The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S6W-44180

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 March 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the publication of the equality strategy for women and girls, which was due before the end of the current parliamentary session as committed to in the Programme for Government 2025-26, has been delayed.

Question reference: S6O-05601

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the forthcoming International Women’s Day, what action it is taking to ensure that Scotland’s economy provides women with equitable access to economic opportunity, including how it supports them to live free from poverty and financial inequality.

Question reference: S6O-05559

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment the finance secretary has made of the impact of lengthy national budget consultation processes on the financial sustainability of third sector organisations in north east Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-43615

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported concerns regarding a greater need for agility and clear information, whether it will support SCOTS (Scottish Collaboration of Transportation Specialists) and others to develop a database of equipment, including vehicles and other kit, that can be mobilised to support local responses to severe weather events.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of effective coordination, clear information and agility in responding to severe weather. We work closely with local authorities, SCOTS and resilience partners to strengthen preparedness and support local decision-making.

Mutual aid arrangements already enable partners to share equipment and expertise when required and are kept under review within our wider resilience framework. While understanding available assets can be beneficial, any proposal for a national equipment database would require careful consideration of scope, governance, cost and alignment with existing systems and responsibilities.

Transport Scotland engages extensively with winter service partners at local, national, and international levels and works closely with contractors and Scottish Government colleagues to plan and respond to network disruption. Through Multi-Agency Response Team (MART) arrangements with partners including the Met Office, Police Scotland and SCOTS, transport agencies coordinate operations, communications and recovery efforts to minimise disruption and support effective local and national responses during severe weather events.

Question reference: S6F-04691

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2026

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on the development of a Just Transition plan for the north east of Scotland, including how communities and workers have been engaged.

Question reference: S6W-43450

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of recent media reporting, including in The Herald, The Times and The Guardian, regarding the involvement of Scotland-based shipping companies in the transport of liquefied natural gas from Russia, including reports regarding Seapeak, and what assessment it has made of any potential reputational, economic or security implications for Scotland.

Since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict the Scottish Government has urged businesses in Scotland to, where possible, cut ties with Russia. We fully support the UK Government’s sanctions regime against Russia and apply additional discretionary economic measures, whereby the Scottish Government and its economic agencies will not support trade and investment activity with Russia.

The case of Seapeak, and their role in transporting Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) to European countries, was previously raised in the Scottish Parliament on 4 September 2024 by Patrick Harvie MSP (S6O-03656).

Importing LNG into the UK is prohibited by the UK’s Russian sanctions regime, however, equivalent sanctions are not yet in place in the EU.

Sanctions are a reserved matter over which the Scottish Government has no control we are therefore limited in the action we can directly take. However in September 2024, I wrote to the then UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and raised the case of Seapeak and also encouraged the UK Government to take all possible action to ensure the effectiveness of the UK’s sanctions regime in exerting pressure on the Russian regime.

My position on Russia has been clear since its invasion of Ukraine and I have urged businesses in Scotland to, where possible, cut ties with Russia. Beyond consideration of potential reputational, economic or security implications, the Scottish Government has made clear that it stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian government and its people and resolutely condemns Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine.

I therefore welcome recent developments in the EU and UK sanctions regimes against Russia, with the EU sanctions banning the import of Russian LNG from January 2027 and the UK Government’s intention to ban maritime services on Russian LNG, to be phased in over 2026.

As outlined in my response to your PQ S6W-43449 on 10 February 2026, I plan to write to the UK Government regarding these developments in due course.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

All answers to Oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament

Question reference: S6W-43449

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed any potential reputational, economic or security risks associated with Scotland-based companies being involved in the transport of Russian liquefied natural gas following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including vessels operated or managed by Seapeak, and, in light of any potential impact on Scotland's economy, what engagement it has had with the UK Government on the enforcement of sanctions and services prohibitions relating to Russia’s energy sector.

Since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict the Scottish Government has urged businesses in Scotland to, where possible, cut ties with Russia. We fully support the UK Government’s sanctions regime against Russia and apply additional discretionary economic measures, whereby the Scottish Government and its economic agencies will not support trade and investment activity with Russia.

