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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: S6W-34643

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average length of sentence reduction has been for prisoners released under any early release programmes 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 table below shows the average length of sentence reduction for prisoners released under either the 2020 COVID 19 Early Release Scheme or the 2024 Emergency Early Release Regulations within the last 5 years:

Year	Average sentence reduction (days)
2020	24.7
2021	NA
2022	NA
2023	NA
2024	60.3

Question reference: S6W-34477

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was of delivering the previous Scottish Prison Service Throughcare Support Service in its final year of operation.

Question reference: S6W-34332

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Christine Grahame (on behalf of the SPCB) on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will make a representation to the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth requesting that it reviews its Standing Rules and considers admitting devolved parliaments and legislative assemblies to its membership.

The Parliament seeks to engage with other legislatures, inter-parliamentary bodies and international organisations in line with the SPCB’s International Strategy. This engagement is kept under regular review, with the Parliament’s International Relations Office providing six-monthly updates to the SPCB. Invitations to any event are a matter for the organisers. The International Relations Office constantly reviews opportunities for the Parliament to develop its engagement and maintains contact with event organisers, including of the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth, and will seek involvement for the Parliament where appropriate.

Question reference: S6W-34466

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether a request to Social Security Scotland for communication via email to meet the access requirements of someone with a visual impairment is a reasonable request, and what it is doing to facilitate this.

Social Security Scotland recognises that clients have complex and varied accessibility needs for communicating with us. Clients have told us that they require a choice in how we communicate with them. For example, some clients may prefer to engage with us through paper-based communications and some clients may prefer digital communications to allow them to use assistive technology.

All of our applications can be made online, on paper, over the phone or face to face with our Local Services team. Clients can contact us to discuss their circumstances and payments by phone, face to face or via webchat. Communications are sent to clients by letter, email and SMS.

Plans are in place to expand the use of email and SMS as a communication channel as initial testing in this area has proven that this is something that clients want and need. The approach to how clients' communication preferences are captured is being carefully considered to ensure that digital communications are available to those clients who would benefit from this without excluding those for whom digital communications are not accessible.

Question reference: S6W-34486

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance has been issued to the Scottish Prison Service regarding the use of common good funds in prisons.

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

The use of common good funds (CGF) within Scottish prisons aligns with the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) and is governed via the SPS Financial Policy and Guidance Manual.

The SPS Financial Policy Guidance Manual itself details accountability, sources of income and approved areas of expenditure on the use of the CGF.

Compliance with this guidance is mandatory and only Governors in Charge (GICs) are authorised to approve expenditure, which must benefit all, or groups, of prisoners within their establishment.

Question reference: S6W-34509

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents involving illegal drugs have been reported in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each of the last five years, also broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-34437

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Assembly of Parents and Carers report, Parental Involvement Survey – Findings Report, which found that local authorities and the Scottish Government could provide more support to allow parents and guardians to be more involved in their child’s education.

The Scottish Government is committed to strengthening the involvement of parents and carers as we reform the education system, which is why we provided £60,310 of funding to the Scottish Assembly of Parents and Carers in 2024-25. We welcome the publication of this report and encourage all local authorities to meet their statutory duties to promote the involvement of parents, carers and families in their child’s learning as set out in the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006.

We continue to listen and work with stakeholders to ensure this engagement is further strengthened, which will remain a central focus of our work.

Question reference: S6W-35006

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work to produce official guidance on the welfare of farmed fish.

Question reference: S6W-34811

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider reviewing the timescales of the Community Led Local Development Programme to ensure that deadlines can be met.

Question reference: S6W-34649

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 24 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many heat pumps have been installed in Scotland to date, broken down by local authority area; how it monitors the number and location of heat pump installations, and what assessment it has made of progress towards its targets for heat pump installations.

We publish an annual report of progress against our Heat in Buildings strategy. The most recent report was published in October 2024: Heat in Buildings: progress report 2024 - gov.scot. This includes estimates for number of domestic and non-domestic properties with heat pumps, as monitored through the Scottish House Condition Survey(SHCS) and the Microgeneration Certification Scheme.

For the Local Authority analysis of the SHCS, we use a three year pooled data set. This is not available for the latest survey data due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the 2020 and 2021 SHCS.

MCS data are publicly available here: The MCS Data Dashboard - MCS.

There is currently no target for heat pump installations in Scotland. While we see heat pumps as a key solution for decarbonising Scotland’s buildings, we also see a role for heat networks and direct electric heating, as well as potentially other technologies, alongside heat pumps.