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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-37944

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider progressing a Dundee Northern Relief Road to reduce conflict between strategic and local traffic in Dundee, and to improve the connectivity of Aberdeen to the Central Belt, including Edinburgh, and what it estimates the cost of such a project is.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to take forward a Dundee Northern Bypass or Relief Road. The A90 is an important part of Scotland’s Trunk Road network and passes through suburban Dundee, thus serving both strategic need through traffic and the need for local accessibility.

An upgrade to the A90 Kingsway or a possible Dundee northern bypass was considered as part of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2), published in 2022. After careful analysis and assessment of the evidence, the national level appraisal concluded that a bypass could provide accessibility benefits for Dundee’s northern communities and reduce journey times for through-traffic on the A90.

However, the scale of these benefits was relatively modest in comparison to the significant environmental and financial costs of a new road. Further, this option did not score well with Transport Scotland’s Sustainable Investment Hierarchy, where the rationale for investment in transport infrastructure projects is to maintain and make best use of our existing transport assets, over building new infrastructure. Taking the totality of the evidence, it was considered that the case for investment in a relief road for Dundee was therefore not sufficiently proven.

Further analysis also noted that major on-line changes to the A90 through Dundee were not considered feasible and reallocation of road space to other purposes was likely to have adverse consequences for traffic routeing. Therefore, the recommendation from STPR2 was that further, more detailed work was required, in the form of an Integrated Transport Plan, to develop a solution that delivered for local residents and strategic through-traffic alike.

A preliminary construction cost estimate for a potential bypass was developed for the STPR2 transport appraisal in 2021. However, given the intervening period and the resulting construction price inflation that has occurred since, these estimates are now out of date.

Question reference: S6W-37978

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that Creative Scotland maintains political neutrality in its grant-making.

Creative Scotland assesses all applications made - irrespective of theme, subject matter or artform - in accordance with the published criteria and guidance for each funding stream. This guidance states explicit restrictions on the use of funding provided by Creative Scotland for party political activities. The terms and conditions of the agreements entered into with successful applicants further support this position, making clear that funding awarded cannot be used for such activities.

Question reference: S6W-38278

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any incentives exist in secondary care for urgent access to colonoscopy for patients with suspected inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who have not been referred on the cancer pathway, and what assessment it has made of introducing non-cancer specific local delivery plan (LDP) standards and incentives to improve access to colonoscopies for people with benign bowel conditions such as Crohn’s and colitis.

Patients continue to be seen based on their clinical urgency, and those referred with an urgent suspicion of cancer continue to be prioritised for scope-based diagnostic tests. The decision to appropriately prioritise patients based on their urgency is best placed with the clinicians responsible for their care.

Health boards across NHS Scotland have local strategies in place to ensure patients with a clinical urgency, as well as those that have waited the longest, are investigated within an appropriate time by the most appropriate person. Referrals are clinically triaged at local board level and directed to the most appropriate waiting list.

The Scottish Government expects Health Boards to ensure an investigation is undertaken, and the verified report is received by or made available to the requester, within a 6-week waiting times standard for key diagnostic tests and procedures. Health Boards must take all reasonable steps to ensure they comply with this standard.

We know many people are still waiting too long and this is not good enough. We are determined do more and our Budget will provide a record £21.7 billion for health and social care.

As part of planned care funding for 2025-26 we have provided over £10.5 million to territorial health boards across Scotland to support endoscopy activity and reduce waiting lists.

To specifically support scope based diagnostics we have published an Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan backed by £70 million. The plan focuses on key areas such as: Balancing Demand and Capacity; Workforce Training and Development; Infrastructure; and Innovation and Redesign.

Question reference: S6W-38142

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is currently in place to inform ministers’ decisions when they depart from the recommendations of a public inquiry reporter in renewable energy cases.

Question reference: S6W-38108

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the detailed Project Willow report by EY-Parthenon, what its position is on whether it is feasible to use approximately 240,000 hectares of agricultural land for the production of cover crops for Project 6 (HEFA), as set out at page 124, and, if it considers it to be feasible, whether it has any concerns regarding competition with food production.

Question reference: S6W-38067

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to section 3(3) of the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022, by what date the Scottish Ministers will (a) lay the national good food nation plan before Parliament under section 1(1) and (b) deliver a statement setting out details of any (i) representations, (ii) resolutions and (iii) reports mentioned in subsection (1)(b); what changes they made to the plan in response to any such (A) representations, (B) resolutions and (C) reports, and what the reasons were for any such changes.

Question reference: S6W-38151

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the enforcement of the wrasse fishery licensing conditions, how many fixed penalty notices (FPN) have been issued since April 2021, and how many of those went unpaid; of those FPNs that went unpaid, how many have (a) been referred to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and (b) proceeded in the courts, and, of any that resulted in convictions, what the (i) nature of the offence, (ii) value of the original FPN and (iii) court disposal was.

Question reference: S6W-38105

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the detailed Project Willow report by EY-Parthenon, what Government decisions that are to be made before the end of 2025 in respect of Project (a) 5, (b) 6, (c) 7, (d) 8 and (e) 9 are being referred to at page 44.

Question reference: S6W-38068

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when section 6 of the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 will be commenced.

Question reference: S6W-38075

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what cost-benefit analysis it has undertaken to compare the £80 million investment in carbon capture and storage technology with nature-based solutions such as peatland restoration, native woodland regeneration and coastal habitat restoration, including kelp forests and seagrass.

The deliverability and value for money of different options to achieve our climate change targets are assessed through the climate change planning and budgetary processes.

The Scottish Government has committed to make available £80 million to support the Acorn Project and Scottish Cluster, subject to the UK Government providing a full funding package and timeline towards a Final Investment Decision. This funding commitment is subject to the guidance provided in the Scottish Public Finance Manual.

Scotland is firmly committed to woodland creation, planting 75% of all new woodland across the UK in the past five years. This amounts to 55,000 hectares of woodland, approximately 40% of which is native. The Government will continue to use the Forestry Grant Scheme and other levers such as the Woodland Carbon Code to maximise the resources available for woodland creation.

Scottish Ministers remain firmly committed to peatland restoration and have pledged £250m to restoring 250,000 hectares of peatland by 2030.

Coastal and marine projects that aim to protect and restore important habitats for climate change and biodiversity received support from restoration and enhancement funds, including the Scottish Marine Environment Enhancement Fund (SMEEF).