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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-39866

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 28 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will (a) provide an update on the implementation of the provisions of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 and (b) set out all provisions that have yet to be implemented, including the reasons why they have not been implemented to date.

I refer the member to the recent meetings of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on unimplemented legislation, including the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (the 2020 Act), where updates on implementation of the Act were discussed – on 10 December 2024 [see Official Report columns 11 to 15] and 24 June 2025 [see Official Report columns 10 to 14].

The Scottish Government letter to the Committee on 11 March 2025 sets out the position on commencement and implementation of key provisions of the 2020 Act: Letter from the Minister for Victims and Community Safety.

Since that letter we have made a further set of commencement regulations: The Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (Commencement No. 3 and Saving Provision) Regulations 2025 relating to section 1(2), on the views of the child being considered when parents are making major decisions; and section 30(1), (3), (4), (5), (6) and (7), on delay in children’s hearings and adoption and permanence proceedings.

A number of other provisions are already in force or have already been commenced for certain purposes:

?The Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (Commencement No. 1 and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2020

?The Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (Commencement No. 2) Regulations 2021

We plan to make a further set of commencement regulations in October 2025 of provisions set out in the letter to Committee. This commitment was made at the meeting of the Committee on unimplemented legislation on 24 June 2025.

Sections 4, 5, 7 and 8 of the 2020 Act are considerably amended by provisions in Part 3 of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform Bill, therefore commencement of those sections will follow enactment of the Bill. In addition, since we intend to regulate child contact services using powers in the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, we won’t commence further provisions in section 10 of the 2020 Act at this time.

Question reference: S6W-39867

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 28 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether section 30(1) and (3) to (7) of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 came into force on 22 June 2025.

Question reference: S6O-04876

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what role the finance secretary has in authorising any continued expenditure of public bodies that incur substantial legal costs, including those covered by the Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnity Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-39564

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided towards the construction of cycle lanes in each of the last five years.

We have recently published an Active Travel Infrastructure Investment Report for 2023-24, which reports on Transport Scotland’s active travel capital investment in infrastructure.

The active travel budget does not allocate funding to specific infrastructure types, rather is available for the delivery of all active travel infrastructure projects. The individual project expenditure information we hold from delivery partners does not always disaggregate or identify distinct infrastructure types such as cycle lanes. However, the active travel infrastructure investment in each of the last five years is presented in the following table:

Year	Investment
2020-21	£85,821,798
2021-22	£92,928,802
2022-23	£122,343,823
2023-24	£150,548,994
2024-25	£119,549,631

In 2025-26 we will invest over £188 million to support high quality active travel and bus infrastructure, sustainable travel integration, and behaviour change activity to promote walking, wheeling and cycling for everyday shorter journeys. This investment has and will continue to transform communities, enabling more people to walk and cycle, helping to improve their health and wellbeing.

Question reference: S6W-39565

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many train stations operated by ScotRail in Scotland are not step-free, and what action it is taking to ensure better accessibility to all train stations.

Question reference: S6W-39557

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 20 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, as part of its work to further the case for Scottish independence, what its policy is on whether an independent Scotland would seek to join NATO.

Question reference: S6W-39559

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 20 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, as part of its work to further the case for Scottish independence, what its policy is on who would represent an independent Scotland in any participation at a G20 summit.

Question reference: S6W-39556

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 20 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, as part of its work to further the case for Scottish independence, what its policy is on whether an independent Scotland would (a) take a share of UK debt in exchange for assets or (b) adopt a position of no shared assets, no shared debt.

Question reference: S6W-39558

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 20 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, as part of its work to further the case for Scottish independence, what its policy is on whether an independent Scotland would seek to join the Nuclear Energy Agency.

Question reference: S6W-39566

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 19 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, as part of the £2 million made available in its 2025-26 Budget to progress free bus travel for people seeking asylum, how many asylum seekers have accessed free bus travel through this funding to date, and what assessment it has carried out on any potential benefits of this scheme.

The 2025-26 Scottish Budget, which was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 25 February, has funding allocated to provide free bus travel for people seeking asylum. My officials have reconvened the Working Group with Third Sector representatives and other interested parties to work through delivery options for a pilot scheme this financial year.

The pilot will provide free bus travel for those people seeking asylum who are not eligible for the existing statutory free bus travel schemes. It is anticipated that the pilot will commence in the Autumn. Delivery of the pilot will be monitored and an evaluation carried out to determine demand, costs and potential benefits of free bus travel to people seeking asylum in Scotland.

People seeking asylum in Scotland who are aged under 22, aged 60 or over or have an eligible disability are already entitled to concessionary travel through the existing National Concessionary Travel schemes.