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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-04833

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what responses have been received from LGBTQ+ staff or organisations that it has consulted with, or been contacted by, since the announcement of its interim policy on Parliament facilities, following the UK Supreme Court ruling.

Question reference: S6O-04832

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, further to the response to question S6O-04050, what the findings were of the review of the terms and conditions of staff employed by MSPs, particularly in relation to parental leave policies.

Question reference: S6W-38437

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether Forestry and Land Scotland has allowed external organisations to work under its own species-specific killing, disturbance or shelter destruction licences when carrying out forestry operations on the national forest estate; if so, how often, and which species are involved in any instances of such a licence transfer.

Question reference: S6W-38438

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which external organisations or type of organisations have undertaken operations under any Forestry and Land Scotland species-specific licence.

Question reference: S6W-38230

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 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the vessels engaged in the Scottish squid fishery have an Inshore Vessel Monitoring System (I-VMS) installed.

Question reference: S6W-38152

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to promote the development of short sea shipping lanes across Scotland and the British Isles, in an effort to shift freight off the roads.

Question reference: S6W-37983

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any operational consequences of Police Scotland reportedly running below 2013 staffing levels, in light of population growth and reports of increasing public disorder.

The recruitment and deployment of police officers and staff is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. The Scottish Government has increased police funding year-on-year since 2016-17, investing more than £14.6 billion since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013, with £1.64 billion being invested this year. Scottish Government funding in 2024-25 enabled Police Scotland to undertake the highest level of recruitment since its inception and Scotland continues to have more police officers per capita than England and Wales.

The Chief Constable has provided reassurance that Police Scotland has a healthy recruitment pipeline and has been clear that the context of frontline strength goes beyond an overall officer headcount and that of a police workforce which includes police staff. Police Scotland’s three-year Business Plan 2024-2027 sets out an ambitious programme of workforce modernisation, reducing back-office duplication and creating capacity to deal with new and increasing emerging threats.

The Scottish Government established an Independent Group to review our approach to antisocial behaviour, to ensure it has victims and communities at its heart. The Scottish Government, Police Scotland and COSLA are considering the Group’s recommendations. Ministers provided a progress report to the Criminal Justice Committee on key areas in April, and this will be followed by a comprehensive response in the Summer.

Question reference: S6W-38047

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any (a) national and (b) regional targets were set as part of the £60 million play park renewal programme, and how performance against any such targets is being (i) measured and (ii) recorded.

Question reference: S6W-38023

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many school buildings that have been surveyed still currently contain asbestos, and whether it will provide a list of any such schools, broken down by local authority area.

Local authorities have statutory responsibility for the control and management of asbestos within their schools, therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold this information. Furthermore, health and safety is not devolved to the Scottish Government, and the Health and Safety Executive has UK-wide responsibility for enforcement of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

However, the Scottish Government takes the issue of asbestos within schools very seriously and continues to engage with COSLA, local authorities and the Health and Safety Executive on this matter.

Question reference: S6W-38265

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates that the population of Glasgow city will recover to one million people.

I have asked Alison Byrne, Chief Executive of NRS to respond. Her response is:

As of mid-2023 (30 June 2023), the population of Glasgow City council area was estimated at 631,970. National Records of Scotland (NRS) has produced mid-year population estimates for Scotland’s 32 council areas on a consistent basis dating back to 1981. During this period, Glasgow City’s population was highest in mid-1981 at 712,370.

According to the 2018-based subnational population projections, which project the population of council areas up to mid-2043, the population of Glasgow City is projected to rise, reaching 662,740 by mid-2043. New, 2022-based sub-national population projections are due to be published later this year.

Population estimates are also produced for settlements. Scotland’s Census 2022 estimated the population of the Greater Glasgow settlement at 1,023,870 as of March 2022. Settlements are defined as groups of adjacent, high-density postcodes. For example, the Greater Glasgow settlement is larger than Glasgow City and includes areas like Paisley and Cambuslang.