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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: S6F-04296

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government will support town and city centres as retail destinations.

Question reference: S6F-04294

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04295

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04313

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the potential impact on households in Scotland of the forecasts from the Food and Drink Federation that food and drink inflation could reach 5.7% by December.

Question reference: S6F-04293

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-40357

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional planning applications it anticipates will be approved as a result of any planning reforms, and what metrics will be used to measure the impact or success of any reforms.

Every planning application must be determined on its own merits. When applying planning judgement all relevant policies and material considerations need to be weighed, following the requirements set by section 25 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1997. As such, it would not be appropriate to set a target number for approval of individual applications. Nevertheless, the planning application approval rate has stayed consistently high for a number of years, with over 92% of applications approved in 2023-24.

A range of planning improvements have and are being progressed to support the housing emergency, including those in the Planning and the Housing Emergency Delivery Plan (November 2024), the Programme for Government (May 2025) and Housing Emergency Action Plan (September 2025). These build on the substantial reforms to legislation and national policy in recent years.

For example, and as committed in the Housing Emergency Action Plan, the Scottish Government issued a notification direction on 2 September to enable close monitoring of the implementation of national planning policy on housing, where a planning application is for 10 or more proposed new homes on land not allocated for housing. This activity will enable Ministerial intervention where required and inform whether further policy action is required.

We regularly engage with stakeholders, including planning authorities and industry representatives to monitor feedback on the impact of changes made through planning reforms.

Question reference: S6W-40408

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to accelerate planning approvals for affordable housing.

It is an important principle of the planning system that each application is determined on its own merits, in line with the Development Plan and taking account of material considerations.

As part of the Development Plan, National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) includes a strong policy position regarding affordable housing provision and provides more flexibility for affordable housing proposals, explicitly as one of the circumstances where proposals can be supported on sites not allocated in a Local Development Plan.

A letter, I co-signed with the Scottish Government's Chief Planner in June 2024, stresses how NPF4 policy can be used to support proposals that improve affordability and choice to address recognised priorities of an area.

Everyone involved in planning has a role to play in supporting a national push to deliver more homes, including affordable homes. To address capacity and performance issues in planning services, we have raised planning fees and continue to invest in the resourcing, skills and resilience of the planning system, for example, through the National Planning Hub and the role of the National Planning Improvement Champion, to improve consenting timescales and support faster delivery of new homes where they are needed.

Question reference: S6W-40223

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Retail Consortium’s suggestion in its Scottish Budget 2026-27 recommendations paper that no retailer in Scotland should be liable for a higher business rate than counterparts in England.

Question reference: S6W-40242

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the risk that the Building Safety Levy costs will be passed on to homebuyers through higher prices, and, if so, what mitigations are proposed.

The Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment published alongside the Building Safety Levy (Scotland) Bill sets out Scottish Government’s assumptions on the likely impact of a Building Safety Levy in Scotland, including those relating to homebuyers.

New build house sales make up just 9% of all Scottish residential sales in 2024-25. This, in addition to the existence of the secondary market for housing, means that residential housing developers do not have significant price setting power over the market as a whole. The Scottish Government’s assessment is, therefore, that the likelihood of the costs of the Levy leading to increased house prices is low, particularly over the longer-term.

With limited scope for developers to pass through the cost of the Levy onto house buyers, the more likely scenario is that developers will seek to pass on the costs of the SBSL on through paying a lower price for the land to be developed. This reflects evidence from the Competition and Markets Authority and the Scottish Land Commission, and was underlined in feedback provided by stakeholders as part of the consultation and engagement undertaken prior to the introduction of the Bill.

The Scottish Government recognises that developments already in train and which span the commencement of the Levy could experience different impacts. The Bill, therefore, enables Scottish Ministers to set transitional arrangements to provide for different treatment for such developments. The Scottish Government is working with developers and industry stakeholders to gather evidence to inform decisions on any transitional arrangements, which will be legislated for in secondary legislation.

Question reference: S6W-40364

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is currently undertaking to (a) identify individuals who may be at increased risk of inherited cancer syndromes, such as those linked to BRCA gene mutations or Lynch syndrome and (b) offer these individuals screening and genetic testing.

Scotland’s national rare and inherited conditions genomic test directory includes a range of testing to identify people at increased risk of inherited cancer syndromes including those linked to BRCA gene mutations and Lynch Syndrome.

Testing is designed to identify those at highest risk and, in many cases, is offered as cascade testing to the first-degree relatives of people diagnosed with inherited cancer syndromes.

We are committed to working with stakeholders across the NHS to raise awareness of the testing available and improve the coordination of care across Scotland, including signposting to risk-reducing surgery and surveillance procedures.