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: S6O-04799

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further details of its plans for bringing forward the requisite regulations to fully implement the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021, including the special rights and powers that the Act foresees for heat network developers.

Question reference: S6W-37651

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it (a) has taken in the last six months and (b) is planning to take to improve waiting times for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments in the Lothian region.

Long waits for neurodevelopmental support are unacceptable. Health boards and children’s services partners are responsible for working together to ensure that children and families receive support and access to services that meet their needs at the earliest opportunity. To support this, we have provided almost £250,000 in 2024-25 to fund a range of individual projects to improve neurodevelopmental assessment and support for children and young people. This includes nearly £54,000 for services in the Lothian area.

We have also directly allocated £123.5 million to NHS Boards and IJBs for the Enhanced Mental Health Outcomes Framework. The Framework provides a single, flexible funding stream to support continued improvements and better outcomes across a range of mental health and psychological services in line with the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy including neurodevelopmental services for both adults and children.

We are also continuing to work with Health Boards and local authorities to improve our understanding current levels of need and the level of support children and young people currently receive, and how this could be used to support improvements for children and families.

For adults, we have commissioned the National Autism Implementation Team to support NHS Boards to develop, enhance and redesign adult neurodevelopmental services. Our £1 million Autism Support Fund for Adults funds organisations that support people with ADHD, especially where this co-occurs with autism.

Question reference: S6W-37573

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 22 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce legislation to require all public buildings and those supported by public funding to connect to district heating, to help provide demand assurance for heat networks.

Question reference: S6W-37574

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 22 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide support, similar to that available for heat pump installation, to help households meet the cost of connecting to a heat network.

Heat networks have an important role to play in meeting the objectives set out in our Heat in Buildings Strategy.

Our Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme continues to support homeowners with an interest-free loan of up to £7,500 towards connecting to a district heating scheme.

For those in or at risk of fuel poverty, support to connect to a district heating scheme is also available through our national fuel poverty scheme, Warmer Homes Scotland.

Households wanting to take action should contact HES who can help those interested to navigate the support available. HES can be contacted on 0808 808 2282 or via their online portal https://www.homeenergyscotland.org/

Question reference: S6W-37572

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 22 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are to legislate to require waste heat to be made available to heat networks to support Scotland’s transition to zero carbon heating.

Question reference: S6W-37571

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will launch the consultation on the necessary secondary legislation needed for the implementation of the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021 to enable distributed heat provision to benefit from the same statutory undertaker rights as any other licenced utility in Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the imperative to put heat network developers on a similar statutory footing as other utility providers, and our Heat Network (Scotland) Act 2021 enables this.

My officials have been developing proposals for the requisite regulations and guidance to implement this part of the Act. However, we have not yet proceeded to consultation as we consider the implications of the UK Government’s developing plans for heat network regulation, as well as ensuring that the licensing authority can perform its functions in practice.

As such, my officials have been examining potential opportunities to amend proposals – and possibly the Act – to ensure we deliver a regulatory system which is proportionate, and which interoperates with related UK Government legislation to ensure the right networks are built where they can have most benefit and are operated in the right way.

Notwithstanding this, the intention remains to implement the special rights and powers which our Act foresees for Scottish heat network developers. My officials continue to carry out stakeholder engagement on proposals to implement this part of the Act.

Question reference: S6F-04092

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 May 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-36688

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 2 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which incinerators accept waste upholstered domestic seating for disposal.

Question reference: S6W-36687

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 2 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which incinerators, including those with accepted planning permission, are able to destroy persistent organic pollutants, in alignment with the SEPA guidance on the management of waste upholstered domestic seating.

As Scotland’s independent environmental regulator, SEPA determine the permitting of facilities and what waste streams they are allowed to accept. There are 8 municipal incinerators in operation in Scotland with a further 3 in construction. SEPA have advised that evidence shows the temperatures reached in municipal incinerators is sufficient to destroy the specific persistent organic pollutants (brominated flame retardants) which are found in elevated levels in waste upholstered domestic seating.

Question reference: S6F-04026

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 April 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 May 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.