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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-35089

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consult on holding a social media age-use ban similar to that introduced in Australia, and whether it has carried out an analysis of the potential benefits and challenges of such a measure.

We recognise that online platforms, including social media, can have both positive and negative impacts on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing and that support must be in place to help children use social media in a healthy and balanced way. It is important to note that regulation of the internet is a reserved matter to the UK Government, however we have previously successfully engaged on its Online Safety Act to strengthen protections for young people.

We will continue to explore opportunities to work with the UK Government on this important issue, whilst also taking action here in Scotland. For example, since 2020 we have invested over £400,000 to support young people to navigate online spaces and use screen time in a safe way and help parents and carers to ensure they have the information to guide young people and recognise risks.

The Young Scot ‘Aye Feel’ online hub, the ‘Mind Yer Time’ resource, and ‘Digi Know’ features, address social media usage amongst children and young people to help them navigate online spaces, ensure websites are reliable, and use screen time in a healthy and positive way. Our Parent Club national resource for parents also has information and advice to support parents to manage children’s screen time and have informed conversations with their child about screen time, social media and internet use. In addition, we have recently published guidance for schools on the issue of mobile phones in schools, which supports education authorities and schools in their consideration of limiting access to mobile phones in schools.

Earlier this year the First Minister announced a Scottish Government Online Safety Taskforce. The Taskforce will provide oversight and direction to work across Scottish Government and identify what more can be done to protect children and young people from online harm within the limits of devolution.

Question reference: S6W-34940

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will meet its peatland restoration target by 2030.

Good progress is being made towards the current target to restore 250,000 hectares of degraded peatlands by 2030, with - 75,000 hectares restored to date.

Recent years have seen strong increases including, in 2023-24, over 10,000 hectares restored in a single year for the first time. We will again restore over 10,000 ha in 2024-25.

Through the Scottish Budget 2025-26 we will invest £35.5 million towards peatland restoration. With this funding the ambition of the Peatland ACTION partnership is to restore at least 14,000 hectares next year.

The funding will also enable the Peatland ACTION partnership to invest in designing a large number of new projects for future years. This will ensure the sustainability of the sector, allowing us to be more responsive to funding and continue to accelerate the programme’s success towards our 2030 target.

Question reference: S6W-34421

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) have been rejected in each year since 2021, and what the reasons for rejection have been.

Question reference: S6W-34433

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress made towards the affordable housing supply targets outlined in the Housing to 2040 strategy.

The Scottish Government's ambition is for everyone to have a safe, good quality and affordable home that meets their needs in the place where they want to be. Housing to 2040 remains our key overarching long-term strategy that sets out a vision and roadmap to ensuring everyone in Scotland has a safe, good quality and affordable home by 2040, and as part of that we remain focused on delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, with at least 70% of these for social rent and 10% in rural and island areas.

Between 23 March 2022 and end of September 2024, we have delivered 24,382 affordable homes towards the 110,000 target, of which over 18,000 (76%) have been homes for social rent. Based on management figures, we have delivered over 12,000 affordable homes in rural and island communities, between April 2016 and March 2024.

The Scottish Government regularly publishes figures on homes delivered, which can be found online at:

Housing statistics quarterly update: new housebuilding and affordable housing supply - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Statistics to end December 2024 are due to be published on Tuesday 25 March 2025.

Question reference: S6W-34415

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) supports the reduction of freight transport congestion in urban areas, and what specific measures have been implemented to address this issue.

Question reference: S6W-34425

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) supports the transition to greener technologies in freight transport, particularly in the use of alternative fuels such as hydrogen or electric power.

Question reference: S6W-34414

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that the Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) supports projects that contribute to improving connectivity between Scotland and international markets.

Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) was introduced in recognition that taking freight off roads and moving it by rail or water can have environmental and wider social benefits but can be more expensive.

Improving international connectivity is not a specified aim of FFG. However, FFG awards have been made to Scottish ports and rail facilities, which can be utilised for the movement of goods to international markets.

Question reference: S6W-34428

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to applicants of the Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) to help them develop their project proposals and ensure that they meet the eligibility requirements.

Question reference: S6W-34223

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many food businesses have been closed following Food Standards Scotland inspections in each year since 2018, broken down by local authority.

The following table provides the detail of Local Authority enforcement actions that have resulted in business closure. The data relates to the use of Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notices, Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Orders and Voluntary Closures.

	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	Grand Total
Aberdeen City Council	17	10	2	1	14	20	10		74
Aberdeenshire Council	5	4				1	4		14
Angus Council	1				2	4			7
Argyll And Bute Council				1	1	2			4
City of Edinburgh Council	30	36	17	7	30	39	34	2	195
Clackmannanshire Council	5	4	1	2		1			13
Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar	3	3		1					7
Dundee City Council	5	6	1	6	9	4	5		36
East Ayrshire Council				2	1		3	4	10
East Dunbartonshire Council	7	7	1	3	1	4	8	2	33
East Lothian Council	5	1				3	9		18
East Renfrewshire Council	2	1			1				4
Falkirk Council	11	5	1	1	3	6		1	28
Fife Council	7	4		4	8	5	16	1	45
Glasgow City Council	10	4			8	2			24
Inverclyde Council	1		1				1		3
North Ayrshire Council	2	1							3
North Lanarkshire Council	13	10			2	1	2		28
Orkney Islands Council						1			1
Renfrewshire Council	12	3	3	2	6	2	3	1	32
Scottish Borders Council		3			1				4
South Ayrshire Council		1							1
South Lanarkshire Council	4	2	2	6	5	4			23
Stirling Council	3	2				3	3		11
The Highland Council	4	3		3			3		13
The Moray Council	2	2				1			5
West Dunbartonshire Council	4	2	1		2	5			14
West Lothian Council					2				2
Grand Total	153	114	30	39	96	108	101	11	652

Question reference: S6W-34277

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps Food Standards Scotland is taking to address the safety and labelling of plant-based and alternative protein products.

The Food Information to Consumers Regulation 1169/2011 sets mandatory food labelling requirements such as a list of ingredients, allergen information and that information must be accurate and not mislead the consumer, which apply to most prepacked foods including plant-based foods. Food Standards Scotland (FSS) recognises that plant-based foods have become more popular recently and are therefore considering the need for updating guidance to support labelling practices in this area.

Where plant-based and alternative protein products fall under the Regulated products remit, they will go through rigorous pre-market safety and risk analysis before sale in Scotland and across GB. The results of this analysis will inform FSS' risk management recommendations to Scottish Ministers, which may include additional labelling requirements for these products.