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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: S6O-04804

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the latest export statistics for Scotland’s food and drink sector.

Question reference: S6O-04802

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with agricultural organisations regarding any increases in production costs as a result of new transmission infrastructure.

Question reference: S6O-04808

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of care home providers have reported recruitment difficulties since the UK left the EU.

Question reference: S6W-38526

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress to identify local authorities that will take part in the test of change phase of the free school meals programme.

I am pleased to confirm that 17 local authorities applied to partner with the Scottish Government on the Test of Change phase of the Free School Meal programme.

While considering these applications we have been able to maximise the spread of this phase across Scotland. The 8 proposed partner local authorities identified are: Aberdeen, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Fife, Glasgow, Moray, North Ayrshire, Shetland, and South Lanarkshire. We will be engaging with the local authorities on their plans in the coming weeks.

These local authorities will deliver meals to those in receipt of Scottish Child Payment in S1 to 3 for a full school year from August 2025 to July 2026. This work will be independently evaluated and we are currently undertaking an exercise to appoint the researchers.

Question reference: S6W-38072

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any potential impact on its energy policy, what its position is on the potential future development of the stable salt reactor (SSR) design.

The Scottish Government’s position on traditional fission nuclear energy is clear: we do not support the building of any new nuclear power stations under current technologies. Nuclear energy creates a legacy of radioactive waste, requiring complex and expensive long-term management to prevent environmental contamination and harm to the public.

New technologies such as the stable salt reactor are not yet proven. Should technologies emerge that can be proven to address the concerns with regard to safety, environment and value for money – then we will consider these further.

Question reference: S6W-38231

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the spawning period is for (a) Loligo forbesi and (b) L. vulgaris in Scottish waters, and what relevant research has been conducted in the last 10 years.

In Scottish waters, Loligo forbesi have a spawning period extending from January to May, with the most intensive period from February to March. Loligo vulgaris are a rare sight in Scottish waters, being more commonly found in southern North Sea and the English Channel, and they spawn during December to April (with a peak between December and February).

Sources:

Graham J. Pierce, Peter R. Boyle, Lee C. Hastie, Linda Key (1994) The life history of Loligo forbesi (Cephalopoda: Loliginidae) in Scottish waters. Fisheries Research, 21(1–2,) pp. 17-41, ISSN 0165-7836.

Vladimir Laptikhovsky, A Louise Allcock, Leigh Barnwall, Christopher Barrett, Gavan Cooke, Christian Drerup, Christopher Firmin, Sophie Lozach, Eleanor MacLeod, Daniel Oesterwind, Michael Petroni, Jean-Paul Robin, Edel Sheerin, Anne-Marie Power, Graham J Pierce (2022), Spatial and temporal variability of spawning and nursery grounds of Loligo forbesii and Loligo vulgaris squids in ecoregions of Celtic Seas and Greater North Sea, ICES Journal of Marine Science,79 (6), 1918–1930, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsac128.

Question reference: S6W-38170

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have been waiting for over two years for an outpatient appointment.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes statistics on the length of time patients wait to be seen as a new outpatient or admitted for treatment as an inpatient or day case in the Stage of Treatment (SoT) publication. The latest publication release contains data up to quarter ending 31 March 2025.

At 31 March 2025, there were 5,262 waits over two years for an outpatient appointment.

Trend information of the wait experienced by patients whilst still on the waiting list (ongoing waits) can be found in the ‘Waits over 52 weeks’ data table in sheets ‘Table 3.1.1’ for new outpatient appointments, and ‘Table 3.2.1’ for inpatient or day case admissions. The data is ongoing from 31 December 2019 onwards and can be filtered by health board and specialty: waits_over_52_weeks_may25.xlsx

Question reference: S6W-38229

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any stock assessments have been conducted for (a) Loligo forbesi and (b) L. vulgaris in Scottish inshore waters since 2010, and, if so, what the findings were of any such assessments.

Question reference: S6W-37897

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Climate Change Committee's projection of a 36% reduction in cattle and sheep numbers by 2045, how it will assess the impact of any reduction in the beef herd on rural communities.

The Scottish Government recognises the vital role the livestock sector plays in supporting rural communities. We do not have a policy to reduce livestock numbers and fully recognise the value that livestock plays in Scotland's rural communities, maintaining bio diversity and our food sector. In order to understand what is happening within the sector we are committed to assessing, through engagement with stakeholders, the potential social and economic impacts of any changes in the size of the beef herd - whether driven by market trends, consumer behaviour, or technological change - on rural areas across Scotland.

This assessment will be carried out through ongoing engagement with farmers, crofters, industry representatives and rural stakeholders, alongside analysis of rural economies and land use. In stark contrast to the UK Government we continue to demonstrate our commitment to the beef sector through a range of support schemes, including the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (SSBSS), which provides targeted, coupled support for livestock producers In addition, the retention of the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in Scotland is helping to maintain income stability for many beef producers. This reformed direct support reflects the unique challenges facing our farming and crofting communities and underlines our determination to deliver a sustainable future for rural Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-38280

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for Carer Support Payment that were completed in each month since it was launched took (a) between six and nine months and (b) nine months or more to process, expressed as a (i) total number and (ii) percentage.

Social Security Scotland routinely publishes information on application processing times for Carer Support Payment as part of official statistics releases.

The latest statistics covering the period to 31 March 2025 were published on Tuesday 13 May and can be found at https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications/statistics. It is important to note that, following a staggered pilot launch, Carer Support Payment was rolled out nationally on 4 November 2024.

Supplementary analysis, based on the latest published statistics, is provided in the following tables.

Table 1: The number of applications processed for Carer Support Payment by financial year and processing time.

Processing time	Total	Financial year 2023-2024	Financial year 2024-2025
Total applications processed	10,375	430	9,945
Applications processed in 121-180 working days	40	0	40
Applications processed in 180 or more working days	5	0	5

Table 2: The percentage of applications processed for Carer Support Payment by financial year and processing time.

Processing time	Total	Financial year 2023-2024	Financial year 2024-2025
Total applications processed	10,375	430	9,945
Applications processed in 121-180 working days	0%	0%	0%
Applications processed in 180 or more working days	0%	0%	0%