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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: S6O-05546

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, 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 potential impact of its draft Budget 2026-27 on the college sector.

Question reference: S6O-05543

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, 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 action it is taking to tackle racism in secondary schools.

Question reference: S6O-05521

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to authors documenting local history.

Question reference: S6O-05541

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting apprenticeships for care experienced young people, particularly in rural and island areas.

Question reference: S6W-43542

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether procurement exercises for the migration of public EV charging infrastructure from ChargePlace Scotland required bidders to commit to tariff rates remaining at, or below, existing levels for any defined period, and, if so, whether it will specify the (a) duration and (b) conditions of any such requirement.

Charge points on the ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) network are owned by approximately 400 public, private and third sector organisations that are each responsible for determining the tariffs at the public EV charge points they own. The Scottish Government is not responsible for the procurement of network management services for public EV charge points that transition off the CPS network.

Funding provided by Scottish Government for public EV charging is expected to support the ongoing development of a commercially-driven EV charging market, and so does not impose conditions that limit or specify tariffs to be applied for the use of public EV charging. Projects funded through the EV Infrastructure Fund are required to apply the fair, sustainable and enabling tariff principles, as referenced in Scottish Government’s Vision for Public EV charging, when establishing contracts with private sector charge point operators.

Question reference: S6W-43544

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how the £7 million committed from Transport Scotland’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund was allocated across the north of Scotland partnership responsible for migrating charging points, and whether it will provide a breakdown of the anticipated outcomes for each allocation of funding.

The North of Scotland partnership was awarded over £7 million from Scottish Government’s £30 million EV Infrastructure Fund to enable Highland, Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and Moray Councils to work with the private sector to invest in and operate public EV charging.

The funding award was based on a joint application, submitted by Highland Council as lead partner on behalf of all four local authorities. Funding was not awarded to each individual local authority, it was awarded to Highland Council on behalf of the partnership, which is underpinned by an Inter Authority Agreement. The anticipated outcome of the funding allocation is to apply a regional approach to expanding public EV charging infrastructure and leverage matched private sector investment to deliver 570 additional public charge points across these local authority areas.

Question reference: S6W-43540

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation has been undertaken of any anticipated (a) environmental and (b) economic benefits of installing 570 new charging points by 2028 across the north of Scotland EV charging infrastructure partnership, including any anticipated impact on local businesses and tourism.

A partnership including Highland, Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and Moray councils are working with private charge point operator, EZO, to jointly invest in EV charging across the north of Scotland. This project is supported through the Scottish Government’s £30 million EV Infrastructure Fund. As part of the application process, EV Infrastructure Fund projects are required to demonstrate how they expect to deliver a range of outcomes, including community wealth building, creating new economic opportunities and environmental sustainability.

With regard to point (a), assessment of the north of Scotland project identified environmental benefit delivered through supporting a transition to EVs and developing transport interchanges that promote the use of sustainable and active travel, improving air quality and reducing transport emissions across the region.

With regard to point (b), this regional approach is considered to create a scale of delivery and investment that will help to ensure additional opportunities for local employment and supply chains during project delivery and throughout the lifetime of the 20 year contract. The contract identifies £4.9 million of private investment related to the installation of 570 new public EV charge points over the next four years. In addition, through its term the contract is forecast to create an additional 140 jobs and enable significantly more private sector investment related to EV charging at additional sites and for fleets.

More generally in terms of local economic benefits, this contract was awarded through public procurement, and the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 requires local impact to be considered as a contractual requirement. This includes identifying opportunities for training and recruitment as well as the availability of sub-contracting.

Question reference: S6W-43543

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what oversight it provides of EZO’s performance under its 20-year contract to adopt and manage public electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the north of Scotland, including in relation to service reliability, uptimes and response times for maintenance issues.

The regulation of public EV charging is a matter reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government is not responsible for performance or contract management of the contract between charge point operator EZO and Highland, Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and Moray Councils. Questions regarding this contract are for the local authorities responsible for awarding this contract.

The award of this contract was enabled by the Scottish Government’s £30 million EV Infrastructure Fund. Grant conditions for this fund require that local authorities ensure contracts for operation of public EV charging infrastructure include Key Performance Indicators related to service quality, reliability and availability. The grant conditions also require compliance with current and future UK Government regulations related to public EV charging, including the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023.

Question reference: S6W-43541

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority area of the companies awarded contracts to assume the administration of the public electric vehicle charging points previously operated under ChargePlace Scotland, and how many compliant bids were received for each contract.

Scottish Government currently funds the operation of ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) under a single supplier framework agreement, however, public charge points on the CPS network are not owned by the Scottish Government.

Charge points on the ChargePlace Scotland network are owned by approximately 400 public, private and third sector organisations that are each responsible for awarding contracts for the future operation of the public EV charging points they own. Specific information on current or future contractual arrangements for the operation of these public charge points would need to be requested from their respective owners.

Where a contract is awarded by a public body and subject to Public Procurement Regulations, information on that procurement procedure will be published on the Public Contracts Scotland website.

Question reference: S6W-43521

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what early discussions it has had with the newly appointed Traffic Commissioner for Scotland on their position and approach to supporting regional transport partnerships, such as Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, to implement regional bus franchises.

I welcome the appointment of Sharon Clelland to the role of Traffic Commissioner for Scotland and look forward to her starting the role on 6 April 2026. No discussions have taken place since Ms Clelland is not in post.

The Traffic Commissioner for Scotland is an independent regulatory appointee who plays a vital role in ensuring the safe and efficient operation of commercial vehicles and passenger transport services. In relation to bus franchising, they are a statutory consultee to the franchising process and are responsible for enforcement, they also convene the panel responsible for independent approval of a franchising framework. However, the Traffic Commissioner has no direct role in the decision-making of this panel.