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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-41564

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to deliver on its commitment to create a National Register of Ancient Woodland.

Question reference: S6W-41485

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any funding awarded to organisations from the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme has ever had to be paid back, and, if so, whether it will provide details of this.

Question reference: S6W-41486

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful applications to the Community Energy Generation Growth Fund there have been in each year since 2024, broken down by local authority area.

The Community Energy Generation Growth Fund, administered through the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES), was first launched in 2024 and supports community groups to develop their own renewable energy projects, including wind and solar PV projects.

As of 30 October 2025, a total of 122 applications have been received to the fund since inception. Of this, 95 applications were approved for funding and 25 were not approved, and 2 were deferred for further consideration

A breakdown by local authority area is provided in the following table:

Local Authority Area	Approved	Not approved for funding
Aberdeen City	*	*
Aberdeenshire	6
Argyll and Bute	8	*
City of Edinburgh	6	*
Comhairle nan Eilean	9
Dumfries and Galloway	*
Dundee City Council	*
East Ayrshire	*	*
East Lothian	*
East Renfrewshire		*
Fife	*	*
Glasgow City	8	*
Highland	8	6
Midlothian	*	*
Moray	*
North Ayrshire	6	*
North Lanarkshire	*
Orkney Islands	*	*
Perth and Kinross	*	*
Renfrewshire	*
Scottish Borders	*
Shetland Islands	*
South Ayrshire	*
South Lanarkshire	*	*
Stirling	*	*
Various	*
West Dunbartonshire	*
West Lothian	*
Grand Total	95	25

Notes:

1.To preserve the anonymity of individual projects, all local authority awards totalling five or fewer have been redacted in accordance with disclosure control principles.[1]

2.An additional two applications were deferred, as detailed in the written response.

3.Where awards are listed as 'various', they were granted to organisations operating across multiple local authority areas.

[1] 4.5 Protect the confidentiality of individual and business information when producing statistics. Be transparent about the choices made in line with the producer’s published confidentiality policy and apply appropriate disclosure control methods before release
https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/blog/guidance-type/short-guide/.

Anonymisation guidance applied is per Government Guidance:
Anonymisation and data confidentiality – Government Analysis Function

Question reference: S6W-41580

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop new pathways for children and young people to access autism and ADHD assessments in schools.

The Scottish Government is responsible for setting the overall policy direction for neurodevelopmental services, and for working with and providing funding to local authorities and NHS Health Boards to ensure they plan and deliver appropriate local services. It is for local authorities and local NHS Boards to decide how they implement these policies to ensure that their local population have the highest quality of care, support and treatment at the right time and in the right place.

For neurodevelopmental pathways, the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People sets out the standards for all children’s services to follow in delivering neurodevelopmental support to children and young people, including education authorities. Support should be provided on the basis of need, and at the earliest opportunity, through a multi-agency approach.

Also, under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004, education authorities have duties to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. An additional support need can arise for any reason. No diagnosis is required in order for support to be provided.

Question reference: S6W-41555

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many wind turbine blades have been sent to landfill in (a) Scotland and (b) elsewhere in the UK since 2021.

The Scottish Government does not hold or collate any information relating to how many wind turbine blades have been sent to landfill.

However, we are committed to circularity, which is why the Onshore Wind Sector Deal includes an aspiration to make Scotland a European hub for wind turbine blade recycling. ReBlade’s facility in Dumfries is one such example, with further capacity likely needed as more turbines are decommissioned.

Question reference: S6W-41439

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish the results of, and response to, its consultation on a cruise ship levy.

The Scottish Government continues to consider relevant evidence and analysis as part of our ongoing policy development for a cruise ship levy. This formal analysis will publish early next year.

Port and cruise stakeholders have been working on their own alternative proposals to a levy. We anticipate these will be shared with the Scottish Government in the next few weeks. The Scottish Government will consider these stakeholder proposals alongside the alongside the consultation analysis when deciding next steps.

Question reference: S6W-41578

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many men have received screening for prostate cancer in each year since 1999, broken down by age group.

Question reference: S6W-41521

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the compatibility of NHS boards operating so-called First In, First Out-only neurodevelopmental waiting lists with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, specifically articles 3, 23 and 24.

The Scottish Government is responsible for setting the overall policy direction for neurodevelopmental services, and for working with and funding NHS Health Boards and local authorities to ensure they plan and deliver appropriate local services. It is for local NHS Boards and local authorities to decide how they implement these policies to ensure that their local population have the highest quality of care, support and treatment at the right time and in the right place.

Individual health boards are responsible for the management of their waiting lists. Boards are expected to ensure that their approaches to service delivery are consistent with national guidance, including the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People. The Specification complements and sits within the Getting It Right for Every Child approach, and reflects the principles of UNCRC.

Question reference: S6W-41522

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that children with additional support needs are not subject to indirect discrimination under section 19 of the Equality Act 2010, as a result of so-called First In, First Out-only waiting list policies for neurodevelopmental services.

The Scottish Government is clear that no child or young person should face any form of discrimination when seeking neurodevelopmental support.

NHS Boards are expected to ensure that their approaches to service delivery are consistent with national guidance and statutory frameworks, including the National Neurodevelopmental Specification and the Equality Act.

The National Neurodevelopmental Specification is clear that support should be available at the point of need through a multi-agency approach, encompassing all local children’s services. The Specification is also clear that support should not be dependent on – or wait for – a diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental condition.

Question reference: S6W-41563

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what staffing resource its agencies have allocated to the development of a National Register of Ancient Woodland.

NatureScot’s Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Programme Manager will be responsible for overseeing this project, supported by a woodland Senior Land Use adviser and an officer to act as secretary to the steering group, manage the contract and liaise with NatureScot’s data team. It is estimated that the contracted technical project officer would work around 2.5 days per week for 18 months, though this may be subject to change depending on the outcome of the tender process. Staff from Scottish Forestry and Forestry and Land Scotland will also be supporting the project.