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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-41962

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason solar thermal installations do not currently receive the same level of grant support as solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Question reference: S6W-41965

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the revised Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) methodology will recognise the contribution of solar thermal installations to energy efficiency.

Question reference: S6W-41961

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to any future policy changes that would ensure that solar thermal installations are treated comparably to other clean heating solutions, both for the purposes of grant support schemes and EPC assessments.

Question reference: S6W-41435

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 18 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what ministerial meetings have been held with (a) local authorities, (b) representatives of the agricultural sector, including farmers and (c) regulatory bodies, including the (i) Health and Safety Executive and (ii) Gangmasters Labour Abuse Authority, regarding caravan and mobile accommodation for seasonal workers.

Question reference: S6W-41656

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 18 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it has considered climate adaptation in the development of the Rural Support Plan.

Question reference: S6W-41655

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 18 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the Rural Support Plan will provide clarity on support available to farmers and crofters to transition to sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

The Rural Support Plan will launch the new four-tier framework and in the first instance will map legacy CAP support and existing support into it to provide an overview of the available support.

It will set out, through the Agricultural Reform Programme (ARP) Strategic Outcomes Framework, how this support will contribute to tier outcomes and how these will deliver to ARC Act objectives and to the Vision for Scottish Agriculture.

The transition to sustainable and regenerative agriculture commenced with the changes introduced in 2025 with the start of the Whole Farm Plan, new protections for peatlands and wetlands and a new calving interval requirement for the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme.

We intend to build on these foundations with proposed changes in 2026 to Enhanced Greening Ecological Focus Areas (EFA). These proposals have been co-developed aligned to just transition and will require an additional 2,300 businesses to undertake EFA who did not previously have to do so, with a resulting increase of EFA area by 6,000 ha. The increase to 7% EFA area in 2027 will add a further approximately 14,000 ha of managed area.

The draft Climate Change Plan sets out the policies and proposals the Scottish Government will take forward to enable our carbon budgets to be met between 2026-2040. This will be broadly reflected in the Rural Support Plan, noting that the draft Climate Change Plan will be finalised following a public consultation and Scottish Parliamentary scrutiny. Any changes to the Rural Support Plan to reflect the final Climate Change Plan, will be taken on-board during the development of the next Rural Support Plan

Section 2(3) of the ARC Act sets out matters the Scottish Ministers may consider when describing the support provided under the plan. In the first instance information will be provided to reflect the support that is currently available (e.g. organics options within AECS) and the section will inform the co-development of any further changes to existing support, or the introduction of new support, and this will be reflected in Rural Support Plan amendments.

Question reference: S6W-41434

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 18 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the scoping review of caravan and mobile accommodation for seasonal workers, and by what date its findings will be made public.

As part of the scoping exercise, officials reviewed existing evidence on: accommodation conditions; results of engagement with farm employers, local authorities, Scotland’s Rural College, the Workers Support Centre and the National Farmers Union of Scotland, and; the evidence gathered on the main issues. Officials also invited Richard Leonard’s office to feed into this work.

An update on timings for introducing these standards will be offered in due course.

Question reference: S6W-41657

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 18 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Rural Support Plan will explicitly address the topics included under Section 2(3) of the Agriculture and Rural Communities Act.

Question reference: S6W-41959

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration has been given to funding schemes for battery backup units or alternative technologies for households in areas prone to long power cuts, in light of the planned switch-off of the Public Switched Telephone Network in January 2027.

Question reference: S6W-41957

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the planned switch-off of the Public Switched Telephone Network on rural and island communities, particularly those with poor mobile coverage and frequent power cuts.