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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-38720

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost is of the five-month extension to the time charter of the MV Alfred for CalMac ferry services to Arran.

Question reference: S6W-38722

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Transport Scotland publication, Islands Connectivity Plan The Vessels and Ports Plan for the Clyde and Hebrides and Northern Isles networks (2025 – 2045), whether it will list the fleet and port enhancement projects that it anticipates will be completed by 31 March 2026.

The Island Connectivity and Vessel and Ports Plan outlines our investment in new vessels and port and harbour projects that have been delivered within Phase 1 period of 2021-2026 reference to pages 11, 12 and 22 of the VPP.

Whilst we would have liked to have made more progress given the long lead-times for vessel and port projects, it was always known that a number of these projects would require further funding for construction beyond the five-year period of the IIP.

Question reference: S6W-38734

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it has measured any impact of the women’s health plan’s targeted training for key professionals on women and girls with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the impact of training for healthcare professionals on women and girls with a diagnosis of PMDD.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) published an eLearning module for healthcare professionals on Menstrual Health in September 2024. The module is available on TURAS, the education platform for NHS Scotland. To date, 211 learners have completed the resource with 59% of those completing the module evaluation. A further 728 learners are in progress.

Specific impact data for the section on premenstrual dysphoric disorder(PMDD) is not available. Initial evaluation data of the module as a whole suggests increased empathy and compassion, as well as practitioners reporting plans to change their communication and consultation styles because of the learning.

Question reference: S6W-38939

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners released early in 2024 had convictions for (a) violent or antisocial behaviour and (b) crimes against women.

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

SPS have proactively shared the data analysis for those released early in 2024, and the full breakdown can be accessed on our website here Data, Research and Evidence | Scottish Prison Service.

The offence categories analysed were in line with the Index Offence Derivation which does not include crimes against women. Further information on recognised offence categories can be found here CellWise Data Construction - Scottish prison population statistics technical manual - gov.scot.

Question reference: S6W-38888

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported high levels of traffic and frequent congestion on routes leading to and from Glasgow Airport, what assessment it had made of the potential environmental impact of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link, prior to the cancellation of the project.

Question reference: S6W-38839

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many projects have registered an interest in carbon contracts since the launch of the call for interest in the carbon contracts pilot.

Question reference: S6W-38871

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether Scotland's Railway will commission a project to extend mobile phone network coverage to the Cowlairs Tunnel.

Question reference: S6W-38794

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities have used or are seeking to use their powers under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 to adjust non-domestic rates, broken down by financial year.

All local authorities have used their powers under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 to adjust non-domestic rates.

Table 1 shows relief awarded under section 3A of the Local Government (Financial Provisions etc.) (Scotland) Act 1962, as inserted by the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, by local authority. Since 1 April 2023, relief for unoccupied properties (often referred to as Empty Property Relief) has been devolved to individual councils. To aid interpretation, local relief awards for 2023-2024 therefore also show the value of local reliefs excluding reliefs for unoccupied properties. Figures are presented to the nearest thousand and may not sum due to rounding.

[a] This negative figure is due to a correction to previously reported figures.

[b] These figures are currently unavailable due to software issues.

Data sources: Non-domestic rates income audited returns for 2016-2017 to 2022-2023. For 2023-2024, the latest available data (whether from the notified return, in the case of 12 councils, or audited return, for 20 councils) was used, though for all except one, the audited did not differ from the notified return.

