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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-41020

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it received in Barnett consequential funding as a result of the UK Government committing an additional £70 million to support stop smoking services in England in 2025-26.

At the UK Spending Review the Scottish Government received a Barnett share of the net changes to UK departmental budget allocations, which ultimately fed into our total block grant settlement.

Any new or additional spending allocations in 2025-26 associated with this UK policy will be included in the overall budget calculation for the Scottish Government. However, spending changes related to Barnett funding arising from UK policy decisions are not allocated to any specific programme of work in Scotland.

All budget allocation decisions are taken as part of the Scottish Budget process.

In 2023-24 the Scottish Government permanently provided funding for smoking cessation and prevention services to Health Boards as part of the Outcomes Framework funding, which also covered a wider range of outcomes. In 2025-26 territorial Health Boards received an overall funding uplift of 3%.

Question reference: S6W-40946

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Innovation Investment Programme, which was announced in the National Innovation Strategy and expected to be delivered in early 2024, is not in place.

The Scottish Government is committed to establishing Scotland as a leading start-up nation that fosters innovation, creates jobs, and accelerates economic growth.

Scotland’s National Innovation Strategy noted the importance of investing in innovation and since its publication in 2023, the Scottish Government has delivered the following as part of its investment in innovation:

Invested almost £3 million in a Proof of Concept Fund to support university researchers to develop their innovative ideas and technologies and bridge the gap between groundbreaking research and commercial applications.
Continued to invest in the Techscaler programme which now in its third year has supported member companies to collectively raise over £195 million to date - demonstrating Scotland’s growing reputation as a leading tech hub.
Since 2023, the Ecosystem Fund has invested £2.4 million across 70 projects that strengthen the infrastructure supporting innovators and entrepreneurs to commercialise their ideas and access the resources, knowledge and capital needed to bring innovations to market.

The Scottish Government has also provided £5 million to support accelerated growth of Scotland’s innovation clusters and launched our AI Scotland programme, including a pilot scheme for SMEs that positions Scotland as a creator and supplier of AI technologies.

In line with their scaling innovation mission Scottish Enterprise(SE) has also supported industries where Scotland has global strengths to convert and scale innovation into growth. During 2024 – 2025 SE invested £43m into approximately 100 innovative, high-growth potential, early-stage companies leveraging £111m of external investment. Additionally, SE has supported 66 companies to raise
£132 million in growth funding, supported 46 innovative spinout projects, including the creation of three new spinouts, and backed ten female academic founders through market explorer programmes.

Question reference: S6W-40947

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish the National Productivity Programme, which was referred to in the National Innovation Strategy in 2023.

The Scottish Government’s National Innovation Strategy sets out an ambitious programme of actions which aim to use innovation as a key driver of productivity and economic growth.

Since 2007 productivity has grown at an average rate of 0.9% per year compared to the UK average of 0.3%. We continue to work with partners to build upon this and maximise opportunities for sustainable productivity growth.

The Scottish Government has allocated almost £228 million to Scottish Enterprise to support its activity in 2025-26. Scottish Enterprise is delivering on the actions set out by the Innovation Strategy’s Productivity Programme through its two missions aligned to innovation and productivity. These missions aim to:

1. Scale innovation strengths into high-growth industries, strengthen competitive sectors, support scaling companies, create high-value jobs and enhance global competitiveness.
2. Drive capital investment to boost productivity, by increasing business investment, raising productivity, and supporting higher-value employment opportunities that contribute to inclusive economic growth.

The Scottish Government is also working with the Productivity Institute and the University of Glasgow on an Innovation-Driven Productivity Study, which will deliver a productivity framework tailored to Scotland’s high-value sectors, supported by regional and sectoral case studies to inform future policy and practice.

The National Innovation Strategy sets a clear ten-year vision (2023–2033) for Scotland’s innovation and productivity ambitions. It provides a long-term direction for government and partners — a compass setting the course for our innovation journey. While the priorities established in 2023 remain fixed, the delivery of these priorities is designed to be adaptive, allowing programmes and actions to respond effectively to evolving economic conditions, technologies, and business needs, while maintaining alignment with the Strategy’s overarching objectives.

Question reference: S6W-40909

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been delivered in foster carers allowances in each local authority area since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-41430

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the Distress Brief Intervention programme before May 2026.

The Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) Programme is now live in all 31 HSCPs across Scotland. At end August 2025, over 97,000 people had been referred to the programme. We will shortly provide an update on our progress towards the significant milestone of 100,000 people referred.

Over the coming months, the Scottish Government will be working with our partners to review how well DBI has been embedded, and what else may be needed moving forward to strengthen it. Our focus will be on the sustainability of the programme, and maintaining the right level of support to frontline services.

The first step of this review will be considering the results of the evaluation of under 18s elements of the DBI programme, which we are due to publish in November 2025.

Question reference: S6T-02716

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the prison population reaching a record high of 8,430 prisoners.

Question reference: S6T-02720

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to help secure the future of Petrofac and its workforce, following the announcement that the company has entered into administration.

Question reference: S6F-04397

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 October 2025

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s position is regarding the reported 200,000 public sector workers who are still waiting on their pension entitlement following the 2018 McCloud judgement on pension discrimination.

Question reference: S6F-04405

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 October 2025

To ask the First Minister for what reason the Scottish Government has reportedly abandoned key provisions of the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022, including the proposed licensing system, as communities prepare for potential disorder during Bonfire Night.

Question reference: S6F-04404

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 October 2025

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government has had any initial response from the UK Government in relation to the letter sent to the Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs on 22 October regarding the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund.