- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 23 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards delivering its Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan.
Answer
I refer the Member to the answer to question S6W-42084 on 21 November 2025. 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.
Since the publication of the Rail Recharged strategy, the newly constructed electrification system on the East Kilbride line entered service in December 2025.
Below is a link to the Rail Recharged document:
Rail Recharged: Scotland’s Fleet Transition Strategy - Delivering a Modern Fleet for a Connected Scotland | Transport Scotland
- Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 23 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation has been done on the reoffending rates of individuals who have been issued warning letters or fiscal fines for wildlife crime offences.
Answer
Data about previous convictions of individuals who have been convicted of wildlife crime is detailed in the most recent Wildlife Crime in Scotland publication which can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/wildlife-crime-in-scotland-2024/. Although the Scottish Government does not specifically undertake evaluation on the reoffending rates for those who receive an alternative to prosecution for wildlife crime offences, it does publish data on reoffending rates more broadly, which can be found here:https://www.gov.scot/publications/reconviction-rates-in-scotland-2021-22-offender-cohort/.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of households that do not have central heating, broken down by age for those over (a) 67, (b) 70 and (c) 75.
Answer
The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) provides a snapshot of the Scottish housing stock in each survey year including the construction age and built form of Scottish domestic buildings. Within this it records if a dwelling has the presence of full or partial central heating. The percentage and total number of dwellings without full or partial central heating, broken down by age band of occupants, from the 2024 SHCS, is presented in table 1.
Table 1: Number, and percentage of, dwelling without full or partial central heating broken down by occupant age band, 2024
Age bands of occupants | Total number of dwellings (000's) | % without full or partial central heating | Number without full or partial central heating (000's) |
Dwellings with 1 or more members age 67 or above | 879 | 1.8% | 16 |
Dwellings with 1 or more members age 70 or above | 738 | 1.7% | 12 |
Dwellings with 1 or more members age 75 or above | 507 | 1.9% | 9 |
Notes
1.Source Scottish House Condition Survey 2024.
2.The SHCS is a sample survey and therefore all figures are estimates which lie at the midpoint of a confidence interval which depends primarily on sample size.
3.Age bands are inclusive of successive age bands. For example, all dwellings with a member over 67 will also include dwellings with a member 70 or older and 75 or above.
4.Full central heating is defined as: The whole dwelling, or rooms representing more than 50% of the floor area of dwelling, is heated from the main heating system. Partial central heating is recorded in cases where houses are large, and the system is only installed in part of the house or there is no possibility of drift heat spreading through the house. Flats are recorded as partial central heating if heating is installed for less than 50% of the floor area.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 23 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42091 by Richard Lochhead on 9 December 2025, when in Spring 2026 it expects the outcome of the procurement process for Lot 6 (Scotland) of the Project Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy Scheme.
Answer
The outcome of the regional Project Gigabit in Scotland (PGiS) procurement which covers Orkney and Shetland - also known as Lot 6 - is expected to be announced shortly after the May 2026 election.
Modest changes in contract award dates are common in complex procurements such as PGiS, which require robust due diligence and assessment to ensure all underlying funding requirements are met. We must also be cognisant of the pre-election period which takes effect from 26 March 2026.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 20 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what specific funding it will provide to South Lanarkshire Council in 2026-27 to support the Reinventing the High Street initiatives proposed by the FSB, including (a) pop-up grants and (b) temporary use licenses for vacant retail units in town centres.
Answer
Scottish Government has no plans to provide specific funding for the initiatives proposed by FSB in their 2024 report The Future of the High Street. However, we remain committed to supporting vibrant, thriving towns and town centres, and we are continuing our long standing commitment to regeneration with investment of up to £52 million in 2026-27.
This investment supports the revitalisation of our towns and town centres, helps to bring vacant properties back into productive use, and unlocks opportunities for town centre living, business and community enterprise activity. It also includes support for the Scotland Loves Local programme and Business Improvement Districts.
Since 2014, South Lanarkshire Council has received £25.8 million in regeneration capital funding. This investment has supported a number of projects, including the recently completed Carnwath Business and Community Hub which has transformed a vacant and derelict site in Carnwath town centre.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 20 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-43802 by Graeme Dey on 5 March 2026, for what reason the First Minister provided confidential information from the Lord Advocate to special advisers, in light of them being political appointees.
