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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-39159

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will accelerate the roll-out of at-home cervical cancer testing in order to reduce any health inequalities.

Question reference: S6W-39154

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the appropriateness of it providing a grant to the Edinburgh International Book Festival shortly after the appointment of the former Chief of Staff to the First Minister as a festival director.

Question reference: S6W-39160

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what immediate action it will take to address the reported 52% increase in police officer mental health absences over the last three years.

Officer wellbeing is an operational matter for Police Scotland. I refer the member to my response to S6W-35420 on 17 March 2025 and S6W-37984 on 9 June 2025.

The Chief Constable has stated to the Criminal Justice Committee that the wellbeing of police officers and staff is one of her main priorities. Police Scotland has made a £17 million investment in workforce wellbeing, which includes a 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme and enhanced occupational health services, to support officers and staff wellbeing.

Police Scotland has provided reassurance that they have a healthy recruitment pipeline and has recruited around 1,370 officers since the start of 2024.

Question reference: S6W-39367

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which actions in the 2025 Report from the Independent Working Group on Antisocial Behaviour have been implemented, and whether it will provide an update on which of the remaining actions will be implemented, and when.

The Scottish Government remain committed to addressing anti-social behaviour in partnership with COSLA and Police Scotland who have statutory responsibility for developing strategies to tackle antisocial behaviour at local level.

Recent actions of the Scottish Government contribute to a number of recommendations. For example, we recently announced a £26 million investment in the next phase of the CashBack for Communities programme. The programme’s focus on supporting projects that divert young people from anti-social behaviour and towards positive opportunities is closely aligned with the report’s findings and overall direction.

Further actions from the report are currently under active consideration, and we will provide a full update on implementation plans and timelines in due course. A formal response to the report is expected to be published later this summer.

Question reference: S6W-39466

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated annual cost to the public purse is of governing the salmon farming industry, including smolt production, in Scotland.

We are unable to provide the information requested. The aquaculture sector is governed by multiple agencies in both Scotland and the UK, for example APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency). These agencies provide different legislative functions and charging schemes. The agencies and their respective employees who work on aquaculture undertake a wide range of duties relating to the governance of aquaculture in the round, not only to the salmon sector.

Question reference: S6W-39467

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent (FTE) staff it estimates there are in each relevant agency and central government who are currently involved in the regulation of salmon farming and smolt production, including fish health, human safety, food standards, planning, environmental, fisheries interactions, licensing and leasing.

Question reference: S6W-39190

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it held with auction markets before implementing the bluetongue virus (BTV-3) movement restrictions.

The Scottish Government has hosted regular meetings with representatives of livestock markets and other key stakeholders since the first cases of Bluetongue Serotype 3 (BTV-3) were identified in England in autumn 2024. This is in addition to attending regular meetings with industry stakeholders hosted by Defra at least twice a week, which includes market representatives. Scottish market representatives were also invited to meetings to directly feed into reports conducted by the Scottish Government’s centre of Expertise on Animal Disease Outbreaks (EPIC), which analyse the levels and value of cross border trade and the impacts on Scottish livestock movements in response to an extended all England- restricted zone. The Scottish Government continue to closely with markets, particularly those on the Scotland-England border, to seek innovative solutions to the disruptions from BTV-3 restrictions.

Question reference: S6W-39107

Asked by: Clare Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has given to Clyde Gateway in each year since it was established, broken down by the purpose of the funding.

The Scottish Government has awarded over £213 million of regeneration funding to Clyde Gateway Urban Regeneration Company (URC) from 2007 for the purpose of supporting the delivery of its 20-year operating plan. This includes direct support through annual capital and resource funding to develop and regenerate key sites identified in the plan, support core running costs and other activities it delivers in support of local communities.

Grant awards were made in each financial year are provided in the following table:

Financial Year	Capital funding £000	Resource funding	Comment
2006-07	3,022
2007-08	5,000
2008-09 to 2010-11	57,000		Three-year funding from 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2011
2011-12	11,554	746
2012-13	17,725	1,525
2013-14	19,525	1,525
2014-15	9,290	1,850
2015-16	1,816	184
2016-17	3,070	500
2017-18	5,000	500
2018-19	5,000	500
2019-20	6,130	500
2020-21	6,000	1,000	£500k revenue funding provided to support COVID-19 response.
2021-22	9,000	500
2022-23	5,500	500
2023-24	5,000	500
2024-25	1,000	500
2025-26	3,000	500

Additionally the Scottish Government agreed to a contribution of £3.8 million in capital funding from the Net Zero portfolio in 2024-25 toward the ongoing remediation works at Shawfield.

We understand that Clyde Gateway in delivering their strategic operational plan have, since their formation in 2007, developed numerous projects to support the communities. Information on all of the grants Clyde Gateway may have received from various funding bodies supported with Scottish Government funding is not held centrally in the format requested

Question reference: S6W-39112

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms it has in place to monitor any potential impact of the Scottish National Investment Bank’s investments on housing supply, including the number of homes delivered as a result of those investments.

Question reference: S6W-39333

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its plans to consult on a proposal to ban the use of electric shock collars for training dogs, what information it holds on which animal welfare organisations (a) support and (b) oppose such a ban.