The case of Seapeak, and their role in transporting Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) to European countries, was previously raised in the Scottish Parliament on 4 September 2024 by Patrick Harvie MSP (S6O-03656).

That same month I raised the case of Seapeak in a letter to the then UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and encouraged the UK Government to take all possible action to ensure the effectiveness of the UK’s sanctions regime in exerting pressure on the Russian regime.

All Enterprise Agencies – Scottish Enterprise, Highland and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise – also confirmed at that time that they did not have a relationship with Seapeak, and have recently reconfirmed that they continue to have no ongoing relationship with Seapeak.

I understand that the EU has since adopted, on 23 October 2025, further sanctions including a ban on Russian LNG imports, applying to long-term contracts from January 2027, with earlier termination of short-term contracts. The UK, on 12 November 2025, announced its intention to introduce a maritime services ban on Russian LNG, to be phased in over 2026 in coordination with the EU.

This should affect what is permissible for UK companies to do in regards to Russian LNG, and I will be writing to the UK Government to ask for further clarity on this in due course.

All answers to Oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament

Question reference: S6W-43343

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether the review of the legislative landscape of Scotland's care system, which is being led by Professor Kenneth Norrie, will explicitly include unaccompanied asylum seeking children and young people, including whether it will consider the specific legal and immigration related processes that affect their care, protection and long-term outcomes.

The Independent Review of Scotland’s Legislative Framework for Children’s Care will undertake a comprehensive, independent review of Scotland’s legislative framework affecting children, young people, families and the children’s care system, and to provide Scottish Ministers with clear, evidence-based and practical recommendations with the aim of simplifying legislation for practitioners and those working with, and supporting, children and families.

The remit will be finalised in the coming weeks however it is expected to take account of:

• challenges around access to justice and effective participation;

• the need for clarity about rights, responsibilities and routes to help;

• evidence of tensions, contradictions or misalignment across statutes and policy frameworks; and

• the benefits for children’s rights of re-enacting specific provisions relating to the care system in Scotland that are currently contained in UK Acts.

Immigration legislation and policy is a reserved matter, and won’t specifically fall within the scope of the review. However unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are entitled to support within the care system, and the review will consider relevant Scottish legislation such as the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 - which applies in relation to the care, protection and support of children and young people in Scotland, including unaccompanied asylum seeking children and young people.

Question reference: S6O-05472

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring that the local authorities involved with the RAAC Housing Leadership Group are engaging appropriately and are including residents and RAAC campaigners in their activities.

Question reference: S6W-43203

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 28 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how the Ending Homelessness Together Fund will be monitored to ensure that it delivers systemic change, including targeted resourcing to lay any essential groundwork for the "ask and act" duties with non-housing services.

The largest part of the ending homelessness together fund goes to local authorities to support the transition to rapid rehousing, including the roll out of housing first. The Scottish Government carries out monitoring to understand from local authorities how that investment is helping them to prioritise settled housing and reduce the use of temporary accommodation. We report to parliament annually on progress against actions in our homelessness strategy – most recently in December 2025 - and this captures the impact of our continued investment in prevention, rapid rehousing and housing first and other initiatives.

The Scottish Government is committed to full and successful implementation of the new homelessness prevention duties. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 includes a provision that Part 5 (homelessness prevention, including ask and act) should be commenced no later than three years from Royal Assent (given November 2025). However, we are clear that relevant bodies named in the Act do not have to wait for the duties to come into force to adopt the ask and act approach.

We provided targeted funding of £4 million this financial year for 15 homelessness prevention pilots, which will run until December 2026. Learning from the pilots will help inform the development of guidance and secondary legislation on ask and act and support smooth implementation of the new duties.

A further £4 million is included in the 2026-27 homelessness budget and we are working with stakeholders to identify the most effective use of this funding.

Seòmar agus comataidhean

Questions and answers

Criathragan Hide all filters

Question reference: S6W-44180

Answer

Question reference: S6O-05601

Answer

Question reference: S6O-05559

Answer

Question reference: S6W-43615

Answer

Question reference: S6F-04691

Answer

Question reference: S6W-43450

Answer

Question reference: S6W-43449

Answer

Question reference: S6W-43343

Answer

Question reference: S6O-05472

Answer

Question reference: S6W-43203

Answer