on the social care workforce. Whilst the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care support policy in Scotland, it is for local Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to ensure that social care support services are in place to provide their population with the appropriate support in the right place and at the right time.

Question reference: S6W-41981

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the energy costs incurred by (a) it and (b) its public bodies in each of the past five years.

The total cost of gas and electric for Core Scottish Government buildings in the past 5 years is

2019 - £3,156,688 (Electricity £2,662,002, Gas £494,686)

2020 - £2,076,368 (Electricity £1,832,164, Gas £244,204)

2021 - £2,919,646 (Electricity £2,487,991, Gas £431,655)

2022 - £3,752,115 (Electricity £2,937,460, Gas £814,655)

2023 - £5,411,415 (Electricity £4,542,639, Gas £868,776)

2024 - £6,478,435 (Electricity £5,613,007, Gas £865,428)

Information on the energy costs for public bodies is not held centrally.

Question reference: S6W-42059

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the University of Edinburgh, in its current dispute with the University and College Union, is fulfilling its obligation under the paper, Fair Work First - Guidance, to provide "appropriate channels for effective workers' voice".

While the University of Edinburgh is an autonomous institution with responsibility for its own operational decision making, I expect constructive and meaningful engagement with UCU to seek a resolution to this dispute - in line with Fair Work principles. Central to our Fair Work approach is the expectation that employers, workers and trade unions work together to reach the right decisions and ensure that workers are treated fairly.

Implementation of Fair Work First must be the guiding criteria to promote fairer work practices for staff within the university sector, and the Scottish Government has made this clear in its most recent letter of guidance to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). The SFC continues to monitor universities’ compliance through annual reporting and accounts, and as part of their Outcomes Framework and Assurance Model, and consider any appropriate interventions to support compliance.

Question reference: S6O-05275

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it has taken to support Forth Valley College’s Alloa campus, in light of the recent reported concerns that it may be closed for financial reasons.

Question reference: S6O-05281

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, in light of reports that the NHS board is dealing with a much higher rate of flu patients compared with previous years.

Question reference: S6O-05277

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to address the reported legal aid crisis, to ensure that people in the North East Scotland region are able to access support.