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-38038

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what reporting obligations were placed on local authorities in return for play park renewal funding, and whether any of these include the submission of completion data.

Question reference: S6W-38041

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what data it has on how the £60 million for play park renewal has been (a) allocated and (b) spent across all 32 local authorities.

Capital funding for the play park renewal programme is distributed to all 32 Local Authorities based on population of 0-14 year olds and rurality. In the first year, the formula was:

1.95% on population 0-14

2.5% on rurality

From 2022-23, the formula was:

1.93% on population 0-14

2.7% on rurality

The full table of allocations to each local authority by year is:

Local Authority	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26	Total
Aberdeen City Council	£188,000	£185,000	£373,000	£559,000	£932,000	£2,237,000
Aberdeenshire Council	£296,000	£308,000	£616,000	£924,000	£1,539,000	£3,683,000
Angus Council	£108,000	£111,000	£220,000	£330,000	£550,000	£1,319,000
Argyll and Bute	£76,000	£79,000	£157,000	£235,000	£391,000	£938,000
City of Edinburgh Council	£414,000	£406,000	£811,000	£1,216,000	£2,027,000	£4,874,000
Clackmannanshire Council	£47,000	£46,000	£93,000	£139,000	£231,000	£556,000
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Council	£29,000	£32,000	£62,000	£93,000	£156,000	£372,000
Dumfries and Galloway Council	£140,000	£146,000	£291,000	£437,000	£728,000	£1,742,000
Dundee City Council	£125,000	£122,000	£243,000	£365,000	£609,000	£1,464,000
East Ayrshire Council	£112,000	£112,000	£224,000	£336,000	£561,000	£1,345,000
East Dunbartonshire Council	£102,000	£100,000	£202,000	£303,000	£505,000	£1,212,000
East Lothian Council	£108,000	£108,000	£218,000	£327,000	£545,000	£1,306,000
East Renfrewshire Council	£102,000	£101,000	£204,000	£306,000	£509,000	£1,222,000
Falkirk Council	£147,000	£145,000	£289,000	£434,000	£723,000	£1,738,000
Fife Council	£344,000	£342,000	£681,000	£1,022,000	£1,703,000	£4,092,000
Glasgow City Council	£525,000	£514,000	£1,028,000	£1,542,000	£2,570,000	£6,179,000
Highland Council	£234,000	£245,000	£488,000	£732,000	£1,219,000	£2,918,000
Inverclyde Council	£65,000	£63,000	£126,000	£189,000	£314,000	£757,000
Midlothian Council	£98,000	£97,000	£197,000	£295,000	£492,000	£1,179,000
Moray Council	£92,000	£94,000	£188,000	£282,000	£469,000	£1,125,000
North Ayrshire Council	£118,000	£117,000	£231,000	£347,000	£578,000	£1,391,000
North Lanarkshire Council	£324,000	£319,000	£635,000	£952,000	£1,586,000	£3,816,000
Orkney Islands Council	£24,000	£26,000	£51,000	£77,000	£128,000	£306,000
Perth and Kinross Council	£140,000	£144,000	£291,000	£437,000	£728,000	£1,740,000
Renfrewshire Council	£158,000	£155,000	£307,000	£461,000	£768,000	£1,849,000
Scottish Borders Council	£113,000	£117,000	£234,000	£352,000	£586,000	£1,402,000
Shetland Islands Council	£28,000	£31,000	£61,000	£91,000	£151,000	£362,000
South Ayrshire Council	£94,000	£94,000	£189,000	£283,000	£472,000	£1,132,000
South Lanarkshire Council	£298,000	£296,000	£597,000	£896,000	£1,493,000	£3,580,000
Stirling Council	£84,000	£85,000	£168,000	£253,000	£421,000	£1,011,000
West Dunbartonshire Council	£81,000	£79,000	£157,000	£235,000	£392,000	£944,000
West Lothian Council	£186,000	£184,000	£369,000	£553,000	£922,000	£2,214,000
Total	£5,000,000	£5,000,000	£10,000,000	£15,000,000	£25,000,000	£60,000,000

The Scottish Government does not hold data on local authorities receipted spend on play park renewals. In accordance with the reporting template agreed with COSLA in 2021, local authorities are not required to provide a detailed breakdown of the play park renewal funding. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them based on local needs and priorities.

Question reference: S6W-38045

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any local authorities have reported any challenges or delays in delivering play park renewals, and whether it has collated and currently holds data on any such delays.

Question reference: S6W-38037

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many play parks in each local authority area have been renewed using its £60 million national play park fund, and what metrics it is using to track the progress of play parks being renewed using the fund.

