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-40744

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 3 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the suggestion in the Scottish Retail Consortium’s manifesto, Scotland’s Future High Streets, that accredited providers other than local authorities should be permitted to issue building warrants, in line with the approach taken in England.

There are no current plans to introduce private verification in Scotland. Local authorities are appointed by Scottish Ministers as verifiers to administer the building standards system for their own geographical area. The appointments are conditional on verifiers meeting the requirements set out in Operating and Performance Frameworks.

The Grenfell Inquiry’s Phase 2 report recommended that an independent panel consider whether or not it is in the public interest for building control functions to continue to be performed by those who have a commercial interest in the process, as is the case in England.

Question reference: S6W-40750

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 2 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the 2024-25 employability budget of £102.8 million (a) it spent and (b) was passed on to local government.

Question reference: S6W-40488

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 2 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many self-sufficient information and communications technology (ICT) structures with dedicated data centres and professional staff exist within the Scottish public sector, including non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), NHS boards and local government.

Responsibility for ICT provision rests with individual organisations, including NHS boards, local government, and non departmental public bodies who determine the most appropriate and cost effective arrangements for their operational needs.

In line with Scotland’s Digital Strategy, the Scottish Government promotes the use of shared digital and data services across the public sector. This reduces duplication, strengthens data security, supports value for money, and provides citizens with a consistent digital identity through shared platforms such as and .

An exercise to collate information on data centres and associated staffing was carried out some years ago, however these findings are now outdated. I have instructed officials to gather current information to enable us to inform opportunities for cost savings as part of the Public Service Reform strategy.

Until this work concludes, we do not hold a current central record of the number of self-sufficient ICT structures with dedicated data centres, nor the professional staff supporting them.

Question reference: S6O-05036

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on legal enforcement measures being taken with regard to retailers committing age of sale offences when selling age-restricted items, such as vapes and cigarettes.

Question reference: S6W-40669

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates the business forum, which was established to discuss priorities in advance of Scottish budgets and programmes for government as part of its New Deal for Business, has met, broken down by (a) who attended and (b) what was discussed.

The Scottish Government can confirm that the first meeting of the Strategic Business Forum on 28 August, which I chaired. Attendees included leads from a range of sectors as well as Business Representative Organisations and the discussion focussed on priority areas for the economy in the next Scottish Budget, the Scottish Spending Review and Public Sector Reform.

Representatives attended from Scottish Chambers of Commerce, FSB Scotland, IoD Scotland, CBI Scotland, Prosper, Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Tourism Alliance as well as industry leaders representing the Construction, Energy, Life Sciences, Aerospace & Defence, Retail, Space, Forestry & Wood and Chemical Sciences sectors.

Question reference: S6O-04931

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of the Creative Industries Leadership Group.

Question reference: S6W-40010

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to use the £764,000 allocated from the UK Government’s Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund; what role stakeholders will have in the design and delivery of any programme, and when it anticipates that any programme will be operational.

Question reference: S6O-04908

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of children currently waiting for an ADHD assessment and the median length of wait.

Question reference: S6O-04868

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken on digital exclusion to address the "weakened" national leadership referred to by Audit Scotland in its report Tackling Digital Exclusion, which was published 12 months ago.

Question reference: S6W-39410

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 12 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken on each of the recommendations in the Audit Scotland report, Tackling digital exclusion, published in August 2024.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Audit Scotland report Tackling digital exclusion, published in August 2024, and recognises the importance of its recommendations in shaping a more inclusive digital future for Scotland.

The Scottish Government continues to work in close partnership with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) to develop a comprehensive action plan that directly addresses the report’s findings. This collaborative work has focused on ensuring that the plan sets out clear steps, timelines, and responsibilities for delivery.

The action plan will be embedded within the refreshed joint Digital Strategy, which is due to be published later this year. This strategy will provide a coordinated framework for tackling digital exclusion, aligning efforts across sectors and ensuring that digital services are inclusive by design. It will also support the delivery of meaningful, measurable outcomes that reduce digital exclusion and promote equitable access to digital opportunities for all.

The Scottish Government remains committed to working with COSLA and wider stakeholders to ensure that digital inclusion is at the heart of Scotland’s digital transformation.