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Seòmar agus comataidhean

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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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 4 May 2021
  6. Current session: 13 May 2021 to 13 March 2026
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Displaying 2894 questions Show Answers

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Question reference: S6W-44467

  • Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the content of the application by Offshore Solutions Group (OSG) for an exemption from undertaking a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for its proposed Moray FLOW-park development, whether OSG has disclosed in its application the presence of a war grave within the proposed development location, and, if not, what action the Scottish Government will take in light of this. 

Question reference: S6W-44466

  • Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the requirements that apply when an application for a proposed marine development is located within an area containing a war grave, whether it will provide information on (a) what action an applicant is required to take in relation to such matters, (b) whether any applicant who is aware that there is a war grave within the proposed development area has a duty to disclose this, and, if so, to whom, (c) what penalty or sanction applies should an applicant fail to make such a disclosure and (d) whether such an application would be automatically rejected on the grounds of misrepresentation and failure to disclose.

Question reference: S6W-44226

  • Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any implications for its energy policy, what its response is to reported concerns that an electricity grid in Scotland supplied solely by renewable sources of generation cannot provide synchronisation, grid stability and sufficient protection against the risk of brownouts and blackouts, and what its position is on how any reliance on renewable sources of electricity can maintain supplies, particularly during periods in winter when there can be little wind or solar power produced for several days.

Question reference: S6W-44225

  • Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any implications for its energy policy, and in light of military conflicts and global instability impacting supplies of oil and gas, what its position is on whether there should be improved support for gas-fired power stations, including Peterhead Power Station, which is the last remaining one in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-44230

  • Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what increase in capacity of pumped storage hydropower in Scotland it estimates there will be in each of the next five years.

Question reference: S6W-44229

  • Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any implications for its energy policy, what its position is on what proportion of electricity supplied to Scotland should come from renewable sources, and, with such a proportion of renewable energy supply, whether back-up generation from gas-fired power stations would be required to prevent the risk of blackouts.

Question reference: S6W-44396

  • Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that Inverness Women's Aid may be making active preparations to close its services, both refuge and outreach by 2027, whether the Scottish Government will take any action to intervene in order to help broker a solution, which avoids that closure. 

Question reference: S6W-44228

  • Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any implications for its energy policy, what its response is to reports that, on 8 January 2025, the National Grid's margin of surplus power over actual demand dropped to 580 megawatts, or just over 1% of peak demand, which was below safety requirements; what level of safety requirements it considers is sufficient to protect the public and businesses in Scotland against brownouts and blackouts; what its position is on the necessity of further investment in (a) increased gas storage and (b) new generating capacity from gas-fired power stations to provide back-up capacity to protect against brownouts and blackouts, and what discussions it has had with the (i) National Energy System Operator and (ii) UK Government regarding the role of non-renewable back-up generation in providing stability to the energy grid.

Question reference: S6W-44231

  • Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any plans it has for an updated energy policy, when it first announced that it would publish an updated policy; what date or approximate date for when the policy would be made public was stated in the announcement, and what the current date is for when it plans to publish any updated policy.

Question reference: S6W-44224

  • Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any implications for its energy policy, whether it has considered the adequacy of gas storage facilities in Scotland and the rest of Great Britain, and, if so, what action it has taken on this matter since 2021.