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-42479

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to enforce community (a) benefit payments and (b) equity ownership from onshore renewable energy developments as a mandatory requirement for planning application considerations.

Question reference: S6W-42477

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings of the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council took place in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025, and how many of these were attended by the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy.

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-42141

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-40706 by Jim Fairlie on 3 October 2025, what weighting community benefits and social value in Scotland will have in the tender scoring for the construction of the two new freight flex vessels to serve the Aberdeen-Kirkwall/Lerwick route.

The key benefits and intended outcome of investment in new vessels is continuation of ferry services, improved reliability and additional capacity for island communities and businesses over their operating life. As Procuring Authority, CMAL consider the approach to vessel and other procurement in line with legislation and guidance. This requires appropriate consideration of community benefits depending on the product or service being procured, ensuring transparency and non-discrimination.

CMAL have confirmed that the overall scoring for the NIFS Freight flex vessels is weighted 70% on quality and 30% on cost. As part of the quality element, 3% of the score relates to community benefits, while wider social value considerations, such as fair work and environmental matters, were tested at SPD stage. As Procuring Authority, CMAL consider this to be appropriate and proportionate for this contract at ITT stage which has attracted interest only from international markets.

Question reference: S6W-42136

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the extent to which the Housing Emergency Action Plan is helping to meet its commitment to end homelessness.

The Housing Emergency Action Plan delivers new and enhanced actions, including committing to deliver up to £4.9 billion of investment over the coming four-years - with homes delivered through a mixture of public and privately leveraged investment.

These interventions are supporting local authorities to deliver their housing and homelessness services. It is essential that those who are at risk of homelessness are able to access housing and support when they need it most. The plan centres on three priorities, which are closely aligned with the vision in Scotland’s homelessness strategy:

Ending children living in unsuitable accommodation – as a vital part of the Scottish Government’s determination to eradicate child poverty;
Supporting the housing needs of vulnerable communities, including women and children experiencing domestic abuse and people with the most acute experiences of homelessness; and
Building our future – invest extensively in affordable homes whilst working to create the optimum conditions for wider investment to be made in our housing sector with confidence and certainty.

Housing to 2040 remains our key overarching strategy that sets out a vision and roadmap to ensuring everyone has a safe, good quality and affordable home by 2040. That has not changed, and in these challenging times, the formal governance we have established through the Housing to 2040 Strategic Board provides important critical and strategic oversight to support sector-wide delivery of the Housing to 2040 strategy and the Housing Emergency Action Plan.

Question reference: S6W-42145

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to raise awareness of endometriosis in schools.

Endometriosis is a priority in the Women’s Health Plan and will continue to be so. The ongoing action we will take to support those living with endometriosis will be set out in the next phase of the Plan, which is expected to be published in January 2026.

In schools, menstrual health and wellbeing education is a key part of relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education. RSHP education is an integral part of the health and wellbeing area of the Scottish curriculum, Curriculum for Excellence. Learning about RSHP education begins early on in primary school and continues right up to S4-S6.

Education Scotland have a summary of RSHP teaching resources on their website, providing age and stage appropriate learning activities on RSHP education for use in all education settings and aligned to Curriculum for Excellence. This resource includes learning activities on menstruation from second level (P5 to P7), with endometriosis introduced at third/fourth level (S1 to S3).

This online RSHP teaching resource was subject to review and refresh in 2023. Teachers continue to access the resource regularly.

Question reference: S6W-42201

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that filters in cigarettes are one of the most littered items and that they leak toxic chemicals, which can threaten marine life, what its position is on calls to ban them.

The Scottish Government shares your concern about the harmful impact of cigarette litter, which makes up a significant proportion of litter in Scotland, and we are committed to taking action to reduce the environmental impact of single-use plastics.

While we currently have no plans to ban cigarette filters, we will continue work to prevent littering, improve enforcement and drive behaviour change in line with the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy.

Additionally, one of the most effective ways to reduce the volume of littered cigarette filters is through reducing smoking rates. Our Tobacco and Vaping Framework, published in 2023, sets out the actions we are taking to reduce smoking levels in communities to 5% or less.

Question reference: S6W-42168

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has held any discussions with Police Scotland about upgrading its tasers to the new Axon Taser 10 model, in light of the decision by the Home Office on 3 October 2025 to allow police in England and Wales to upgrade to the new model.

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.