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.

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Question reference: S6W-38276

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with local authorities regarding when they were first made aware of the risks of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

The Scottish Government has engaged closely with Local Authorities throughout the response to the issues raised by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). In August 2023 the Scottish Government held the first meeting of the RAAC Cross Sector Working Group to help raise awareness of RAAC across the public sector. Local Authorities are represented on this group as are representative organisations such as the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA) and the Scottish Heads of Property Services (SHoPS).

Question reference: S6W-37872

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jackson Carlaw (on behalf of the SPCB) on 9 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, in light of article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998, how it will ensure that the human right to respect for private life is protected in the implementation of any measures that it is taking as result of the Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers.

As the national Parliament, there is the need to balance the needs and legal rights of all those who work at and visit the Parliament, and manage the tensions this sometimes creates.

The right to private life is a key consideration for all employers and we will continue to ensure that such rights are protected. The Corporate Body has a general public sector duty and must have due regard to the need to–

• Eliminate discrimination

• Advance equality of opportunity

• Foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities.

We will continue to ensure all our services, policies, practices, events and decision-making processes are fair and systematically assessed (in respect of protected characteristics). The next phase of our work will look at changes in the medium to longer term to enhance our inclusive provision and includes engaging with staff, Members, Members’ staff and other stakeholders including external groups and organisations who work regularly and closely with people across all of the different protected characteristics.

Question reference: S6W-37871

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jackson Carlaw (on behalf of the SPCB) on 9 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how it is working to ensure that parliamentary staff have the right to work free from any discrimination and harassment, regardless of gender identity.

The SPCB is committed to creating and maintaining a safe, welcoming and inclusive working environment that nurtures a culture in which we treat one another with courtesy and professionalism. There is no place for bullying, harassment, discrimination, sexual misconduct or victimisation in our parliamentary community and each of us is responsible for the way we interact with and treat others.

As an employer, the SPCB aims to create a working environment in which staff are treated with respect, in a manner that allows them to maintain their dignity and where there is zero tolerance of harassment and bullying, including on the basis of gender identity or expression. This includes protecting staff against harassment or bullying behaviour from third parties.

Inclusiveness and respect are core values for the Scottish Parliamentary Service (SPS), and we value the diversity of our staff and respect individual differences within an inclusive working environment. We want to continue to attract and retain a workforce that reflects diverse communities and we are committed to eliminating discrimination and complying with our equality statutory duties. And our staffing policies and practices are in place to continue to achieve this.

The SPCB’s Dignity at Work Policy plays an important part in preventing staff from experiencing bullying and harassment and ensures all staff are clear about what is acceptable behaviour in the workplace. We continue to develop our employment practices to ensure legal compliance and workplace integrity. A formal review of the Dignity at Work Policy will take place this year.

Question reference: S6W-38274

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with local authorities regarding whether they could have taken any steps to make potential Right to Buy purchasers more aware of the risks of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, and, if this was the case, what steps were identified.

Question reference: S6W-38275

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the criteria are for accessing the Aberdeen City Region Deal Housing Infrastructure Fund.

Question reference: S6W-38193

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has provided to Scottish Enterprise regarding the (a) scope, (b) timescales and (c) terms of reference of the review of its human rights due diligence processes.

Question reference: S6W-38192

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects Scottish Enterprise to have finalised the review of its human rights due diligence processes.

Question reference: S6W-38191

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) accountability and (b) monitoring mechanisms are in place to ensure that Scottish Enterprise’s review of its human rights due diligence processes is undertaken in line with relevant international human rights standards.

Question reference: S6W-37820

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the uptake of the Energy Skills Passport by offshore workers since 22 January 2025.

The Energy Skills Passport is an industry-led project, with Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) and RenewableUK (RUK) as the lead bodies.

The latest information available to Scottish Government regarding uptake, which covers the period from launch in January to April 2025, is that around 390 user profiles have been set up on the Passport’s digital system. The website received around 2,300 views during its first month and now averages around 900 views per month. More than 50% of the of the activity on the system has come from users based in Scotland.

For the most up to date figures, we recommend contacting OEUK and RUK directly.

Question reference: S6W-37821

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many times it has met with (a) UK Government officials, (b) trade unions and (c) employers regarding the energy skills passport steering group since 22 January 2025.

Since the launch of the Energy Skills Passport in January 2025, Scottish Government officials have met regularly with the industry leads for the project, Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) and RenewableUK (RUK), with approximately seven such meetings happening over the period to May 2025. UK Government officials have also attended these meetings.

Trade unions have been involved in the development of the Passport since its inception. Scottish Government officials attended a roundtable meeting about the Passport with trade unions in April 2025 – this was led by OEUK and RUK. The Minister for Climate Action met with trade unions, alongside the Just Transition Partnership, in February 2025 to discuss the Passport.

The Scottish Government is looking forward to seeing the Passport develop further in ‘Phase 2’ of its development; providing more options and pathways for workers to transition between sectors. Success in Phase 2 will require the Passport to be fully supported from a range of bodies, including the UK Government.