Questions and answers

Question reference: S6F-04300

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to protect renters in the private sector from homelessness.

Question reference: S6F-04293

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04294

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-40268

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many people abandoned calls to NHS 24 in the last year due to long wait times.

NHS 24 is working to ensure calls to its 111 service are answered quickly and safely. Some calls may go unanswered due to callers disengaging after automated messaging, being signposted to other services, or opting for a callback during peak times.

While data on abandoned calls is collected, the specific reasons for call termination are not identifiable.

The Scottish Government continues to support NHS 24 in reducing unanswered calls, including revising performance indicators to better reflect demand and improve service delivery.

Over the past two financial years, NHS 24 has received £28.3 million in additional funding, enabling the recruitment of 22 extra clinicians and achieving its highest-ever treatment capacity.

Question reference: S6W-40223

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Retail Consortium’s suggestion in its Scottish Budget 2026-27 recommendations paper that no retailer in Scotland should be liable for a higher business rate than counterparts in England.

Question reference: S6W-40242

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the risk that the Building Safety Levy costs will be passed on to homebuyers through higher prices, and, if so, what mitigations are proposed.

The Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment published alongside the Building Safety Levy (Scotland) Bill sets out Scottish Government’s assumptions on the likely impact of a Building Safety Levy in Scotland, including those relating to homebuyers.

New build house sales make up just 9% of all Scottish residential sales in 2024-25. This, in addition to the existence of the secondary market for housing, means that residential housing developers do not have significant price setting power over the market as a whole. The Scottish Government’s assessment is, therefore, that the likelihood of the costs of the Levy leading to increased house prices is low, particularly over the longer-term.

With limited scope for developers to pass through the cost of the Levy onto house buyers, the more likely scenario is that developers will seek to pass on the costs of the SBSL on through paying a lower price for the land to be developed. This reflects evidence from the Competition and Markets Authority and the Scottish Land Commission, and was underlined in feedback provided by stakeholders as part of the consultation and engagement undertaken prior to the introduction of the Bill.

The Scottish Government recognises that developments already in train and which span the commencement of the Levy could experience different impacts. The Bill, therefore, enables Scottish Ministers to set transitional arrangements to provide for different treatment for such developments. The Scottish Government is working with developers and industry stakeholders to gather evidence to inform decisions on any transitional arrangements, which will be legislated for in secondary legislation.

Question reference: S6W-40245

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on service delivery timescales for (a) taxpayers and (b) businesses of a reduced working week.

The Scottish Government continues to monitor the impact of changes to working patterns, including the recent transition to a 35-hour working week within the organisation.

Previous Public Sector Pay Policies have set an expectation that employers work towards standardising a 35-hour working week. Public bodies retain the flexibility to adopt working patterns that support operational efficiency, employee wellbeing, and service delivery, provided these are delivered within existing budgets and do not adversely affect public services. It remains the responsibility of individual public bodies to assess the impact of any reduction in working hours in their organisation.

Research published by The Autonomy Institute in relation to the private sector A four-day week in Scotland’s private sector? A spotlight on precedents and opportunities - The Autonomy Institute represents their assessment of the impact and opportunity of 4 day working week for private sector. The Scottish Government has not carried out any assessment in relation to this.

Evidence shows that employers benefit from offering flexibility in working arrangements which can result in happier, more engaged workers, improved recruitment and retention, improved innovation, productivity and business reputation, helping to attract new customers.

Question reference: S6W-40270

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the effect of (a) rent controls and (b) other policies on the withdrawal of landlords from the rental market.

A fairer, well-managed private rented sector is in the interest of both tenants and landlords, and the private rented sector measures in the Housing (Scotland) Bill have been developed following extensive engagement with the sector.

The Scottish Government carried out a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment of the suite of rented sector reform measures included in the Bill, which included consideration of the potential cumulative impacts of rented sector reforms.

This was published in October 2024 on the Scottish Government website.

The Scottish Government will continue to engage with stakeholders from across the sector during the remainder of the Bill’s Parliamentary passage and beyond.

Question reference: S6W-40302

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of Adult Disability claimants transferred from PIP have received a reassessment of their claim, and what the outcomes were of any such reassessment, including the percentage of claims that have (a) increased, (b) decreased and (c) remained the same.

Social Security Scotland is committed to transparency and accountability and routinely publishes statistics on its benefits, including Adult Disability Payment reviews in its quarterly Adult Disability Payment Official Statistics publication.

As of 30 April 2025, 345,955 people had their benefits transferred from Personal Independence Payment to Adult Disability Payment. Social Security Scotland has completed reviews for 142,100 of these awards:

20% of awards resulted in an increase in award (28,145 cases)
2% resulted in a decrease in award (2,365 cases)
79% stayed the same (111,590 cases)

It is not possible to directly calculate the percentage of clients who have had a review, as a small number have had more than one review since their benefit was transferred.

The initial review date for transferred Adult Disability Payment awards is based on the Personal Independence Payment review date set by the Department for Work and Pensions, so many transferred Adult Disability Payment awards are not yet due to be reviewed. The next Adult Disability Payment statistics will be published on 16 September 2025, covering up to 31 July 2025.

Social Security Scotland is committed to transparency and accountability and routinely publishes statistics on its benefits, including Adult Disability Payment reviews in its quarterly Adult Disability Payment Official Statistics publication.

As of 30 April 2025, 345,955 people had their benefits transferred from Personal Independence Payment to Adult Disability Payment. Social Security Scotland has completed reviews for 142,100 of these awards:

20% of awards resulted in an increase in award (28,145 cases)
2% resulted in a decrease in award (2,365 cases)
79% stayed the same (111,590 cases)

It is not possible to directly calculate the percentage of clients who have had a review, as a small number have had more than one review since their benefit was transferred.

The initial review date for transferred Adult Disability Payment awards is based on the Personal Independence Payment review date set by the Department for Work and Pensions, so many transferred Adult Disability Payment awards are not yet due to be reviewed. The next Adult Disability Payment statistics will be published on 16 September 2025, covering up to 31 July 2025.

Question reference: S6W-40278

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered narrowing the tax divergence between Scotland and the rest of the UK for business rates.

The Scottish Government committed, in the Framework for Tax 2021, to reducing the combined poundage rate for the largest properties to match the equivalent rate in England over the course of the Parliament.

The Intermediate Property Rate was introduced in April 2020 and we have since increased the rateable value threshold at which the Higher Property Rate applies from £95,000 to £100,000. Alongside maintaining the lowest Basic Property Rate for the seventh year in a row, this ensures that over 95% of non-domestic properties in Scotland are liable for a lower property tax rate than anywhere else in the UK.

Tax policy decisions are made annually at budget in line with prevailing economic decisions and Government priorities.

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