Table 1: Local relief awards by council area, 2016-2017 to 2023-2024, £000

Council area	2016-2017	2017-2018	2018-2019	2019-2020	2020-2021	2021-2022	2022-2023	2023-2024 (all local reliefs)	2023-2024 (excluding reliefs for unoccupied properties)
Aberdeen City	0	1,740	0	0	0	0	0	3,776	0
Aberdeenshire	0	2,140	0	39	23	-33 [a]	0	2,810	0
Angus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	920	0
Argyll & Bute	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	876	0
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	414	0
City of Edinburgh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16,817	0
Dumfries & Galloway	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,241	0
Dundee City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2,293	0
East Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	939	0
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	276	0
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	625	0
East Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	142	0
Falkirk	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,270	0
Fife	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4,880	0
Glasgow City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	24,885	0
Highland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2,197	0
Inverclyde	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	309	0
Midlothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	678	0
Moray	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	484	0
Na h-Eileanan Siar	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	74	0
North Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,646	0
North Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,881	0
Orkney Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	[b]	[b]
Perth & Kinross	124	0	30	0	0	0	0	1,155	0
Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,548	0
Scottish Borders	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,284	0
Shetland Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	143	0
South Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,498	0
South Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2,365	0
Stirling	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	229	0
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	245	0
West Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3,062	0
Scotland Total	124	3,880	30	39	0	-33	0	80,962	0

Green Freeport relief is available for properties within the tax sites of Green Freeports in Scotland from the date of tax site designation, which was in 2024-25 for both Green Freeports. Local authorities will deliver this relief under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 powers and will be reimbursed by Scottish Government for any awards of this relief.

Investment Zone relief for properties within tax sites of Investment Zones in Scotland will be delivered under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 powers, in a similar manner to the Green Freeport relief.

Question reference: S6W-38781

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the study, Is the Whole Farm Plan Suitable for the Shetland Islands?, conducted by Katrina Coutts as part of her Honours degree in Agriculture at Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) Craibstone, which identified negative impacts of the Whole Farm Plan on Shetland’s crofting community.

Small farms and crofts are vital for delivering on the Vision for Agriculture and the plans and audits that make up the Whole Farm Plan will provide value to all businesses, regardless of scale.

In this first year, we only expect farmers and crofters to undertake two of the up to five relevant requirements. Further, to avoid duplication we welcome equivalences such as the QMS animal health and welfare plan that so many of our producers already have. Guidance was co-developed with industry on the range of free online tools that are available and the more direct support that is offered through our Preparing for Sustainable Farming scheme.

The plans and audits that make up the Whole Farm Plan are suitable for every farmer and crofter in Scotland, regardless of geographical location or size. They will encourage farmers and crofters to review their business practices and help identify areas for improvement in terms of resource efficiency. This may result in increased productivity and/or profitability. Additionally, if a business decides to implement changes to deliver these improvements, the plan and audits will give them the opportunity to assess the effectiveness of these improvements.

Supply chains are asking more of our producers and expecting produce with positive impact for nature and climate. It is right that we effectively support our farmers and crofters on this journey.

The requirements for the Whole Farm Plan apply to all claimants of BPS and do not specifically identify islands. However, extensive stakeholder engagement has been carried out to ensure that the Whole Farm Plan requirements are proportionate for crofting businesses and small farms. The Scottish Crofting Federation were content that the requirement for two plans in audits in 2025 was achievable by their members, particularly as there are no financial implications in 2025 if businesses do not achieve this.

Additionally, The Scottish Crofting Federation were part of The Whole Farm Plan Steering Group, which was established by the Cabinet Secretary.

I welcome this contribution from Katrina Coutts. We will continue to work with our partners in the industry to ensure their insight and expertise informs as to how we will best deliver our Vision.

I would note that our approach of co-development, of listening to the needs of our crofters in particular, is why we have prioritised their asks in our capital grant scheme and we have recently announced a derogation for small herds in the Suckler Beef Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-38797

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will call in planning application 24/01680/FUL for the "erection of purpose-built student accommodation with ground floor food hall (Class 1A), food and drink (Class 3), public house and hot food takeaway (Sui generis), and assembly and leisure uses (Class 11) with associated landscaping, amenity, access and other ancillary works", which was reportedly granted by Glasgow City Council's Planning Applications Committee on 17 June 2025, in light of the objection raised by a statutory consultee, namely Historic Environment Scotland, due to the proposed development having a "significant adverse impact on the setting of A-listed Glasgow School of Art".

This application was notified to Scottish Ministers on 18 June 2025, as Glasgow City Council is minded to approve it against the advice of Historic Environment Scotland. Ministers have an initial 28-day period from the date of notification to consider whether to clear the application back to the Council or to call it in for their own determination. It would not be appropriate to comment further, while this matter is under consideration.