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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-43328

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance 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-43331

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance 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.

As I explained at the Education, Children and Young People Committee on 17 December 2025, an official was not present on the call as I felt it was important to make a personal apology to Alexis Jay. Although I took a note of that discussion, the Independent Advisers acknowledged that that was an “error of judgement”, and Ministers have unreservedly accepted their conclusion that an official should have been present.

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: Answered by Angela Constance 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-43448

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 9 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many requests for review have been made by applicants to the Future Farming Investment Scheme whose application was rejected, and how many of these have been responded to.

Question reference: S6W-43447

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 9 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many requests for review have been made by applicants to the Future Farming Investment Scheme whose application was deemed ineligible, and how many of these have been responded to.

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: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 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: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 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: S6O-05505

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether the First Minister and the rest of the Cabinet are ashamed that the written case for Scottish Ministers and the Lord Advocate in the judicial review of the SPS Policy for the management of Transgender People in Custody, did not include a single mention of women’s rights.

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.