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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-42627

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported comments in The Scotsman on 16 December 2025 from the Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Tourism Alliance, UKHospitality Scotland, ukactive and the UK Cinema Association that, if Scotland does not follow England and introduce a permanent business rate discount for all retail, hospitality and leisure premises, it “would likely shift investment to other parts of the UK”.

Question reference: S6W-42634

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to mitigate any risk of disruption to projects funded by the Climate Justice Fund if current contracts conclude in March 2026 without further or replacement funding in place.

Question reference: S6W-42636

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how the proposals outlined in the National Speed Management Review to increase the speed limits on dual carriageways for HGVs could impact on caravan users on dual carriageways.

Question reference: S6W-41983

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what funding The City of Edinburgh Council is receiving to address pothole repairs, and how this compares with investment levels in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-42632

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to continue funding the Climate Just Communities programme beyond March 2026, and when it expects to make a decision on any future support.

Question reference: S6W-42609

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of active travel investment on reducing road accidents involving cyclists in Lanarkshire.

Question reference: S6W-42344

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to prevent the normalisation of corridor care within NHS Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-42326

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to help ensure a more even national distribution of asylum seekers and refugees across local authority areas.

Asylum is the process by which someone applies to the UK Government to have their refugee status recognised. Asylum is reserved to the UK Government, this includes the provision of asylum accommodation and support to those who would otherwise be destitute while waiting for a decision on their asylum application.

The Scottish Government supports widening of asylum dispersal in principle and expects the UK Government to effectively engage with local authorities and COSLA on operational planning.

The Home Office must work constructively with local authorities in Scotland to ensure any asylum dispersal plans developed do not adversely impact services and enable people seeking asylum to be supported within communities.

The Scottish Government has repeatedly raised the impact of reserved decisions on local authorities and services, particularly increased asylum decision making without provision of resources or adequate planning and urge the UK Government to avoid placing a greater strain on councils, especially in Glasgow where the situation is already unsustainable.

Question reference: S6W-42346

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland findings regarding gaps in sewage pollution regulation and enforcement.

We have a robust framework in place, through the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018, for the regulation of wastewater activities.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is Scotland’s independent environment regulator. SEPA requires Scottish Water to comply with authorisation conditions in carrying out its activities. If non-compliance is identified, Scottish Water is required to resolve this as soon as possible. Where significant investment is required to enable a return to compliance, this must be delivered through inclusion in the investment planning process.

Where necessary, SEPA takes enforcement action in accordance with its published enforcement policy. Since 2024, SEPA has taken formal enforcement action in relation to the operation of wastewater treatment works, using a range of enforcement tools including warning letters, enforcement notices and a Variable Monetary Penalty.

SEPA has also required Scottish Water to install Event Duration Monitors on 1000 combined sewer overflows as part of the Improving Urban Waters Route map, and this target was achieved by Scottish Water in December 2024. In addition, SEPA identified 108 high-priority Unsatisfactory Intermittent Discharges (UIDs) for upgrade in the current investment period (SR21). SEPA will be working with Scottish Water to prioritise future investment needs to tackle further UIDs to ensure the discharges with the greatest impact are dealt with first.

Question reference: S6W-42348

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted of the impact of SEPA not publishing Controlled Activities Regulations (CAR) licence compliance data since 2019.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken an analysis of the impact of the SEPA not publishing Controlled Activities Regulations (CAR) licence compliance data since 2019. However, there is no evidence of any significant increase in non-compliance with respect to CAR authorisations in recent years.

SEPA historically published annual compliance data under its Compliance Assessment Scheme (CAS), which rated licences under CAR and other regimes. This publication stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic but SEPA has continued to check compliance and tackle non-compliance where necessary, and some authorisation information is available on request.

SEPA has consulted on a new Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme (EPAS) for reporting on performance against regulatory requirements. Reporting under EPAS is expected to start during 2027. More information is available on SEPA’s website at Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme | Beta | SEPA | Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

In parallel, SEPA transitioned from CAR licencing to Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 on 1 November 2025. This will create a more streamlined and integrated system for environmental authorisations in Scotland by bringing together the processes for authorising, enforcing and managing activities that may impact the environment.