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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-40139

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what continued action it is taking under the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Act 2024 to identify people possibly eligible to have their convictions overturned.

The initial stages of identifying individuals eligible to have their convictions quashed under the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Act 2024 focused on the assessment of potential cases referred by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) as most likely to contain relevant convictions, followed by an assessment using broader criteria applied to cases identified by Police Scotland. The Scottish Government continue to work closely with Post Office Limited and the UK Government, with data sharing agreements in place to facilitate the exchange of information that supports the implementation of a consistent approach across the UK. The Scottish Government also engage with the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters (NFSP) and provide public information to ensure that anyone who may have a relevant conviction is aware that they can approach the Scottish Government to have their conviction assessed.

Question reference: S6W-40269

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of a net loss of over 30,000 private landlords since the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is unclear where the figure of a net loss of over 30,000 private landlords since the COVID-19 pandemic has come from.

The most recently published figures show a reduction in registered landlords of 6,644 from January 2022 to July 2025, although it should be noted that the number of registered properties has increased in during the same period. The latest Scottish Landlord Register data shows the number of registered properties for rent in Scotland between August 2022 and July 2025 has increased by 2.9%. Over the same period, the number of registered landlords has decreased by 2.4%.

While these changes may point to some landlords choosing to leave the sector, the evidence suggests that their properties are remaining in the sector, or new properties are being offered for rent.

It should be noted that there are some limitations to the administrative data from the landlord register, including the time-lag in landlords deregistering properties that are no longer available to rent. These statistics should therefore be treated with some caution.

Question reference: S6W-40294

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce retention incentives to ensure experienced police officers remain in post.

Question reference: S6W-40238

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what pilots are operating for lung cancer screening, and what interim results have been reported.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40236 on 16 September 2025 regarding the planned lung screening pilot. 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.

While this will be the first NHS-led pilot within Scotland, the LungScot study generated valuable evidence and insights into identifying individuals at high risk of lung cancer. These findings contributed to the work of the Scottish Expert Advisory Group for lung screening. A research project briefing has been published by the Chief Scientist Office for the phase of the study conducted within NHS Lothian, with key findings included. A full report regarding the wider study will be published at a later date.

Question reference: S6W-40138

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people it anticipated, before the passage of the legislation, could be eligible to have their convictions overturned under the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Act 2024, and how that compares with to the number that it has so far identified as eligible.

As part of the financial memorandum accompanying the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Bill 2024, the Scottish Government provided a low, central, and high estimate for the potential number of individuals with convictions that may be quashed through the operation of the legislation. These estimates were given with a significant degree of uncertainty given the nature of the issues covered by the Act. The low estimate was 100, the central estimate was 200, and the high estimate was 300. To date, the Scottish Government has identified 64 individuals with convictions quashed by the Act, and one alternative to prosecution within the scope of the Act.

Question reference: S6W-40231

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated annual running cost of the National Social Work Agency is for 2025-26, and for each of the next three years.

Question reference: S6W-40212

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many breaches of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 that were recorded in each of the last five years related to (a) a prohibited fishing activity, (b) a marine protected area infringement, (c) a licensing offence and (d) any other category.

Question reference: S6W-40247

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce direct dermatology referral pathways from community optometry and pharmacy, where appropriate.

There are currently no plans to introduce direct dermatology referral pathways from community optometry and pharmacy.

Our Digital Dermatology programme has provided GPs across Scotland with access to a new app which allows them to securely use their own mobile device to attach an image to a dermatology referral. This has the potential to significantly reduce the dermatology waiting list by diverting 50% of patients each year either back to their GP with advice or direct to treatment through the creation of a digital triage process in secondary care.

Question reference: S6W-40413

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many knife-related offences have been prosecuted in each year since 2015, and how many subsequent convictions there were.

The following table provides data on proceedings and convictions for ‘having an article with a blade or point’. It is not possible to disaggregate these figures by the specific type of weapon involved.

The most recent information on proceedings and convictions is available for the financial year 2022-23.

Number of people prosecuted in Scottish courts for crimes related to having an article with a blade or point, where main charge, 2013-14 to 2022-23.

	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Restriction of offensive weapons	2	3	1	-	1	1	-	-	-	-
Having in a public place an article with a blade or point	1,256	1,118	1,118	1,075	1,091	1,155	1,267	861	1,138	1,266
Having in a prison an article with a blade or point	-	-	-	-	3	1	-	1	2	-
Possession of an offensive weapon (not elsewhere specified) in a prison	11	15	22	16	12	21	30	32	40	22
All	1,269	1,136	1,141	1,091	1,107	1,178	1,297	894	1,180	1,288

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database.

Number of people convicted in Scottish courts for crimes related to having an article with a blade or point, where main charge, 2013-14 to 2022-23.

	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Restriction of offensive weapons	2	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Having in a public place an article with a blade or point	1,053	942	941	917	958	1,009	1,119	795	1,020	1,103
Having in a prison an article with a blade or point	-	-	-	-	3	1	-	1	2	-
Possession of an offensive weapon (not elsewhere specified) in a prison	9	14	19	11	9	18	22	28	34	17
All	1,064	956	961	928	971	1,028	1,141	824	1,056	1,120

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database.

Please note: data for 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 are affected by the pandemic, subsequent court closures, reduced court capacity due to physical distancing measures and delays to cases where key participants were forced to self-isolate after testing positive for COVID-19, and the subsequent court recovery from the pandemic and may not be considered indicative of long term trends.

Question reference: S6W-40276

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs in Scotland it estimates will be lost if oil and gas production falls in the reported timescales suggested in a recent report by Offshore Energy UK suggesting that, without replacing the Energy Profits Levy in the next year with a profits-based mechanism to encourage investment and output, North Sea oil and gas production could disappear “within years, not decades”.

The Scottish Government is deeply concerned by any planned job losses in the North East.

We continue to monitor and consider a range of evidence in relation to Scotland’s energy sector. As part of this approach, we review reports on employment from industry, trade unions and other bodies. We have also commissioned and published independent analysis on Scotland’s Energy System and Just Transition. This analysis considers the economic impact of Scotland’s oil and gas industry, including in terms of employment, during the transition to net zero. A partial update of the baseline data underpinning this analysis was published in April 2025.

The fiscal regime for offshore oil and gas is reserved to the UK Government. However the Scottish Government have been calling on the current UK Government for an expedited end date to the EPL that was introduced by the previous UK Government. At the time of introduction we were clear that this levy singled out a key sector in the Scottish economy and could put jobs at risk.