Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-43331

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the evidence given by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs to the Education, Children and Young People Committee on 17 December 2025, for what reason she answered “I do not think so. No, I do not” when asked if she believed that the private call that she held with Professor Alexis Jay should be investigated by the Independent Advisers on the Ministerial Code.

Question reference: S6W-43328

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what response or feedback was provided to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs after she submitted a note of her private call with Professor Alexis Jay, in light of it subsequently being found to have breached the Ministerial Code.

Question reference: S6W-43332

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs (a) wrote-up the note of her private call with Professor Alexis Jay, and when the note was (b) submitted to her Private Office and (c) shared with (i) special advisers and (ii) other civil servants.

Question reference: S6W-43330

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how any inability to abstract water from the River Spey impacted the production of Scotch whisky in 2025, and how many litres of whisky production were lost as a result.

Question reference: S6W-43329

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the volume of whisky production that has been lost due to an inability to abstract water from the River Spey in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-42510

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any implications for health and wellbeing, what steps it can take to ensure that viewers in Scotland are not disadvantaged by any future shift from terrestrial to internet-based television delivery.

I refer the member to my response to his Parliamentary Questions S6W-42512 and S6W-42514 on 12 January 2026. As I set out, broadcasting is a reserved issue, and the Scottish Government has long said that it should be devolved, so that services can best meet the needs of audiences in Scotland.

We are clear on the importance of people being able to continue to access the high-quality broadcast TV and radio services they rely on and enjoy, and we urge the UK Government to engage with all relevant parties to ensure that remains the case into the future, and to be particularly alert to the risk of inequitable impacts on vulnerable people, including those in rural communities and from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The health & wellbeing impacts of losing access to television should be a key part of the UK Government’s considerations, and I have written to them to set out our position on this issue.

Furthermore, and as set out previously, we are committed to ensuring that everyone in Scotland has the skills, confidence, and access they need to participate fully in the digital world. The Scottish Government continues to help extend the reach of fast, reliable broadband infrastructure across Scotland through our £600M investment in the Reaching 100% (R100) programme and key role in delivering Project Gigabit in Scotland. In addition to digital inclusion programme delivery, we have commissioned and published research on a Minimum Digital Living Standard for Scotland, which will inform our future digital inclusion policy.

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.

Question reference: S6W-42511

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any implications for health and wellbeing, what (a) its position is on extending guarantees for digital terrestrial television to at least 2040 and (b) engagement it has had with the UK Government on the matter.

I refer the member to my response to his Parliamentary Questions S6W-42512 and S6W-42514 on 12 January 2026, and to my response to S6W-42510 on 20 January 2026 alongside this question. Broadcasting is a reserved issue, and the Scottish Government has long said that it should be devolved, so that services can best meet the needs of audiences in Scotland.

We are clear on the importance of people being able to continue to access the high-quality broadcast TV and radio services they rely on and enjoy, and we join the public service broadcasters and other stakeholders in urging the UK Government to ensure that the future of digital terrestrial television is considered carefully, and any future switch-off of services is managed inclusively.

I have written to the UK Government to urge them to carefully consider the impacts of the prospective Digital Terrestrial Television switch-off on vulnerable groups, including older people, those in rural communities, and those with lower household incomes. I have specifically raised the issue of potential health & wellbeing impacts, should households lose access to television services.

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.

Question reference: S6F-04578

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2026

To ask the First Minister for what reason the Scottish Government is going to court to continue to allow it to house male prisoners in the female prison estate, in light of any projections it has made of the cost to taxpayers in Scotland of challenging the Supreme Court ruling in this way.

Question reference: S6W-42512

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact on rural and island communities in Scotland of any reduction in digital terrestrial television coverage.

Broadcasting is a reserved issue, and the Scottish Government has long been clear that it should be devolved, so that services can meet the needs of Scottish audiences. We join the public service broadcasters and other stakeholders in urging the UK Government to ensure that the future of digital terrestrial television is considered carefully, and any future switch-off of services is managed inclusively, and does not unfairly impact vulnerable people, including those in rural communities and from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone in Scotland has the skills, confidence, and access they need to participate fully in the digital world. In addition to digital inclusion programme delivery, the Scottish Government has commissioned and published research on a Minimum Digital Living Standard for Scotland, which will inform our future digital inclusion policy.

Question reference: S6W-42514

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact on household costs if access to public service broadcasting were to require a broadband subscription.

As I have said in my response to Parliamentary Question S6W-42512 on 12 January 2026, broadcasting is a reserved issue, and the switch-off of television transmitters - leading to internet-only access to television services - is a matter for the UK Government. We are clear on the importance of people in Scotland being able to continue to access the high-quality broadcast TV and radio services they rely on and enjoy, and we urge the UK Government to engage with all relevant parties to ensure that remains the case into the future, and to be particularly cognisant of inequitable impacts on vulnerable people, including those in rural communities and from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

To support connectivity and digital access, the Scottish Government has invested over £600 million in our Reaching 100% (R100) programme to deliver future-proofed broadband infrastructure, particularly in many of Scotland’s most hard-to-reach communities. Through our Connecting Scotland programme, we have also provided over 61,000 devices and, since 2023, delivered more than £389,000 in grant funding for local digital inclusion projects. In October 2025, we introduced two new funds worth £1.4 million to further support digital inclusion work. We also continue to work with partners to raise awareness of affordable connectivity options.

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.

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