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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-39676

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average cost per unit has been to deliver an affordable home in each year since 2007, and what assessment it has made of how many additional homes could have been delivered if a greater share of investment had taken place during years when construction costs were lower.

We publish information on Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) average cost per unit in our annual out-turn reports, available here: Affordable Housing Supply Programme - More homes - gov.scot. The following table show the average cost per unit to deliver an affordable home in each year since 2007.

Financial Year	Average Cost per Home	Average AHSP Scottish Government Funding per Home
2007-2008	£127,131	£76,507
2008-2009	£126,972	£70,814
2009-2010	£120,511	£63,963
2010-2011	£112,003	£57,013
2011-2012	£117,678	£44,411
2012-2013	£95,426	£37,691
2013-2014	£109,445	£45,661
2014-2015	£114,890	£50,559
2015-2016	£115,697	£52,352
2016-2017	£126,250	£61,058
2017-2018	£137,100	£61,032
2018-2019	£143,839	£65,645
2019-2020	£152,646	£71,630
2020-2021	£158,262	£85,553
2021-2022	£168,121	£75,454
2022-2023	£187,341	£90,429

Local authorities have responsibility for setting out the investment priorities supported through the AHSP, ensuring the delivery of the right homes in the right places. In support of these priorities the AHSP has been increased, with the budget for 2025-2026 now £768 million.

Since 2007 we have delivered more than 139,000 affordable homes, with 99,000 of those being for social rent. We continue to work closely with partners to utilise our investment to help maximise the pace of delivery of affordable homes.

Question reference: S6W-39675

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the total underspend has been in its housing capital budgets since 2007, and what assessment it has made of how any underspend has affected affordable home delivery.

Since 2008-09 we have published information on Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget and actual spend in our annual out-turn reports, available here: Affordable Housing Supply Programme - More homes - gov.scot. Reasons for variance in spend against budget can include lower activity in some demand-led programmes, project delays or, as seen from 2020-21 onwards, the impact of COVID and related construction supplies and workforce issues. We continue to work closely with partners to utilise our investment to help maximise the pace of delivery of affordable homes.

In 2007-08 Communities Scotland, an executive agency of the Scottish Government was responsible for housing throughout Scotland. Communities Scotland was disbanded on 1 April 2008, when most of its responsibilities transferred to the Scottish Government.

Financial Year	Budget (£ million)	Outturn (£ million)
2008-2009	493.000	529.711
2009-2010	644.006	673.030
2010-2011	471.000	516.263
2011-2012	342.000	352.471
2012-2013	214.828	317.960
2013-2014	315.164	300.425
2014-2015	358.800	358.885
2015-2016	461.050	386.741
2016-2017	550.779	505.666
2017-2018	590.589	592.306
2018-2019	752.145	745.188
2019-2020	827.100	839.939
2020-2021	843.245	754.497
2021-2022	831.615	671.355
2022-2023	831.395	748.675
2023-2024	751.945	707.777

The 2024-25 Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts are currently being finalised and are due to be published later this year.

Question reference: S6W-39615

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are currently in apprenticeships in the digital and engineering and manufacturing subject areas and how many new newly qualified apprentices have entered the workforce in each of the past five years.

Data on the latest number of individuals currently undertaking modern apprenticeships in the digital, engineering, and manufacturing subject areas was published by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) on 5 August 2025.

Data on the number of modern apprentices in training by occupational grouping is available in table 3.3 of the 'Modern Apprenticeships in Quarter 1 Supplementary Tables' accessible via the SDS website modern-apprenticeship-supplementary-tables-quarter-1-2025-26.xlsx

It is important to note that newly qualified apprentices do not enter the workforce upon completion of their apprenticeship, as they are already in the workplace and employed throughout the duration of their training. Holding a job is a prerequisite for undertaking an apprenticeship.

SDS holds operational responsibility for all matters relating to apprenticeships. As such, it is responsible for this data and can provide further breakdowns if required.

Question reference: S6W-39708

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 04 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much financial support it has provided to local authorities specifically to maintain or enhance rural bus services since 2019, broken down by local authority.

