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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.

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Question reference: S6W-39799

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 27 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a full list of the incentives offered in each of its designated Enterprise Areas, also broken down by the statutory basis of each incentive.

Information on the incentives available in Enterprise Areas have been published on the following Scottish Government webpage: https://www.gov.scot/policies/supporting-business/enterprise-areas/

As noted, Enterprise Areas (EAs) have access to a package of financial and non-financial incentives:

Financial Incentives

Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) relief - the main devolved incentive, as set by The Non-Domestic Rates (Enterprise Areas) (Scotland) Regulations 2016. Further information on EAs NDR Relief can be accessed here: https://www.mygov.scot/non-domestic-rates-relief/enterprise-areas-relief

Full Expensing Capital Allowances, available from April 2023 until the end of March 2026. Companies can claim 100% capital allowances on qualifying plant and machinery investments. The Full Expensing Capital Allowances are within the remit of the UK Government and information on their statutory basis should be addressed to UK Ministers.

Non-Financial Incentives

streamlined planning process,
high-speed broadband,
sector specific international promotion and marketing from Scottish Development International , and
skills and training support from Skills Development Scotland.

The majority of non-financial incentives have been mainstreamed into generally available support for businesses by both the Scottish Government, and our enterprise and skills agencies and are therefore no longer exclusive to Enterprise Areas. A non-statutory planning protocol, committing all relevant partners to work together to facilitate the planning process in designated Enterprise Areas, remains in place.

There have been developments in the broader policy landscape of targeted support for economic growth alongside EAs. In 2022, the Scottish Government agreed with the UK Government to establish two Green Freeports in Scotland. Geographically focused, the Green Freeports incentives package also includes provision of NDR relief in Green Freeport tax sites, as part of a wider package of devolved and reserved incentives. This is aimed at supporting cluster building and attracting inward investment across the geographically defined tax sites within the Green Freeports’ outer boundary. A similar approach to the Enterprise Areas planning protocol was taken in developing a planning protocol for the Green Freeports.

Like EAs, both Green Freeports have a strong focus on renewable energy and there is also some geographical overlap between the EAs and the Green Freeport tax sites at Inverness, Nigg and Leith.

In addition, we have also agreed with the UK Government to establish two Investment Zones in Glasgow City Region and the North East, also comprising designated areas of land in which a package of devolved and reserved tax reliefs and spending will be available. The Scottish Investment Zones will use these incentives to support the development of clusters and drive innovation in advanced manufacturing, green energy and digital technologies.

Question reference: S6W-39482

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 7 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether firms liable for the higher property rate in Scotland are better placed to pay higher non-domestic rates than their counterparts in England in similar sized premises.

Non-domestic rates are a property-based tax charged on the private, public or third sectors, with the tax liability based on the rateable value of a property. The Higher Property Rate applies to all properties with a rateable value above £100,000.

The Scottish Budget maintains a competitive rates regime, ensuring that over 95% of properties are liable for a lower property tax than anywhere else in the UK, and supporting business and communities with a competitive non-domestic rates relief package worth an estimated £733 million in 2025-26.

We are committed to ensuring the non-domestic rates system supports business growth, investment and competitiveness, whilst acknowledging the important role non-domestic rates income plays in funding public services.

Decisions on non-domestic rates are taken annually as part of the Budget in line with prevailing economic conditions and Government priorities.

Question reference: S6W-39480

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 7 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of the Scottish Retail Consortium’s reported statement that retailers in Scotland have paid an additional £93 million in non-domestic rates over the last decade, compared with their England-based counterparts, as a result of the higher property rate being above the non-domestic rates levied in England.

While shops, and other rateable non-domestic properties, will have been liable for a higher property tax under the combined poundage plus Large Business Supplement (up to 31 March 2020) or Higher Property Rate (from 1 April 2020 onwards) over the last decade, the Scottish Government continues to offer a competitive non-domestic rates regime and the 2025-26 Budget delivered the lowest Basic Property Rate in the UK for the seventh year in a row.

Over 95% of shops in Scotland are liable for the Basic or Intermediate Property Rates, and this is estimated to have saved them £11.5m over the same timeframe compared with what they would have been liable for under English rates (note that this is a gross estimate and has not been adjusted for any reliefs).

In addition, the Small Business Bonus Scheme remains the most generous scheme of its kind in the UK. The retail sector continues to be one of the main beneficiaries of the scheme, with shops claiming relief worth £84m in 2024-25 alone.

The figures above have been calculated using property class. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property and does not necessarily accurately reflect the actual use of a property.

Question reference: S6W-39481

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 7 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has reportedly not brought the higher property rate for non-domestic rates in line with that in England, in light of the Barclay Review recommending that it did so by April 2020.

The Scottish Government committed, in the Framework for Tax 2021, to reducing the combined poundage rate for the largest properties to match the equivalent rate in England over the course of the Parliament.

Since the independent Barclay Review of Non-Domestic Rates made this recommendation, we have made demonstrable progress on that recommendation through the introduction of the Intermediate Property Rate since 1 April 2020; and on 1 April 2023, we increased the rateable value threshold at which the Higher Property Rate applies from £95,000 to £100,000. In combination this ensures that over 95% of properties are liable for a lower property rate than anywhere else in the UK.

Tax policy decisions are made annually at budget in line with prevailing economic decisions and Government priorities.

Question reference: S6W-39301

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021.

Question reference: S6W-39300

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021.

Question reference: S6O-04814

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the health secretary has had with ministerial colleagues and NHS Lothian regarding the provision of education and tutoring for sick children at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh and other NHS facilities and services.

Question reference: S6O-04758

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the scale of online bullying in schools.

Question reference: S6W-37543

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on redeveloping the Stranraer waterfront in the current parliamentary session to date, and how much it estimates it will have spent in total by the end of the current parliamentary session.

There has been no investment specifically related to Stranraer waterfront in the current Parliamentary term through Regeneration programmes.

Regeneration has supported a number of projects in Stranraer, including funding for Stranraer Development Trust, within the current parliamentary term.

Following the development of the Stranraer community’s Local Place Plan, the regeneration funding announced in the Scottish Budget will support the delivery of regeneration of the town centre with funding of up to £710k.

Question reference: S6W-37536

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much capital funding it has committed to the building of a new Monklands Hospital.

The outline business case estimated costs at £1.3 billion. Design and expected costs will be confirmed as part of the Full Business Case (FBC) submission which is expected in late 2025- early 2026. The 2025-26 budget provides funding to support development of the FBC. Funding for construction is not allocated until the business case process is complete; this ensures appropriate due diligence of major capital projects.