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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: S6F-04425

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2025

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the recent news that Eastern Airways, which runs lifeline regional services in the Highlands and Islands, has entered administration.

Question reference: S6F-04415

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2025

To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government has had with the UK Government regarding the implementation of the proposed scheme for the renovation of military homes in Scotland.

Question reference: S6F-04424

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2025

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the Auditor General’s report, 2024/25 audit of the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts, which indicates a £1 billion underspend by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6F-04409

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04408

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04407

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-41382

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 3 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an estimate of the number veterans who are currently unemployed.

The 2022 Census represents the most current comprehensive snapshot we have of the veterans population in Scotland. It estimated there were 2,700 unemployed veterans at that point in time. This equated to 3.6% of economically active veterans, which compared favourably to economically active non-veterans at 4.4%.

However, it should be noted that caution is needed when making comparisons between veterans and the rest of the population. For example, Scotland’s Census showed that the structure of the veteran population differed substantially to the non-veteran population in relation to age and sex, with the veteran population being older and predominantly male.

Question reference: S6W-41383

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 3 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide information on the number of veterans it has helped enter employment since November 2018, broken down by financial year.

The Scottish Government greatly values the skills and experiences that veterans can bring to employers and to their communities across Scotland when they leave the Armed Forces. Employability services are provided by a mixed economy of public, third and private sector providers and we do not currently collate information on the number of veterans specifically helped into employment through our employment support services.

The NHS Scotland Armed Forces Talent Programme (AFTP) is a recent example of specific employment support to Veterans. It is an NHS Scotland-wide recruitment initiative for the armed forces community, which supports service leavers, veterans, spouses, partners, dependants, reservists, cadets, and cadet forces adult volunteers to enter the NHS Scotland workforce. The AFTP maps key workforce needs and existing pathways to the available skills, experience and aspirations of the Armed Forces Community in both clinical and non-clinical roles alike.

The Scottish Veterans Fund continues to fund projects supporting veterans into employment. We are currently funding the Forces Employment Charity to help Early Service Leavers find employment; Scotland’s Bravest Manufacturing Company to run enhanced manufacturing traineeships for veterans; and Salute my Job’s Career Jumpstart project which aims to reskill veterans into high demand areas of employment.

We continue to make progress in increasing the number of veterans employed within the Scottish Government and recently carried out a successful recruitment exercise of veterans under the Civil Service's Going Forward into Employment scheme.

Question reference: S6W-41393

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with NHS boards regarding the use of combustible façade material on hospital buildings, in light of the remediation efforts currently underway at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

In June 2017, following the tragic events at Grenfell Tower in London, the Scottish Government requested information regarding the NHSScotland estate, owned or otherwise, in respect of external cladding systems. Health Facilities Scotland issued an email to all Boards. There were two buildings identified as having combustible cladding. Of these two buildings one has had the cladding removed and the other has been confirmed that it does not present a hazard.

Any new hospitals must comply with current building standards, which include a requirement for non-combustible cladding material at a storey height of over 11m. High risk MAC-PE cladding material is banned on buildings of all height. It is the statutory responsibility of Health Boards to manage their estate, and we expect them to provide safe environments for all hospital users.

NHS Scotland Firecode, Scottish Health Technical Memorandum (SHTM 81) Fire Safety in the design of healthcare premises stipulates that external wall systems, including cladding and insulation, on all hospitals with a total floor area of more than 200m2, should be constructed of products achieving European Classification A1 (non-combustible) or A2 (will not significantly contribute to fire load and fire growth). Combustible façade material is not permissible on new hospital buildings.

Question reference: S6W-41381

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 3 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what new data it has started to collect on veterans since November 2018.

There have been significant developments in the data collected on veterans in recent years, offering enhanced insight into the size, nature and circumstances of the veterans community in Scotland.

Scotland’s 2022 Census included for the first time a question on former Service in the Armed Forces. It was found that 176,100 people across Scotland had previously served in the UK Armed Forces, representing 3.9% of people aged 16 and over. The Scottish Government published a report in November 2024 outlining differences between Scotland’s veteran and non-veteran population and providing high-level statistics on veterans’ demographic characteristics. This can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-characteristics-of-uk-armed-forces-veterans-scotlands-census-2022/.

Alongside the November release, National Records Scotland published a Flexible Table Builder to support further analysis of the veteran population, including a wider range of variables such as ethnic group, religion and disability, as well as health, housing and employment. Scottish Government analysts have been examining this detailed data to better understand veterans’ demographic characteristics and explore key differences between the veteran and non-veteran population.

Another key development has been the inclusion of the veterans question from the Census in the three Scottish Government major household surveys (Scottish Household Survey, Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, and the Scottish Health Survey). Findings from these sources have started to emerge, including chapters outlining headline results for veterans compared to non-veterans, as can be found here: Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2023/24: Main findings - gov.scot

Scottish Government officials also worked with ONS, OVA and the other Devolved Governments to develop and facilitate the first UK-wide Veterans’ Survey, which aims to understand current access to and perception of services in addition to veterans’ experiences and circumstances. Findings on a range of topics from the survey include information on whether patterns seen in results at UK level were replicated amongst respondents in Scotland.

Scottish Government analysts will continue to work with the UK Government to robustly analyse, collate and make use of emerging data to better understand veterans’ demographic characteristics and explore key differences between the veteran and non-veteran population.