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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-43557

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 12 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact of HMRC’s proposed changes to the tax-free Wear and Tear allowance for childminders on the childminding sector.

Self-assessment for income tax is reserved to the UK Government, however given the devolved nature of childminding legislation and regulation, it is disappointing childminders in Scotland were not consulted regarding changes to the administration of the wear and tear tax relief allowance.

Scottish Ministers understand the concerns the sector has raised about increased administrative work for childminders, and the creation of a two tier system which may impact childcare capacity and childminders’ income. As such, we wrote to the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury on 4 February 2026 highlighting these concerns and asking the UK Government to consider pausing implementation.

Our support for Scotland’s childminding sector in 2025-26 included a further £1.6m funding for the Scottish Childminding Association to continue delivering a national programme of childminder recruitment and retention.

Question reference: S6W-43532

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what area of Scotland's seabed located within the proposed Priority Marine Feature management area options, as published in September 2025, has been subject to towed bottom-contact gear, such as scallop dredging and trawling for nephrops, since the publication of the consultation on protection from these practices in July 2018.

The following table sets out the area (in km2) within the proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) management areas (options 1 & 2) that have been subject to towed bottom-contacting fishing activity. These figures are drawn from the available dataset used to inform the assessments underpinning the consultation on the proposed PMF management measures. The years used are between 2015 and 2022 (the years of 2020 – 2021 were not considered representative of regular fishing activity due to the Covid pandemic and so were not included). It should be noted that the dataset relates only to vessels over 12 metres in length that are required to carry an electronic Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and therefore does not capture activity by smaller vessels.

	Option 1	Option 2
Total area of proposed PMF areas (km2)	922.2	1223.7
Total area fished by towed bottom contacting gears (km2)	142.6	235.1

Question reference: S6W-43535

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether external consultants continue to be employed to assist with the development of management measures for inshore Marine Protected Areas, and, if so, when any such contracts run to.

Scottish Government currently employs one contractor to assist with the development of fisheries management measures. This contractor was engaged to carry out the socio-economic impact assessment, strategic environmental assessment, and the sustainability appraisal. This contract runs to September 2026, in order to complete the Post Adoption Statement after the consultation. With the delay to the public consultation, it is likely this will be extended.

Question reference: S6W-43533

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent (FTE) staff have been allocated to the development of management measures for inshore Marine Protected Areas, in each week since 2 September 2025.

The level of resource allocated to the inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Priority Marine Features (PMFs) workstream between 1 September 2025 and 6 February 2026 has varied in line with operational requirements. During this period, the dedicated core resource ranged from 8.1 to 9.3 FTE. Additional resource was deployed as needed, varying between 0.6 and 10.4 FTE. The highest levels of additional resource were applied during the two-month period of preparation for the planned public consultation, which was subsequently postponed until after the Scottish Parliamentary Election.

Work on MPAs and PMFs is undertaken through a single integrated work programme and it is not possible to separate staffing by individual workstream. The figures therefore represent the combined resource allocated across both areas.

The work undertaken relates to the statutory and other assessments of the management measures being proposed including the Socio-Economic Impact Assessment, Strategic Environmental Assessment, Sustainability Appraisal, Business Regulatory Impact Assessment, Island Communities Impact Assessment and Fisheries Assessments. This also includes preparatory work for the forthcoming consultation, such as consultation build, consultation report and other associated documents.

The core FTE resource provided also covers routine work relating to MPAs and PMFs, including responding to Parliamentary Questions, Ministerial correspondence (MiCases), Environmental Information Requests, and similar commitments.

Question reference: S6W-43489

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the inquest into the death of former professional Scotland footballer Gordon McQueen and the findings by the senior coroner, Jonathan Heath, that “on the balance of probability that repeatedly heading footballs contributed to his developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy”, what its position is on the call, which is supported by the Professional Footballers’ Association Scotland, the Professional Footballers’ Association, Football Families for Justice (FFJ), dozens of former players and managers, including four managers of the Scotland national team, and research and legal experts, for dementia in former professional footballers to be a prescribed condition for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) and any replacement benefit, including Employment Injury Assistance when IIDB is fully devolved.

As outlined in the response to PQ S6W-43490 on 6 February 2026, the Scottish Government wants to ensure that Employment Injury Assistance better meets Scotland’s needs than the current UK Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) which is why longer-term reform is being prioritised. This approach was backed by the largest number of responses to the Employment Injury Assistance consultation in 2024. The Employment Injury Assistance Steering Group was established last year to identify priorities for reform and is expected to report this summer.

In order facilitate this work, the UK Government continue to deliver IIDB in Scotland. As such, they currently determine which conditions should be prescribed for the purposes of IIDB. The Scottish Government remains committed to working with the UK Government to continue to monitor the emerging evidence and ensure any changes to UK legislation are reflected in the relevant Scottish legislation.

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-43526

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations in the report, Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray: final evaluation, in relation to the financial administration and payment delays to applicants to the Just Transition Fund.

We commissioned independent research to evaluate the impact of the first two years of the Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray (JTF). This study noted several project delivery challenges and included suggestions from project partners on how Scottish Government should address these challenges.

We agree terms and conditions with each grant recipient individually, using the Scottish Government Model Offer of Grant as a basis. Under this Model Offer, grant payments are made in arrears and we are not able to make payments upfront. We have changed our processes between the FY 2022-23 round and the FY 2025-26 JTF round, and now process grant payments on a monthly basis rather than a quarterly basis.

Question reference: S6W-43527

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government (a) what engagement it has had with and (b) when it last met with representatives from (i) the offshore oil and gas sector, (ii) the offshore renewables sector and (iii) trade unions in Scotland following the publication of the report, Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray: final evaluation.

We regularly engage with stakeholders, including the offshore oil and gas sector, offshore renewables sector and trade unions, on a variety of subjects, including on the Just Transition Fund. The last time we met with the offshore oil and gas sector was 10 February when officials met with OEUK. The last time officials met with the offshore renewables sector was 10 February. The last time officials met with STUC was on 15 January, to discuss the work STUC carries out to support just transition capacity within the trade union movement.

Question reference: S6O-05538

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further details of the support provided to NHS boards to develop specialist care pathways for postural tachycardia syndrome.

Question reference: S6O-05536

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how its draft Budget 2026-27 will ensure meaningful infrastructure improvements in the south of Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-05535

Asked by: Marie McNair, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact on Scotland of the UK Government’s Warm Homes Plan.