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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-42096

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS) South project has been designed with passive provision measures for future integration of light rail, including by ensuring that underground utilities are designed accordingly.

Question reference: S6O-05223

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will consult MSP staff trade unions before deciding on uprating the Staff Cost Provision in the 2026-27 financial year.

Question reference: S6W-41718

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the launch of the procurement process for ScotRail's new suburban train fleet on 5 November 2025, whether this will include having Scotland-based social value requirements or other incentives to deliver local manufacturing and assembly work, similar to the plan announced by the Welsh Government to have a train production facility in Newport, and how it will prioritise supply chains and job creation in Scotland as part of the tender process.

The procurement of ScotRail’s new suburban fleet will comply with the Scottish Government’s Sustainable Procurement Duty, requiring bidders to demonstrate social, environmental and economic benefits, including community benefits and reducing inequality.

While legislation does not permit mandating Scottish-based manufacturing, bidders must engage with the Scottish Rail Cluster Builder and are encouraged to maximise local supply chain opportunities.

The inclusion of a Technical Support and Spares Supply Agreement will create high-quality engineering jobs in Scotland for at least 10 years.

Question reference: S6O-05219

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its previous answer on 12 November, whether it will take the lead in establishing a common housing register in Glasgow to simplify applications and address the city's long social housing waiting lists.

Question reference: S6W-41641

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 18 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ensure that the recently launched Scottish National Building Standards Hub is equipped to provide the expertise of conservation accredited structural engineers, who are on the Conservation Accreditation Register of Engineers (CARE), to local authorities that may require such specialised advice but may not have access to it in-house, including when decisions are being made around dangerous historic buildings and the potential need for demolition works.

The Scottish Building Standards Hub (SBSH) is an independent unit hosted by Fife Council, providing support to all building standards services across Scotland in both verification and enforcement. Responsibility for decisions regarding the professional qualifications of staff lies with SBSH.

A dedicated structural engineering hub is currently being established within SBSH to enhance technical support. However, there are no current plans to incorporate conservation-accredited structural engineering expertise within this unit. Local authorities will continue to engage structural engineers with appropriate conservation experience on a case-by-case basis, ensuring that specialist input is available when required.

Question reference: S6W-41935

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will mandate public ownership of all new rolling stock for Scotland's railways, to transition away from the current reliance on private rolling stock companies.

Question reference: S6W-41405

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 17 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government of the 21 transfers of engagements of housing associations approved and actioned across Scotland since 2010, which of those involved (a) the transfer of a community-based housing association (CBHA) to a neighbouring CBHA, thereby retaining local accountability and (b) the transfer of a CBHA to a larger registered social landlord.

Question reference: S6W-41415

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 17 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will instruct Glasgow City Council and all of the city’s registered social landlords to establish a common housing register, either on a single city wide or on a district basis.

The Scottish Government supports the establishment of a Common Housing Register in Glasgow either city wide or on a district basis, where Glasgow City Council and housing associations involved are in agreement that this is the best way to manage their allocation policies.

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 provides Ministers with powers to require the establishment of common housing registers (to be exercised where appropriate). However, reflecting the role of local authorities and housing associations in determining the most effective way to manage allocations in their area, since 2001 CHRs have been developed on a voluntary basis, with 16 currently in operation.

Question reference: S6W-41840

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-41283 by Mairi McAllan on 12 November 2025, and in light of the acute nature of the housing emergency in Glasgow, what its position is on whether the Scottish Government has an active leadership role to play in facilitating a Common Housing Register in Scotland's largest city, and if it should adopt a more proactive role to broker and to incentivise registered social landlords to cooperate to create one.

Question reference: S6W-41409

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is aiming to improve the transparency and accountability of mental health spending, in light of the report by Audit Scotland Adult Mental Health, published in September 2023, which identified a lack of transparency and comprehensive data on mental health spending in Scotland, making it challenging to assess progress against national objectives, and what its response is to the report findings that (a) there is an absence of a clear system to track expenditure across all sectors, including the third sector, (b) monitoring is largely limited to psychological therapy waiting times and (c) this fragmented data landscape and complex delivery system hinder effective evaluation of how mental health budgets are being used and their overall impact.