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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: S6F-04274

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 September 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04284

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 September 2025

To ask the First Minister what urgent steps the Scottish Government is taking in response to reports that nursing and midwifery vacancies have risen by 60% in six months.

Question reference: S6F-04281

Asked by: Ruth Maguire, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 September 2025

To ask the First Minister, in light of reports of the rising rate of poverty for families with a baby under one and new evidence from Save the Children that increasing Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods payments could significantly reduce the child poverty rate for this priority group, whether the Scottish Government will consider increasing these payments.

Question reference: S6F-04273

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 September 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04275

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 September 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-40117

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 01 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many orders for witness anonymity under common law and section 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, similar to those imposed by Lady Dorrian in the case HMA v Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond, have been imposed in each year since 2015; in which cases they were imposed; whether it will provide details of the nature of the crimes involved in these cases, and whether there have been any other cases since 2015 where a similar type of order ensuring witness anonymity has been imposed under different provisions.

Question reference: S6W-40149

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of 23 assaults on prison officers at HMP Greenock between 2020 and 2024, and what measures it is taking to ensure the safety of staff at the facility.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS has a zero-tolerance approach to violence towards staff and has support mechanisms in place to assist prison officers who have been affected by it. Incidents of criminality are reported to Police Scotland and SPS will actively seek prosecution.

Following the successful pilot of Body Worn Video Cameras at 3 prison sites, cameras are to be rolled out across the prison estate which will include HMP Greenock.

The cameras will complement an already well established range of staff training, security systems and clear operating procedures used to promote and support safety for everyone working and living in prisons.

Question reference: S6W-40110

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 8 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on what the average waiting time for a growing space/allotment has been in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Part 9 of the Community Empowerment Act (Scotland) 2015, which updated and simplified allotment legislation, placed a number of duties on local authorities in relation to allotments including a duty to prepare a Food Growing Strategy and annual allotment reports. Part 9 came into force on 1 April 2018.

To date, the Scottish Government has not collated the data contained from the published annual allotment reports as there is neither a statutory obligation for local authorities to update Scottish Ministers on the publication of their annual allotment plans or for the Scottish Government to collect these data. The data is not held in a consistent format to allow for monitoring at a national level.

Therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold historic data on allotment provision or waiting lists.

Question reference: S6W-40086

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 8 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what funding schemes are available to communities that want to establish new allotments.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting communities across Scotland to access land for growing food. While there is no dedicated national funding stream specifically for community established allotments, given the cross-cutting benefits delivered by community growing projects, communities may be able to access support through broader programmes that promote community-led regeneration and increased access to nutritious food.

We continue to work with partners to promote good practice and facilitate access to resources that support community growing. Communities are encouraged to engage with their local authority and explore opportunities through existing regeneration and community development programmes.

In addition to this, since 2021 we have awarded over £491,000 to enable Green Action Trust to deliver the Growing Food Together Fund. The fund is hugely popular and enables community groups to expand their growing area and season with new and improved infrastructure including new raised beds, polytunnels etc. This year a further 14 eligible community groups across Scotland were successful and have been awarded a share of £100,000. This brings the total number of community organisations and projects supported over the last five rounds to 55.

Question reference: S6W-40091

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many defective items in the Baby Box have been reported in each year since the Baby Box was introduced, also broken down by item type.

Since the start of the Baby Box Programme in 2017 up to 22 August 2025, 352,165 Baby Boxes have been delivered to families across Scotland. The Baby Box Managing agent, APS Group (Scotland), have received 190 reports of faulty or damaged items, below is the breakdown of this figure:

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Box	2	15	4	6	7	3	8	5	3
Box Lid	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ear Thermometer	0	9	18	15	0	0	0	0	0
Under Arm Thermometer	1	0	0	0	2	4	2	0	0
Bath & Room Thermometer	6	8	8	6	6	11	10	6	0
Fleece Jacket with Hood	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0
Mattress	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1
Mattress Protector	0	0	0	0	0	0	1		1
Fitted Sheet	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Cellular Blanket	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	1
Play Mat	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Changing Mat	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Baby Wrap	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Comforter Toy	0	1	3	0	1	0	0	0	0