Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

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 ��˿�� 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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 1220 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-32777

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the second phase of the Glasgow Queen Street railway station redevelopment at the former car park adjacent to North Hanover Street.

Funding for the redevelopment of the North Hanover Street car park site was withdrawn after a review of priorities following the Capital Spending Review in 2020. Network Rail was tasked at that time with sourcing alternative funding and a consideration of options.

Network Rail continues to work with Glasgow City Council development and regeneration team on viable options for the site. It is worth noting that a planning application submitted by Network Rail in May 2021 was determined by the Council in December 2024.

Question reference: S6W-32822

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether Ferguson Marine is prepared to bid to build two floating docks for the Royal Navy under the Additional Fleet Time Docking Capability (AFTDC) project, which aims to acquire two floating dry docks and associated infrastructure for submarine maintenance at HMNB Clyde (Faslane).

Question reference: S6W-32815

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of its lease of 5 Atlantic Quay at 150 Broomielaw after its owner, Singapore-based Elite Partners Capital’s UK Commercial Fund III, reportedly instructed JLL to seek offers over £20 million for the building in April 2024, and whether it has assessed the potential cost and benefit of making an offer to purchase the building to establish a freehold instead of a leasehold on the property.

In line with Ministerial priorities in the current challenging fiscal context, officials are always considering options and opportunities for Scottish Government's estate that make the best possible use of our existing assets and deliver value for money. The Scottish Minister’s leasehold interest at 5 Atlantic Quay, Glasgow is being considered as part of that strategic estate work. We cannot comment further at this time due to the commercial sensitivities involved.

Question reference: S6W-32814

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported comments from Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, that the Scottish Government should “either support one or two flights to North America from Glasgow or stop doing route development funding altogether” and that "every single route in the aviation strategy has gone to Edinburgh Airport".

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of Scotland’s international connectivity and we want to see it grow at all Scotland’s airports.

Our Aviation Statement commits to working with Scotland’s airports and airlines to help grow connectivity to the international markets that are important for inbound tourism, business connectivity and the economy as a whole. Scotland's International Strategy specifically mentions improving connectivity to North America.

We take a national approach to route development and our work with airlines is carried out strictly on an “airport-neutral” basis, leaving airlines to decide which Scottish airport to use.

Question reference: S6O-04227

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it remains committed to dedicating 10% of frontline NHS spend to mental health and 1% to CAMHS.

Question reference: S6W-32876

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde regarding access to urology services over the 2024-25 Christmas and New Year period, and what the outcome of these discussions was.

The Scottish Government and the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) meet regularly with all Health Boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to discuss the performance and delivery of all planned care specialities including urology.

We have developed our winter plan with input from the whole Health and Social Care system which brings together best practice and improvement work which we know works from lessons learned in previous winters, to ensure that the most appropriate care is received in the right place and at the right time.

Question reference: S6W-32825

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 15 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in Glasgow that have experienced an overflow event in the last six months are not planned investment priorities.

Combined sewer overflows are an essential part of the sewer system, protecting properties from flooding at times of intense rainfall by allowing highly diluted wastewater to spill to the water environment. CSOs must be licensed by SEPA, and any unsatisfactory discharges will be identified so that Scottish Water can invest to reduce the environmental impact.

Scottish Water has already published a list of high priority CSOs to be upgraded at . The prioritisation of future upgrades is under consideration as part of the preparations for the next investment period 2027-33. Ministers commissioned the Strategic Review of Charges process in April 2024 by writing to the Water Industry Commission for Scotland ().

Scottish Water’s methodology towards prioritisation of investment is available at .

Question reference: S6W-32824

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 15 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) combined sewer overflows (CSOs), (b) settled storm sewage overflows (SSSOs) and (c) emergency overflows (EOs) in Glasgow are currently monitored for overflow events, and what percentage this is of the total number.

Question reference: S6W-32823

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 14 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it holds time series data on the annual number of households and dwellings in Glasgow from the start of the 20th century to date.

I have asked Alison Byrne, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

Annual estimates of households and dwellings by local authority area are published by the National Records of Scotland. The statistics on households are available for each year back to 1991 for households and to 2001 for dwellings. The household and dwelling estimates for 2001 to 2023 are available in Tables 1 and 2 respectively in the Data file for . Household estimates for 1991 to 2000 are available in Table 1 of . Statistics on the number of households and dwellings in different areas are available in the reports of the 1901 and subsequent decennial censuses

Question reference: S6W-32816

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 14 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its total Glasgow city centre office leasehold and freehold footprint has been in terms of (a) buildings occupied and (b) total square footage occupied in each of the last 10 years.

Details of Scottish Government's Glasgow city centre office accommodation, including the buildings occupied and the total area in square metres, over the last 10 years are as follows:

Year	Building	NIA (Sq m)
2014-15	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Highlander House	2,911.63
	Europa Building	3,000.54
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		13,260.89

2015-16	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Highlander House	2,911.63
	Europa Building	3,000.54
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		13,260.89

2016-17	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Highlander House	2,911.63
	Europa Building	3,000.54
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		13,260.89

2017-18	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		7,348.72

2018-19	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		7,348.72

2019-20	4 Atlantic Quay	5,580.00
	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		12,928.72

2020-21	4 Atlantic Quay	5,580.00
	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		12,928.72

2021-22	4 Atlantic Quay	5,580.00
	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		12,928.72

2022-23	4 Atlantic Quay	5,580.00
	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
	Fruit Market, Blochairn	125.00
Total		12,928.72

2023-24	4 Atlantic Quay	5,580.00
	5 Atlantic Quay	7,223.72
Total		12,803.72

2024-2025	5 Atlantic Quay	9,014.57
Total		9,014.57