In 2025-26 the Scottish Government provided record funding of over £15.1 billion to local authorities, a real terms increase of 5.5%. It is, however, the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available, including on support for bus services, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled its statutory obligations. Ultimately, it is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their local communities.

Further information on the local government finance settlements, including allocations for each local authority is published annually on the Scottish Government website. The settlement for 2025-26 can be found at the following link - https://www.gov.scot/publications/local-government-finance-circular-10-2024-settlement-for-2025-to-2026/

The amount of funding local authorities provided for bus in Scotland is detailed in our annually published statistics that can be found at the following link - https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/ea2pp3vv/sts-chapter-02-bus-and-coach-travel-reference-tables-accessible.xls. Table 2.9 provides details of funding to Local Authority bus support, concessionary fares, Network Support Grant from 2004-05 onwards. We do not hold the level of detail required to break this down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-39707

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 04 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many rural bus routes have been reduced or withdrawn in each year since 2010, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-39553

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) paramedics are currently working in Scotland, (b) newly qualified paramedics entered the NHS in each of the last five years and (c) individuals are currently in training to become paramedics.

Number of paramedics currently working in Scotland:

2,156.6 WTE

Number of Newly Qualified Paramedics who entered the NHS (in Scotland) in each of the last five years:

2020-21 = 24

2021-22 = 58

2022-23 = 47

2023-24 = 179

2024-25 = 181

You should note that the Scottish Ambulance Service received the first applications from Newly Qualified Paramedics with Scottish qualifications in April 2023. The numbers above include NQP applicants from across the UK.

Individuals are currently in training to become paramedics:

985

Question reference: S6W-39551

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that businesses, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, are equipped and supported to implement artificial intelligence into their work.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting businesses, including SMEs, to harness the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI). As part of the Programme for Government, we have committed to launching AI Scotland, our national transformation programme, which is founded on a strong partnership between business, academia, public agencies, and government. This programme is designed to accelerate AI adoption across sectors and ensure access to AI tools and expertise.

To support SMEs specifically we are also delivering on:

The AI Playbook, which is being delivered by the AI Alliance and has been updated to better serve business audiences, offering a one-stop-shop for practical guidance, case studies, and resources tailored to the needs of SMEs.
The Scottish AI Alliance has hosted a series of workshops with SMEs to understand their challenges and opportunities in adopting AI. Insights from these sessions are informing future support mechanisms.
We are working with a senior governance group, which includes business leaders, to ensure that the AI Scotland programme remains responsive to the needs of industry and delivers meaningful impact for businesses of all sizes.

Further support is also being explored through enterprise agencies and innovation centres to ensure that SMEs can access the skills, infrastructure, and funding needed to integrate AI into their operations.

Question reference: S6W-39711

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 04 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 21 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the use of the 101 non-emergency number is an appropriate and sufficient reporting route for incidents of suspected spiking, and whether it plans to review its guidance on this matter.

The Scottish Government encourages individuals who suspect that they (or someone else) may have been spiked to call NHS 24 on 111 for advice and to seek medical help right away, but in a life-threatening emergency to always call 999. Spiking is a criminal offence. All suspected incidents should be reported to Police Scotland by calling 101.

In addition, and to address concerns that the link between health professionals and Police Scotland has in spiking cases not always been clear to victims presenting at A&E, the Scottish Government, in collaboration with NHS 24 and Police Scotland, has developed a consistent narrative for health professionals to ensure consistent guidance is provided.

As part of this multi-agency national response, Scotland’s 111 service has also been updated to include spiking-related guidance, helping to better identify and support potential cases. This approach has been endorsed by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.

Additionally, the NHS are introducing changes to their digital system which will allow us to record those who present to A&E as potential victims of spiking. This will provide invaluable data on previous unrecorded incidents and will allow us to better understand the extent to which these lead on to formal police reporting.

Question reference: S6W-39956

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the average waiting time for households applying to the Warmer Homes Scotland Scheme to move from initial application to installation, broken down by local authority area in each year since 2018.

Question reference: S6W-39960

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides for schemes that assist people leaving prison to reintegrate into the community, and how much funding it has allocated to any such programmes in each of the last five financial years.