A scoping exercise undertaken by COSLA in 2022, identified that there were 969 parks in need of immediate refurbishment and that 2,542 were in need of refurbishment within 1-5 years. The £60 million capital investment would support the renewal of all play parks in need of immediate renewal and around 1,000 of the play parks identified needing renewal over the funding commitment period.

Since funding began in 2021, the Scottish Government has chaired quarterly network meetings of Local Authority play park leads. The network allows Local Authorities to provide updates on how funding is being used and to share best practice and common issues.

Figures for 2024-25 are still being finalised, but reports so far show the following number of renewals per year since funding began:

Local Authority	Play parks renewed in 2021-22	Play parks renewed in 2022-23	Play parks renewed in 2023-24	Play parks renewed in 2024-25	Total
Aberdeen City	11	46	28	43	128
Aberdeenshire Council	15	13	20	27	75
Angus Council	6	3	8	7	24
Argyll and Bute Council	0	0	0	8	8
City of Edinburgh Council	14	16	22	53	105
Clackmannanshire Council	1	2	6	6	15
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Council	0	0	0	4	4
Dumfries and Galloway Council	0	28	18	3	49
Dundee City Council	0	4	18	9	31
East Ayrshire Council	12	40	57	Numbers still to be confirmed	109
East Dunbartonshire Council	1	3	8	4	16
East Lothian Council	1	1	24	28	54
East Renfrewshire Council	3	4	4	12	23
Falkirk Council	2	7	9	7	25
Fife Council	12	9	10	24	55
Glasgow City Council	1	5	8	3	17
Highland Council	0	38	16	18	72
Inverclyde Council	6	5	5	6	22
Midlothian Council	2	18	14	0	34
Moray Council	1	6	6	12	25
North Ayrshire Council	0	29	19	15	63
North Lanarkshire Council	7	4	12	12	35
Orkney Islands Council	1	1	2	0	4
Perth and Kinross Council	3	10	11	20	44
Renfrewshire Council	2	3	7	3	15
Scottish Borders Council	1	1	4	5	11
Shetland Islands	0	1	4	8	13
South Ayrshire Council	6	4	4	3	17
South Lanarkshire Council	0	0	12	22	34
Stirling Council	9	6	8	7	30
West Dunbartonshire Council	5	5	9	6	25
West Lothian	42	6	22	35	105
TOTAL	164	318	395	410	1,287

Question reference: S6W-38036

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what specific data it has received from local authorities on the (a) number and (b) condition of play parks renewed using the £60 million national play park fund since 2021.

As noted in S6W-38035 on 11 June 2025, Local Authorities report annually every April on their play park renewals carried out as a result of the Scottish Government’s £60m play park renewal funding. The reports from Local Authorities detail the number of play parks in their estate, the number of play parks identified for renewal, the number of play parks they have renewed in that financial year and the number of play parks they have renewed to date since the funding started. Since September 2021, when funding for the renewal programme commenced, Local Authorities have reported that over 1,100 play parks have been renewed. Local Authorities are invited to share details of their play park renewals and the details of the engagement with the local community but are not required to list details of each renewal. The reporting format was developed and agreed in collaboration with COSLA in 2021.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-38043

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what baseline data was used to determine the scale of need for play park renewal prior to distributing the £60 million of funding.

Question reference: S6W-38039

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is monitoring the delivery of its 2021 commitment to renew every play park in Scotland, and whether this includes a national dataset or dashboard.

Question reference: S6W-38049

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 how it is using any data gathered from local authorities to inform future planning for outdoor play and infrastructure beyond the current renewal programme.

The Scottish Government published Scotland’s Play Vision Statement and Action Plan 2025-2030 in March 2025, which emphasises our commitment to play and our vision for the future of play in Scotland. It reinforces our commitment to children’s rights and mitigating the impacts of poverty through the promotion and access to free outdoor play spaces and opportunities.

Within the Vision Statement and Action Plan document we have published a Play Theory of Change which can be used by partners as a framework for further local and community improvements to play opportunities. The Theory of Change identifies place as one of three primary drivers, alongside parents and practitioners, that influence play opportunities for children.

The Vision Statement and Action Plan are designed to reflect the vision of play for Scotland for the next 5 years and the steps we will take within that time to achieve our vision and aim. The Scottish Government will lead on the ten actions in the plan and will collaborate with key partners in their delivery.

Additionally, as part of Planning Reform introduced through the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019, we have made ensuring the sufficiency of outdoor play opportunities a statutory planning duty through the Play Sufficiency Assessment Regulations 2023.

Local authorities may choose to make use of this information to inform their future planning for outdoor play provisions.

Question reference: S6W-38044

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 how many play parks have been permanently removed or closed since 2021, and whether these are included in delivery statistics for the national play park renewal programme.

Question reference: S6W-38046

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 formal evaluation of the £60 million play park renewal programme has been commissioned, and whether this will include full access to delivery data by local authorities.