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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-40081

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has spent on diversity, equality and inclusion (a) officers and (b) training in each year since 2021.

Question reference: S6W-40113

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many hours NHS staff spent on clinical trials and research as part of protected development working time in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-39912

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Sustainable Funding Project Board, and what was discussed.

Question reference: S6W-40100

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether NatureScot produced an environmental impact assessment prior to its recent decision to grant licences for the release of six beaver families at two sites in the River Beauly catchment, and, if so, whether it will provide details of this.

Question reference: S6W-39590

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients in each of the last five years have been unable to receive mechanical thrombectomy within the clinically recommended time window due to the lack of 24/7 provision.

Question reference: S6W-39554

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) agricultural, (b) forestry and (c) fishing businesses closed down in (i) 2023-24, (ii) 2024-25 and (iii) 2025-26 to date.

The preferred source for data on business closures is the annual Office for National Statistics (ONS) Business Demography series, the latest edition is available at: Business demography, UK - Office for National Statistics. Business closures are a proxy for the number of businesses closed down. Business closures are measured as businesses removed from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR), which is a database of all businesses registered for Value-Added-Tax (VAT) and/or Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) income tax. A business is removed from the IDBR if its turnover and employment are zero for several periods, or if the ONS is notified that the business has ceased trading through an administrative or survey source.

Note that the annual publication does not include data for the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector. However, business closures for the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector are included as part of the quarterly ONS Business Demography series – these data for Scotland are provided in table 1. We don’t have access to disaggregated quarterly data for the agricultural, forestry and fishing sectors separately.

It is important to note that the quarterly ONS Business Demography series is classed as official statistics in development. Official statistics in development are official statistics that are in the testing phase and are not yet fully developed, and will potentially have a wider degree of uncertainty. In particular, the last four quarters of the ONS series are provisional and are subject to future revision. Revisions can arise due to business reactivations as later information on business turnover or employment is received.

Table 1: Business Closures – Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing – Scotland

Quarter	Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
Q1 2017	185
Q2 2017	180
Q3 2017	155
Q4 2017	125
Q1 2018	180
Q2 2018	190
Q3 2018	130
Q4 2018	180
Q1 2019	140
Q2 2019	270
Q3 2019	195
Q4 2019	170
Q1 2020	200
Q2 2020	200
Q3 2020	155
Q4 2020	175
Q1 2021	170
Q2 2021	195
Q3 2021	185
Q4 2021	190
Q1 2022	235
Q2 2022	280
Q3 2022	205
Q4 2022	210
Q1 2023	230
Q2 2023	225
Q3 2023	220
Q4 2023	160
Q1 2024	185
Q2 2024	195

Q3 2024*	230
Q4 2024*	225
Q1 2025*	205
Q2 2025*	275

Source: Business Demography quarterly, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1.These are official statistics in development.

2.*Quarters Q3 2024 to Q2 2025 are provisional and are subject to future revision.

3.Data are rounded to the nearest five.

4.Q1 is January to March, Q2 is April to June, Q3 is July to September and Q4 is October to December.

Question reference: S6W-37444

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Holding Answer by Ivan McKee on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its 2014 public procurement policy note regarding illegal settlements, what action it has taken to prevent public funds being used for activities related to illegal Israeli settlements.

Question reference: S6W-39589

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients in each of the last five years were assessed as eligible for mechanical thrombectomy within the recommended six-hour treatment window but did not receive the procedure due to the unavailability of local thrombectomy services.

Question reference: S6W-39586

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many interventional neuroradiologists are currently employed by NHS Scotland, and how many are required to deliver a 24/7 thrombectomy service.

The Scottish Government is responsible for setting the strategic policy direction for NHS Scotland and its workforce, including interventional neuroradiologists.

Operational matters, including the staffing of individual services, are the responsibility of each NHS Scotland Health Board. At a local level, the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 places duties on Health Boards to ensure that suitably qualified and competent individuals are working in such numbers as are appropriate for the health, wellbeing and safety of patients, the provision of high-quality care and the wellbeing of staff.

It should be noted that the North of Scotland thrombectomy service utilises Interventional Radiologists, whereas the West and East of Scotland services utilise Interventional Neuroradiologists.

Workforce statistics across NHS Scotland, can be found at: NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence

Question reference: S6W-39572

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to studies indicating that hyperbaric oxygen therapy may have positive effects for patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and long COVID.

The Scottish Government expects that any decisions on treatment for people affected by Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) or long COVID should be informed by current clinical guidelines.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guidance exists for the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS and for managing the long-term effects of COVID-19. These comprise NICE guidelines NG:206 and NG:188 respectively. Further information on the process by which NICE guidelines are developed can be accessed at How we develop NICE guidelines | NICE