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 2324 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6O-05296

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent ScotLand Futures report, which found that 96% of respondents believe that changes are needed regarding how land is owned and used, what steps it will take to ensure that land reform goes further than the current Land Reform (Scotland) Bill does to deliver land justice.

Question reference: S6W-42174

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it remains committed to achieving 20GW of operational onshore wind in Scotland by 2030 as set out in the Scottish Onshore Wind Sector Deal in 2023.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the ambitions set out in the Onshore Wind Sector Deal. Joint working with industry is central to delivering Scotland’s energy transition and achieving our climate change ambitions.

We will continue to work closely with industry partners to support investment, create skilled jobs, and ensure benefits are shared with communities across Scotland.

Working together, industry and government can achieve our shared long-term goals to the benefit of both Scotland communities and its economy.

Question reference: S6W-42177

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to ensure that Scotland can maximise the number of onshore wind projects that are eligible to bid for a Contract for Difference and can contribute to its ambition to achieve 20GW of operational onshore wind by 2030, as set out in the Scottish Onshore Wind Sector Deal agreed in 2023.

Question reference: S6W-42180

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has agreed a peatland compensation ratio for onshore wind projects, and, if so, whether it will publish the scientific evidence it used to inform that decision.

Question reference: S6W-42179

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made to deliver its commitment to collaborate on a consistent, evidence-based, proportionate national approach to measuring and evidencing biodiversity enhancements on onshore wind project sites, as set out in the Scottish Onshore Wind Sector Deal agreed in 2023.

Question reference: S6W-42176

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report published in November 2025 by Eversheds Sutherland, Wind Energy Consenting: Increasing S36 Threshold to 100MW and Sector Deal Progress, which identifies that the current average timeframe for Section 36 determinations for onshore wind projects is 29 months without a Public Local Enquiry and 38 months with one.

The Scottish Government will consult on increasing the current threshold of 50MW for applications for onshore electricity generating stations to be considered by local authorities.

We therefore welcome the Eversheds Sutherland study as a contribution to the evidence base on energy consenting timescales and decision-making. Beyond just Sector Deal progress, the paper provides insight relating to consent rates, timescales and the comparative consistency of decision-making across different determination routes.

As noted in the answer to question S6W-42175 on 9 December 2025, the majority of applications determined in 2025 to date were submitted prior to this commitment taking effect. Many of these applications have legacy issues that must be resolved to ensure positive outcomes in the public interest for all relevant stakeholders. Accordingly, it is too early to assess whether the sector deal actions have achieved the intended impact on determination timescales. 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-42178

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report published in January 2025 by climateXchange, Carbon Calculator for wind farms on Scottish peatlands: an evidence assessment, and what progress has been made to deliver against its recommendation that the carbon calculator, in its current form, should be updated.

Question reference: S6W-42175

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards delivering its commitment made in the 2023 Scottish Onshore Wind Sector Deal to determine Section 36 applications for onshore wind projects in 12 months where there is no Public Local Inquiry and 24 months where there is one.

The Onshore Wind Sector Deal includes the commitment that from 2025, we will aim to determine Section 36 applications for new sites, and for the re-powering of existing operational sites, within 12 months where there is no public inquiry, or 24 months if there is a public inquiry.

This year, in most circumstances, it has not been possible to determine applications made prior to 2025 within these timeframes. This is due to legacy issues within the applications themselves, which must be resolved to ensure that we can achieve positive outcomes in the public interest, for all relevant stakeholders.

Accordingly, it is too early to assess whether the sector deal actions have achieved the intended impact on determination timescales. We remain committed to meeting these timeframes for applications submitted from 2025 onwards.

The Energy Consents Unit has committed to publishing an Annual Report in 2026, which will set out the progress made against this commitment in more detail.

Question reference: S6W-41117

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health will meet with beneficiaries of the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme and their families to discuss the impact of the decision to remove independent counselling grants.

Question reference: S6W-41108

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it carried out with beneficiaries of the Scottish Infected Blood Support Scheme prior to removing the independent counselling grant.