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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-38224

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many individuals were taken to police stations under section 297 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 in 2024-25.

Question reference: S6W-38491

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase business research and development (R&D) spending in Scotland, in light of reported research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that shows that Scotland's business enterprise R&D intensity in 2022 was only 1.45% of GDP, while it was 2% in the UK overall and more than 2.6% in Sweden.

The Scottish Government recognises that while Scotland is ranked among the top OECD countries and top performing UK regions in Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) spend as a percentage of GDP, Scotland’s Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) spend as a share of GDP is below the OECD average. While Scotland outperforms the EU27 average, the Scottish Government published its National Innovation Strategy in 2023 to increase innovation levels across Scotland, including business R&D spending.

The ten year strategy sets out actions to make Scotland one of the most innovative small nations in the world and will use innovation as a productivity driver to grow the economy and create jobs in areas of strength such as: energy transition; health and life sciences; advanced manufacturing; and the application of data and digital technologies. Specifically, the strategy’s commercialisation programme will support our world-class universities to consistently and effectively convert cutting edge research and technologies into scaling companies.

Question reference: S6W-38490

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to (a) businesses and (b) public institutions to develop ideas and products through NASA's Technological Readiness Levels 4 to 6, commonly referred to within innovation circles as the "valley of death" due to the complexities of developing a product from the research stage to the development stage.

Scotland’s Innovation Strategy sets out actions to make Scotland one of the most innovative small nations in the world. We will use innovation as a productivity driver to grow the economy and create jobs in areas of strength.

Scotland’s Enterprise agencies; Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise, support Scotland’s businesses to innovate and develop new products and services through several programmes including SMART:SCOTLAND grants.

Additionally, the Scottish Government has recently launched a competitive £2.9 million proof of concept fund to support researchers from Scotland’s universities develop innovative ideas into new products and services.

Question reference: S6W-38501

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of waiting times for individuals seeking elective surgery for hernias within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

We know many people are still waiting too long and this is not good enough. We are determined do more and our Budget will provide a record £21.7 billion for health and social care. More than £106 million additional funding has been allocated to Health Boards to help tackle the longest waits for procedures and operations, including more than £5 million targeted funding for General Surgery (the speciality that covers hernia operations).

Question reference: S6W-38206

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much Baroness Helena Kennedy KC was paid in her role as chair of the Independent Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-38270

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what subsidies are provided to publicly operated electric vehicle (EV) charge points run by ChargePlace Scotland.

Since 2011 the Scottish Government has invested over £65 million to develop ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) with the aim of encouraging the uptake of electric vehicles (EV). To grow CPS, Scottish Ministers have provided grant funding to over 400 organisations across the public, private and third sectors to install charge points and make them publicly available on the CPS network. The grantees are the owners of the charge points on CPS and responsible for tariffs, ongoing maintenance and upgrades. CPS’ role as the operator is to make them available to the public so that drivers can easily locate and pay for charging sessions.

As a direct result of this funding and increasing private sector investment Scotland now has over 6,900 public charge points. A target for 6,000 public charge points was met in October 2024, two years ahead of schedule.

In addition to investment in public charge points, Scottish Ministers have also provided over £19 million for the installation of over 23,000 lower powered charge points at homes and at workplaces, complementing the public charging network. Ministers remain committed to supporting drivers in the year ahead, setting aside further funding to support consumer incentive schemes for the installation of EV infrastructure at people’s homes, workplaces and public places.

Scottish Ministers’ vision: Vision for world class public electric vehicle charging network | Transport Scotland for the future of public EV charging and the accompanying Draft Implementation Plan: Vision for Scotland's public electric vehicle charging network - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space both set out a clear direction for the future of EV infrastructure in Scotland. The Scottish Government will continue to enable increasing private sector investment, whilst targeting public funding towards those parts of Scotland less likely to benefit from standalone private sector investment in public EV charging. This includes the £30 million provided to local authorities through our EV Infrastructure Fund which is on track secure additional private sector investment in public EV charging and support the provision of a further 6,000 public charge points across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-35819

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of current funding for the Scottish Education Exchange Programme (SEEP) is spent on (a) administration and overhead costs and (b) direct student support.

When applying for funding, colleges and universities submit a projected budget which provides a detailed breakdown of costs relating to the implementation and delivery of the project. However, the information is not recorded in the manner requested.

An external evaluation due to be published later in the summer will provide an analysis of the SEEP projects which will include costs associated with the development and delivery of projects and funding allocated to student mobility.

Question reference: S6W-38254

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering introducing a multi-year funding model for future Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme payments, and, if so, whether it is able to provide any details of this.

The Scottish Government understands the importance of multi-year budgets to the agriculture sector and consistently makes the case to the UK Government that a single year budget settlement does not give the stability and certainty that we need. If the UK Government Spending Review provides multi-year funding, SG would expect to be able to provide that certainty in turn to the agriculture and marine sectors.

Question reference: S6W-38246

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on the number of qualified youth workers that are currently employed in Scotland.

Youth work falls within the scope of The Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013. This regulation, in effect, requires local authorities to identify need and plan provision of Community Learning and Development in their areas.

As the regulatory requirements for Community Learning and Development are placed with education authorities, the Scottish Government does not collate information on youth workers.

Question reference: S6W-38555

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has run any recent public awareness campaigns targeting online scams.

The Scottish Government is working hard to crack down on scammers and deliver better support for those targeted by scams.

We provided funding of £500,000 in 2021-22 to various members of Scotland’s Scams Prevention, Awareness & Enforcement Strategy Group to carry out targeted scams prevention and awareness work.

Our supported work includes the roll out by Trading Standards Scotland (TSS) of nearly 1,000 free call blocking devices to vulnerable individuals who were most at risk from scammers and rogue traders. The Scottish Government has also supported a project carried out by Advice Direct Scotland (ADS) to enhance the referral pathways available for connecting victims of scams to appropriate sources of support, and has provided separate funding to ADS to raise awareness of romance and companionship scams.

Since 2023, Consumer Scotland, which is funded by the Scottish Government, has been working with consumer organisations such as TSS to fund scams awareness campaigns, including the yearly Shut Out Scammers campaign. In April 2025, Consumer Scotland formally assumed responsibility for scams prevention and awareness work, supported by £175,000 of funding for this financial year.

The Scottish Government also funds the national consumer helpline, delivered by ADS and contactable at consumer advice or on 0808 164 6000. Suspicious activity can be reported to ADS or, where appropriate, to Police Scotland by calling 101.