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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-39943

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on what the main causes are for the decrease in healthy life expectancy to a near 10-year low across Scotland between 2021 and 2023, according to the Public Health Scotland’s Healthy Life Expectancy 2021–2023 data.

Question reference: S6W-39942

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to address the projected increase in the prison population, which is expected to rise between 7,950 and 8,750 prisoners from July to December 2025, according to its Prison Population Projections: July 2025 report.

Question reference: S6W-39642

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 15 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it reportedly took them over one year to respond to the Independent Review of the Victim Notification Scheme.

The independent review of the VNS ran from spring 2022 to spring 2023. Its report which can be found at: Victim Notification Scheme (VNS): independent review - gov.scot, made 22 main recommendations for change, some of which contained multiple individual recommendations. The Scottish Government published its response to the review in October 2024, in which it accepted, or accepted in principle, the majority of these recommendations.

The complex multi-agency nature of the VNS was recognised in the approach that Scottish Government adopted in responding to the review. We therefore worked with the partners who administer the scheme: the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (which identifies relevant victims and send registration packs to them), the Scottish Prison Service (which registers victims and provides information), the Parole Board for Scotland (which considers victim representations), and victim support organisations, to properly inform our response found here: Victim Notification Scheme - Independent Review: SG response - gov.scot, to each recommendation.

We continue to take this partnership approach as we progress reform of the VNS, ensuring delivery of a more person-centred and trauma-informed VNS.

Question reference: S6W-39643

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 15 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Victim Notification Scheme have been implemented.

Whilst the Independent Review of the Victim Notification Scheme (VNS) made 22 main recommendations, some of these recommendations included further separate recommendations, for example, recommendation 8 involved nine separate recommendations.

In our response to the review we set out our position on each of the review’s recommendations:

Agree in principle: 14 recommendations (or parts thereof)
Agree: 18 recommendations (or parts thereof)
To note: three recommendations

In our response to the review, the Scottish Government committed to a programme of work that would bring about transformational change to the VNS. We are delivering that programme of work through legislative and non legislative routes.

We have prioritised those recommendations which required changes to primary legislation through the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill (VWJR Bill) as outlined in our letter to the Criminal Justice Committee on 4 March 2025. The Stage 2 amendments were passed by that Committee and we will lodge the amendments at Stage 3 of the Bill. Together these amendments relate to 11 of the recommendations of the review. We will only be able to take forward these recommendations if the VWJR Bill is passed by Parliament.

Question reference: S6W-39644

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 15 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which of the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Victim Notification Scheme have not yet been implemented, and for what reason.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39643 on 15 August 2025. In relation to the number of recommendations and those that we have taken forward through legislation. 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.

We highlighted in our response to the Review that along with the legislation the other priority for Scottish Government was the setting up of the Victim Contact Team (VCT) which was the key innovation from the review.

Not all the recommendations were for Scottish Government to take forward, but we are working closely with criminal justice partners and stakeholders to take forward the reform of the victim notification scheme and establish the VCT. This is so we can take a holistic view of the changes and put the victim at the heart of them.

As outlined in the review response we will produce an annual report to review progress of these key reforms, later this year.

Question reference: S6W-39873

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-39300 by Jim Fairlie on 24 July 2025, whether it will consider reviewing the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 in light of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 Post Implementation Review 2024.

Question reference: S6W-39875

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what recent engagement it has had with the tenancy deposit schemes operating in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-39872

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with local authorities regarding the implementation of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021.

Question reference: S6W-39874

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support the rights of commercial tenants.

Question reference: S6W-39546

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 7 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce a presumption of shared parenting into law.

No. It is the Scottish Government’s view that both parents should be fully involved in their child’s life, as long as this is practical and in the child’s best interests.

There is no legal presumption in favour of shared parenting in section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, which is the key legislation in relation to contact, residence and parental responsibilities and rights. When deciding whether to make an order under section 11 (e.g. a contact or residence order) the welfare of the child must be the court’s paramount consideration.

The Scottish Government has no plans to change the law to introduce a presumption of shared parenting, as this could cut across the driving principle of the legislation that the welfare of the child is paramount.

However, section 16 of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020, once in force, will require the court to consider the effect of any order under section 11 of the 1995 Act on the involvement of the child's parents in bringing the child up. We plan to make further commencement regulations later this year to bring provisions, including section 16, into force in October 2026.