Answer
The information provided by the Lord Advocate to the First Minister on the Peter Murrell case included a warning not to comment on the case. This was because any comments made could amount to contempt of court. Given the nature of this case, it is sensible that a warning on contempt of court was re-affirmed, as questions would likely be asked of the First Minister, and those who speak on the First Minister's behalf, in relation to the case. As such, this is why information was shared to those who speak on the First Minister's behalf.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 20 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what its most recent assessment is of the number of hospitality businesses in South Lanarkshire that will recieve support as a result of the 40% non-domestic rates relief for licensed premises introduced in its Budget 2026-27, and what steps it is taking to ensure that the £110,000 per-business cap does not unfairly disadvantage any local independent groups that operate multiple sites across Lanarkshire’s high streets.
Answer
The Scottish Budget sets out a decrease in the three non-domestic property rates for 2026-27 and offers more than £320 million of support through transitional relief schemes and retail hospitality and leisure relief over the next three years.
The Scottish Government estimates that around 1,300 properties in South Lanarkshire could benefit from the 15% Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief, subject to the £110,000 cap per business per year, announced at the Scottish Budget. Around 200 of those properties are also estimated to benefit from the additional 25% relief for licensed hospitality premises and music venues confirmed at Stage 1 of the Budget Bill, a total relief of 40%, subject to the £110,000 cap per business per year.
Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) area property tax and the NDR Valuation Roll includes information on properties subject to NDR, rather than businesses. The number of businesses in South Lanarkshire that may benefit from relief schemes is therefore uncertain.
Local authorities are responsible for administering reliefs. Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief is likely to be considered a subsidy under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 and local authorities should consider whether this relief is awarded as Minimum Financial Assistance (MFA). MFA allows public authorities to award low-value subsidies without needing to comply with the majority of the subsidy control requirements and has a financial threshold which allows recipients to receive up to £315,000 over three financial years (the current and preceding two financial years). Therefore a business-level cap has been applied to protect businesses from the risk of subsequently needing to repay relief awarded beyond MFA thresholds.
- Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 20 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the September 2025 update to the fisheries persistent high mortality analysis confirming that the scope of that work is limited to marine sites, and in light of reports that the Applecross hatchery has recorded approximately 10 million fish deaths over the last four years, including close to half a million deaths in January 2026 alone, during which period the facility has received regulatory consent to expand its operations, what the rationale is for excluding freshwater sites, including hatcheries, from the persistent high mortality analysis, and whether it will commit to extending that work to include the freshwater and hatchery stages of production.
Answer
There are significantly fewer fresh water salmon production sites compared to marine sites, and associated available datasets on fresh water mortality are less extensive with higher variation within the data. Therefore, different analytical approaches are required for fresh water sites, and they could not be included in the original analysis of persistent elevated mortality on Scottish salmon farms. The Scottish Government prioritised marine sites for analysis as there are many more marine sites.
There are no immediate plans to extend this analytical work to include fresh water sites. The Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) is made aware of all mortality events where mortality exceeds specified thresholds, as a result of a voluntary reporting mechanism which is in place. This includes fresh water sites; the FHI investigates mortality events as they occur.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, further to annex 1 of the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2026-2031, for what reason the monetary investment in the Tackling Child Poverty Fund as a result of the allocation of “two child limit funds” has increased from £49 million to £61.5 million, and how this fund would have been financed had the “two-child limit” remained in place.
Answer
The Scottish Budget 2026-27 committed £61.5 million to the Tackling Child Poverty Fund, with Annex 1 of the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2026-31 setting out further detail of how these funds have been allocated in 2026-27. This represents an increase of £49 million for the Tackling Child Poverty Fund relative to 2025-26.
The Scottish Government put eradicating child poverty at the heart of the Scottish Budget 2026-27, therefore if funding previously committed to the Two Child Limit Payment was not available, this additional funding would have been considered as a priority as part of the budget and spending review process.
- Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 20 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that, after the Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) was informed that the Aird salmon farm had been declared fallow while fish were still present, several weeks of sea-lice count data were retrospectively reclassified by FHI as a “withdrawal period prior to harvesting”, despite no harvesting subsequently taking place, what its position is on whether such retrospective reclassification of lice count data is appropriate, and whether there is a standard process for handling incidents where a site is declared fallow while salmon remain on site.
Answer
Aquaculture Production Business(APBs)may notify the Fish Health Inspectorate(FHI)of any corrections to sea lice counts which can legitimately occur and information in the public domain states that the publicly available sea lice count record may be subject to change.
Where counts are not provided to FHI without reason, consideration is given to whether APBs have committed an offence under the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act 2007. The legal obligations regarding reporting guidance have been emphasised to the relevant APB.
The FHI is not aware of other incidents of non reporting of sea lice counts where sites have been incorrectly declared fallow while fish are still held on site. Scottish Government considers the provisions of the Fish Farming Businesses (Reporting) (Scotland) Order 2020 and published sea lice guidance appropriate for salmon farming operations.
