- Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 September 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 4 September 2025
To ask the First Minister, in light of SEPA's warnings of water scarcity over the summer and the introduction of restrictions on water abstraction last week in some areas, including North Fife, what action the Scottish Government is taking to secure water supply in Scotland in the face of changing climate conditions.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 4 September 2025
- Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 September 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 4 September 2025
Question to be taken in Chamber.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 4 September 2025
- Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 September 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 4 September 2025
Question to be taken in Chamber.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 4 September 2025
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 August 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 1 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of the Grangemouth Investor Taskforce to deliver the investment opportunities set out in Project Willow.
Answer
Scottish Enterprise are continuing to make significant progress to triage and identify credible options to secure investment in Grangemouth’s future. Ministers are receiving regular updates from the Investor Taskforce and the Scottish Government will report on this work in due course.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 1 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many consultants have been appointed to NHS Scotland in each year since 2020, and what assessment it has made on whether those figures are sufficient to meet demand and reduce waiting times.
Answer
The information requested on how many consultants have been appointed to NHS Scotland in each year since 2020 can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at:
NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence.
Since 2020, we have increased the Medical & Dental Consultant workforce by 10.9% (from 5,606.4 WTE as at March 2020 to 6,217.5 WTE as at March 2025).
The Scottish Government works with a stakeholder group to undertake annual reviews of the number of specialty training places (for resident doctors) needed across all specialties in order to meet anticipated future service demand and consultant need.
In response to the recommendations from these reviews, the Scottish Government has funded the creation of hundreds of additional specialty training places in Scotland across multiple different specialties since 2014.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 August 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 1 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will support Bruntwood SciTech investment to alternative sites in Glasgow, in light of the withdrawal from its Met Tower city centre innovation hub and laboratory development in 2024.
Answer
As our national economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise has engaged extensively with Bruntwood SciTech over a number of years, both in relation to the Met Tower development and, most recently, to explore alternative proposals and investments in Glasgow and elsewhere. Scottish Enterprise is not aware of any current plans that the company has to secure an alternative location in the Glasgow area, but stands ready to support should that position change.
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 August 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how it supports charities like Nurture the Borders, based in Selkirk, which provides a variety of services for pregnant women who would not be able to access them otherwise.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring equitable coordinated access to mental health provision for women, infants and their families throughout pregnancy and during the postnatal period. Between October 2024 and March 2025 the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health (PIMH) fund has provided peer support, counselling and befriending services to over 5200 parents, expected parents and infants. Nurture The Borders has received £79,253 as part of the latest round of the PIMH fund.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 07 August 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the number of category (a) 1 and (b) 2 potholes on the trunk road network that were (i) reported and (ii) repaired, in each year since 2021, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
Transport Scotland, through its four Trunk Road Operating Companies and five Design Build Finance Operate (DBFO) Concessionaires, is responsible for the management and maintenance of the strategic trunk road network, including motorways. The repair of potholes on all other roads is the responsibility of the local authorities.
Category 1 potholes are defined within the term maintenance contract as those that present, or could present, an immediate hazard to trunk road users. Operating Companies are required to carry out temporary repairs by 6am the following morning and permanent repairs within 28 days. For DBFO concessionaires, road surface Category 1 requirements generally require temporary repairs within 24 hours and permanent repairs also within 28 days. Category 2 defects are those with a lesser severity, which do not warrant a safety-led immediate response. These are considered for maintenance along with information from the annual condition assessments to determine future maintenance schemes within the three-year maintenance programme.
The tables below list the number of Category 1 and Category 2 potholes that were either recorded or repaired in each of the full years between 2021-22 and 2024-25. The data is not available broken down by Local Authority.
Financial Year | Number of Cat 1 Potholes Recorded | Number of Cat 1 Potholes Repaired | Number of Cat 2 Potholes Recorded | Number of Cat 2 Potholes Repaired |
2021-2022 | 9,679 | 9,679 | 2,577 | 357 |
2022-2023 | 11,625 | 11,625 | 106 | 142 |
2023-2024 | 6,973 | 6,973 | 154 | 505 |
2024-2025 | 5,660 | 5,660 | 157 | 692 |
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 04 August 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 1 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the £756 million in ScotWind option fees that it has received, how much of this revenue has been used to date and for what purposes.
Answer
A total of £756 million was generated from the initial ScotWind leasing round.
To date £96 million of this funding has been spent, all of it in 2022-23. This was used to support the overall fiscal position, with pressures set out as part of the Emergency Budget Review in Autumn 2022.
£364 million of ScotWind revenues have been profiled into 2025-26. Final decisions on formally drawing down the funding will be made at the end of the financial year.
The remaining £296 million has not yet been allocated with decisions on their deployment to be taken at individual Budgets, in line with Scottish Government priorities.
The current profiled utilisation of Scotwind funding in 2025-26 is as follows;
Portfolio | Detail | Scotwind Capital | Scotwind Resource | Total |
F&LG | Responding to COSLA’s ask for funding to respond to the climate emergency by making available £40 million to target local priorities. Additionally, £20 million is allocated for Orkney Islands Council and Shetland Islands Council to enable them to sustain and improve interisland connectivity in the way that best meets local needs. £10 million has been dedicated to reform public services. | 52.0 | 18.0 | 70.0 |
NZE* | Supporting offshore wind capital investment, nature restoration and energy and transition funds. Additionally, £25 million has been allocated to support economic growth at the Grangemouth Industrial Cluster. | 179.9 | 5.0 | 184.9 |
RALRI | £16 million to progress transformation and reform of the agriculture and food and drink industries, including energy efficiency and improved resilience. The remaining funding will be targeted towards peatlands restoration and woodlands creation. | 30.6 | 0.0 | 30.6 |
Transport | Supporting capital investment for sustainable and active travel programmes and low carbon programmes | 78.5 | 0.0 | 78.5 |
| | Total | 341.0 | 23.0 | 364.0 |
*Net Zero and Energy has since been split between Housing and Climate Action and Energy.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 1 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government in relation to any funding grant, whether it will require the applicant body to sign and confirm that it will abide by and observe the principle that in its operations it will observe as an absolute right, freedom of expression within the law, and that any breach or failure to observe this requirement will result in the immediate withdrawal of funding and an obligation to repay any sum awarded.
Answer
In accordance with the Scottish Public Finance Manual, Scottish Government Grants are made subject to legally binding agreements. A model offer template sets out standard terms and conditions, which include standard clauses covering default and recovery of a grant. There is no specific reference to freedom of expression but there is a standard clause requiring grant recipients to ensure that “in relation to the project/programme, they and anyone acting on their behalf shall comply with the relevant law, for the time being in force in Scotland”
