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-40462

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of people residing in Scotland being liable for such payments, whether it will hold a public information campaign highlighting who might be asked to pay a visitor levy as a consequence of the discretionary powers made available through the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024.

Question reference: S6W-40457

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with airport operators regarding ending airport drop-off fees for blue badge holders.

Question reference: S6W-40116

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 9 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports in The Herald on 16 August 2025 and analysis carried out by STL Solutions Ltd into the determination of short-term let (STL) planning applications by the City of Edinburgh Council, what its position is on whether (a) the reported refusal by the City of Edinburgh Council of over 97% of traditional STL applications amounts to a de facto blanket ban and was the planned outcome of its legislation, or whether it risks driving activity into non-compliance and a black market; (b) the City of Edinburgh's practice of treating almost all STLs as a material change of use, and then reportedly refusing them in nearly every case, is consistent with its national planning framework policies and demonstrates a case-by-case assessment and (c) it is fair that operators that have reportedly spent thousands of pounds securing an STL licence should then be refused planning permission reportedly creating many appeals at taxpayers’ expense, and whether this dual approach is proportionate.

All applications for planning permission are decided on their own merits and, by law, must be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The development plan consists of both National Planning Framework 4 and the local development plan for the area. It would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to make comment about decisions made by a planning authority.

Through the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019, the Scottish Parliament legislated to allow planning authorities to designate short term let control areas (‘control areas’). Under these provisions, City of Edinburgh Council has designated the entirety of its administrative area as a control area. Within control areas, certain changes of use from a dwellinghouse to short-term letting are automatically deemed to be material changes of use requiring planning permission. It is for the planning authority to consider on a case-by-case basis whether changes of use that occurred before the designation of a control area constitute material changes of use requiring planning permission.

The planning system and the licensing system have different and distinct regulatory purposes. The purpose of planning is to manage the development and use of land in the long term public interest, whereas the purpose of short-term let licensing is to ensure the safety of guests and safeguard Scotland's reputation as a high quality tourist destination. Scottish Government guidance encourages anyone who is considering using a house or flat as a short term let to check with the relevant planning authority whether planning permission is required.

Question reference: S6W-40110

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 8 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on what the average waiting time for a growing space/allotment has been in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Part 9 of the Community Empowerment Act (Scotland) 2015, which updated and simplified allotment legislation, placed a number of duties on local authorities in relation to allotments including a duty to prepare a Food Growing Strategy and annual allotment reports. Part 9 came into force on 1 April 2018.

To date, the Scottish Government has not collated the data contained from the published annual allotment reports as there is neither a statutory obligation for local authorities to update Scottish Ministers on the publication of their annual allotment plans or for the Scottish Government to collect these data. The data is not held in a consistent format to allow for monitoring at a national level.

Therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold historic data on allotment provision or waiting lists.

Question reference: S6W-40365

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the costs associated with the production and publication of the paper, Your Right to Decide.

Question reference: S6W-40313

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish, for each year since 2020, school-level data showing the (a) number and (b) percentage of pupils attaining (i) SQA National Qualifications at SCQF Level 6 (Highers and equivalent) and (ii) other SCQF Level 6 awards, such as Foundation Apprenticeships and National Progression Awards.

Question reference: S6O-04904

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government at what stage the current funding application is for the Edinburgh Biomes project at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Question reference: S6W-39698

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 28 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many postgraduate study places have been offered at Scottish universities in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-39697

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 28 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many Scotland-domiciled students have accessed doctoral loans in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-39696

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 28 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review doctoral level funding in Scotland, in light of access to repayable doctoral loans being available to students residing in England and Wales, but not to those in Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises that Scotland’s world class university research and its key outputs of new knowledge and insights, including the researchers who contribute to this excellence, are fundamental to Scottish society, economy and the environment.

We have prioritised funding to continue to support high-quality research and innovation across Scotland, increasing the investment in HE core funding for research by £11.3m (3.6%) for Academic Year 2025-26 to £328.5m to maintain and strengthen our research excellence. This includes investing £39.1m (increase of 3.1%) in the form of the Research Postgraduate Grant, providing an underpinning of support for institutions to attract, develop and nurture the next generation of world-class research talent in Scotland. Universities can use this grant to:

Invest in a collaborative environment for research training and development that values positive culture, inclusivity and exposure to high-quality research as central to the postgraduate research experience; and
Secure a pipeline of skilled postgraduate researchers, including at doctoral level, and support their career development in a way that meets the needs of academia, industry and society.

We are also investing money to support a critical mass of excellence by investing in a series of Alliances for Research Challenges, Innovation Centres, Interface and Converge, providing long-term support to the research sector in driving industry engagement, leveraging investment and promoting research skills development/ career development.

At this time the Scottish Government has no plans to review or revise our funding model for doctoral level study.