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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-42072

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many planning officials there currently are in Scotland, and what assessment it has conducted of any future need.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of staff currently employed in local authority planning services, nor in other sectors.

Research commissioned by Skills Development Scotland, published in 2021, estimated that there were approximately 1600 people employed in the planning profession in Scotland and that over the next 10-15 years the planning sector would have demand for an additional 700 entrants into the sector.

More recently, the National Planning Improvement Champion has undertaken a workforce and capacity study and published the findings at: National Planning Improvement Workforce and Capacity Report Scotland. The RTPI has also published its report scotland-sotp-final.pdf. We are currently considering the findings of these reports.

The Scottish Government recognises the financial and capacity pressures on the planning system and is continuing to take forward a package of changes to provide authorities with additional resources. Planning fees were increased in line with inflation in December 2024, June 2025 and a further increase is scheduled for April 2026.

In addition, Scotland’s National Planning Hub continues to provide additional funding and targeted practical support to help authorities respond to pressing challenges, enabling them to accelerate key activities this financial year.

We are also supporting an increase in planners coming into the profession, having recruited 17 Student Planners on our Future Planners Programme, working across the Scottish Government for 23 months whilst undertaking a funded planning postgraduate degree, and we trebled the number of bursaries in 2025-26 to help 30 planning students with course fees and living expenses.

Question reference: S6W-42071

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many planning applications are currently stalled due to infrastructure constraints in the West Scotland region.

The Scottish Government does not routinely monitor the progress of planning applications through the system.

However, we have worked closely with the housebuilding industry and planning authorities to remove barriers on stalled housing sites across Scotland. This has included addressing infrastructure issues, for example flooding and drainage, education, and transport, covering road and rail. We have taken actions that benefit multiple sites, for example sharing advice and best practice, and undertaken brokerage on specific sites.

Question reference: S6W-42067

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many times a person has appeared in court on a charge of the production manufacture or cultivation of drugs and possession with intent to supply, as per the definition in the Scottish Crime Recording Standard: Crime Recording and Counting Rules, and received a (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentence, in each year since 2021.

The figures are provided in the following tables.

Custodial

How many times a person has appeared in court on a charge of the production manufacture or cultivation of drugs and possession with intent to supply, and received a custodial sentence:

Details	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Production, manufacture or cultivation of drugs -Total custodial	19	39	26
Supply, possession w.i. to supply etc of drugs – Total custodial	240	313	362

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Non-custodial sentence

How many times a person has appeared in court on a charge of the production manufacture or cultivation of drugs and possession with intent to supply, and received a non-custodial sentence:

Details	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Production, manufacture or cultivation of drugs – Total non-custodial	132	190	191
Supply, possession w.i. to supply etc of drugs – Total non-custodial	413	613	897

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Question reference: S6W-41876

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding what the (a) total cost was for all patients and (b) average cost was per patient registered with GPs in (i) Aberdeen City and (ii) Aberdeenshire who received secondary or tertiary care delivered by NHS (A) Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (B) Lothian in each of the last five years, broken down by (1) travel, (2) accommodation and (3) subsistence costs, also broken down by how many made multiple trips, broken down by the (aa) mean and (bb) median number of trips.

Question reference: S6W-42065

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many times a person has appeared in court on a charge of sexual crimes, as per the definition in the Scottish Crime Recording Standard: Crime Recording and Counting Rules, and received a (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentence, in each year since 2021.

The figures are provided in the following tables.

Custodial

How many times a person has appeared in court on a charge of sexual crimes, and received a custodial sentence

Details	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Sexual crimes – Total custodial	251	441	462

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

non-custodial sentence

How many times a person has appeared in court on a charge of sexual crimes, and received a non-custodial sentence:

Details	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Sexual crimes – Total non-custodial	590	842	953

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Question reference: S6W-41884

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the number of unplanned readmissions within 30 days among patients registered with GPs in (a) Aberdeen City and (b) Aberdeenshire who travelled to NHS (i) Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (ii) Lothian in each of the last five years, compared with patients treated in NHS Grampian.

Question reference: S6W-42064

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many times a person has appeared in court on a charge of domestic abuse, as per the definition in the Scottish Crime Recording Standard: Crime Recording and Counting Rules, and received a (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentence, in each year since 2021.

The figures are provided in the following tables.

Custodial

How many times a person has appeared in court on a charge of domestic abuse, and received a custodial sentence:

Details	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Domestic abuse – Total custodial	72	111	112

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Non-custodial sentence

How many times a person has appeared in court on a charge of domestic abuse, and received a non-custodial sentence:

Details	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Domestic abuse – Total non-custodial	309	579	651

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Question reference: S6W-42093

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the suitability and operational performance of newly procured 4×4 and multi-role vehicles for wildfire and road traffic incidents response.

The process of procuring and designing Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) off-road vehicles is based on the established operational needs of the organisation while taking into account feedback from internal and external stakeholders. Operational performance of these assets is routinely evaluated through SFRS’s Operational Assurance process and via internal and external debriefs. These evaluations and feedback are integral in developing future policy and procedure, as well as influencing future procurement processes.

Given the procurement and the performance assessment of its vehicles are operational matters for SFRS, it would be inappropriate for the Scottish Government to offer comment on such matters.

Question reference: S6W-42069

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many times a person has appeared in court on a charge of death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs, as per the definition in the Scottish Crime Recording Standard: Crime Recording and Counting Rules, and received a (a) custodial and (b) non-custodial sentence, in each year since 2021.

The figures are provided in the following tables.

Custodial

How many times a person has appeared in court on a charge of death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs, and received a custodial sentence:

Details	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Death by careless driving when under influence of drink/drugs – Total custodial	-	1	1

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Non-custodial sentence

How many times a person has appeared in court on a charge of death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs, and received a non-custodial sentence:

Details	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Death by careless driving when under influence of drink/drugs – Total non-custodial	-	1	-

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database

Question reference: S6W-42096

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS) South project has been designed with passive provision measures for future integration of light rail, including by ensuring that underground utilities are designed accordingly.

The Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS) South project is being led by Renfrewshire Council. The Scottish Government is funding the Gallowhill link of the project, which will use a former railway underpass to provide crossing under Renfrew Road from Gallowhill for the new school. The inclusion of passive provision measures for future integration of light rail is a matter for the Council and any terms agreed when securing any UK Government funding.