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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-04940

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to women preparing for release from prison.

Question reference: S6W-40115

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the new Scottish Life Sciences Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-39913

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether a new, sustainable long-term funding model for tackling violence against women and girls has been developed.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting the specialist third sector services that provide crucial support to survivors of violence against women and girls.

That is why the Delivering Equally Safe Fund has been extended into 2025-26, allowing for the continuation of vital support to survivors of violence against women and girls across Scotland. The fund has benefited from a £2.4 million increase, bringing the total investment in the Delivering Equally Safe Fund to £21.6 million for 2025-26.

Our Equally Safe Delivery Plan commits to the development of a flexible and stable funding model that reflects the ambitions of Equally Safe.

Question reference: S6W-40101

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether NatureScot held any direct discussions with (a) NFU Scotland and (b) Scottish Land and Estates regarding its recent decision to grant licences for the release of six beaver families at two sites in the River Beauly catchment, and, if so, whether it will provide details of this.

NatureScot did not hold any direct discussions with (a) NFU Scotland and (b) Scottish Land and Estates regarding its recent decision to grant licences for the release of six beaver families at two sites in the River Beauly catchment

The main engagement for conservation translocations is carried out by the applicants, in this case, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS).

The FLS application followed two years of engagement by Trees for Life and FLS. The Abriachan application followed local community consultation hosted by the Abriachan Forest Trust and Scotland the Big Picture. Scottish land and Estates and NFUS were invited to attend a consultation event, which NFUS attended.

The Affric engagement reports can be found here:

https://treesforlife.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Glen-Affric-and-Strathglass-beaver-consultation-report.pdf

https://treesforlife.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Deciding-Matters-Beaver-Consultation-Report-28-May-2024.pdf

NatureScot received correspondence from NFUS on this topic on behalf of members prior to and after the application was submitted by FLS.

As Licensing Authority and recognising there remained concerns amongst land and fisheries managers in Beauly and Strathglass about beaver release proposals, NatureScot carried out further engagement over the summer 2025 to better understand these concerns. Site visits were requested by 12 landholdings and three groups representing fishing interests. NatureScot staff met with the land and fisheries managers directly on site to discuss their concerns. A representative from NFUS was present at one of these meetings.

Question reference: S6W-40151

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to integrate AI into its Rural Payments and Services website, and if so, how it will do this.

At this time, there are no defined plans to incorporate AI into the RP&S platform. The Agriculture Reform Programme is currently leading the development of a Future Operating Model for ARE which is carefully considering the capabilities required to deliver the Vision for Agriculture/policy objectives. This will include fully exploring the use of appropriate digital capabilities and technologies which can improve our services and the customer experience of our users however as stated at this time, there are no plans to incorporate AI into the RP&S platform.

Question reference: S6W-40147

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-39428 by Gillian Martin on 28 July 2025, what consideration it has given to introducing additional criteria for companies applying to Crown Estate Scotland for seabed leasing for (a) offshore wind development and (b) other marine renewable energy developments.

Question reference: S6W-40146

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-39428 by Gillian Martin on 28 July 2025, what consideration it has given to introducing additional criteria for Crown Estate Scotland to void any application or terminate agreement with companies in relation to (a) offshore wind development and (b) other marine renewable energy developments.

Question reference: S6W-40325

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it promotes a higher birth rate, in light of reports that the number of births in Scotland in 2024 dropped to its lowest number in 169 years.

Falling birth rates are a trend across many high-income countries, with significant implications for our economies, communities and public services. It is not for government to dictate or influence whether an individual should have children, which is rightly a matter for individuals and couples.

Our 2021 Population Strategy sets out our ambition that Scotland is the ideal place to raise a family, and that people are enabled to have the number of children they wish to. In December 2024, the Ministerial Population Taskforce considered potential lessons from family friendly policy interventions internationally, and officials are currently exploring next steps in the Scottish context, including scoping further research into the role of parental leave uptake on decisions to have children.

Question reference: S6W-40312

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will recognise podcasting and audio as a part of the creative sector.

The Scottish Government Statement on Creative Industries in 2019 did not include podcasting and audio as part of the Creative Industries sector.

Since the publication of that statement it is clear that consumers are now using both a wider range of devices to access media content as well as a larger variety of services.

Whilst there are no plans at present to revise the definition of the creative industries within Scotland the expanded, and continually innovating, variety of delivery channels will be a crucial factor to consider in any future work.

Question reference: S6W-39748

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of rising economic inactivity among younger adults, what steps it is taking to improve workforce participation among this group.

To grow Scotland's economy, we must make full use of our potential workforce and remove barriers to employment.

Economic inactivity is a complex issue, and this government is acting through a coordinated, system-wide and multi-sector approach. To address this challenge, we have focussed on key transition points where individuals are most at risk of inactivity including young people.

Devolved employability and career services play a vital role in supporting young people into fair and sustainable work. Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) helps prepare school leavers for employment through a wide range of activities delivered by schools, employers, the DYW Employer Network, and partners across the third and Community Learning and Development (CLD) sectors, including Education Scotland and Skills Development Scotland. These activities include work tasters, information sessions, professional career advice, mentoring, and work experience placements.

As outlined in the Programme for Government, we’re working with schools in
2025-26 to expand effective support helping young people into positive destinations. We’ll also launch the First Minister’s Start-up Challenge to promote youth entrepreneurship. The 2025-26 Entrepreneurial Education Fund received 94 applications, up one-third from last year to further support young people across Scotland develop an entrepreneurial mindset, seeking a share of £1.2 million. Successful applicants will be notified in due course.

Addressing economic inactivity requires innovative approaches. We are working with local government, public sector and third sector partners to improve the reach and visibility of support services.

Young people who require ongoing support after leaving school are supported by Skills Development Scotland and access tailored employability services through No One Left Behind, helping them into work or other positive destinations such as further or higher education, aligned with their aspirations.

While students are statistically classified as economically inactive, these pathways are expected to lead to future employment and are considered positive steps toward long-term economic participation.

Work continues across government and with partners to identify further impactful actions to reduce economic inactivity.