Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-05271

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it will take in its Budget to support high street retailers in the South Scotland region that are at risk of closing.

Question reference: S6O-05289

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what research or assessments it has carried out in the south west of Scotland to understand the environmental impact of recent or planned road improvement projects.

Question reference: S6O-05268

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the planning process monitors the delivery of any job creation figures included within planning applications, including applications for salmon farms, once they are built and operational.

Question reference: S6O-05274

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what plans it has to amend tax thresholds in the next Scottish Budget.

Question reference: S6O-05262

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the impact of its export growth strategy, A Trading Nation, including what metrics it has used to assess this.

Question reference: S6O-05259

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its recent decision to allow a flat-rate approach to the visitor levy, what discussions the economy secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding whether to also introduce lower non-domestic rates for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses.

Question reference: S6O-05242

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 3 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the Digital Evidence Sharing Capability is expected to be rolled out across Scotland.

I am pleased to say that the Digital Evidence Sharing Capability, known as DESC, completed roll out across all Police Scotland divisions in September 2025. DESC provides a secure platform for collecting, storing, and sharing digital evidence, replacing outdated physical media.

DESC has stored over 400,000 pieces of evidence and saved an estimated 55,000 police officer hours, freeing officers for frontline duties. It enables faster case resolution, reduces the need for victims and witnesses to attend court, and improves justice outcomes. DESC is a UK first, delivered through collaboration with Scottish Government and justice partners.

Question reference: S6W-41980

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many payments were made by Social Security Scotland to people not normally resident in Scotland in 2024-25, broken down by the total amount paid for each benefit.

Social Security Scotland does not publish information on payments made to people not normally resident in Scotland. The total amount paid by benefit is published in Official Statistics publications and is available on our website .

Individuals must generally be ordinarily resident in Scotland to be eligible for Scottish benefits. Individuals of any nationality can be eligible if they meet the residency criteria, including holding a valid immigration status if required.

In certain circumstances, some benefits can be claimed from abroad or can continue to be paid if a person moves abroad:

Young Carer Grant
Child Winter Heating Payment
Carer’s Allowance Supplement
Carer Support Payment
Child Disability Payment
Adult Disability Payment
Pension Age Disability Payment
Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance (Scottish Adult DLA)

Eligibility will depend on where the individual lives or is moving to and whether they are in scope of a relevant international agreement, such as the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement.

The UK Government is party to a number of international agreements relating to social security. The devolved social security system is equally covered by these agreements, and Scottish Ministers are under the same duties as those in the rest of the UK to adhere to the terms of those agreements.

Question reference: S6W-41956

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 3 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that telecare and other safety-critical systems connected to landlines are upgraded or adapted before the Public Switched Telephone Network ceases in January 2027.

As you will already be aware, responsibility for the UK’s telecommunications network is reserved to the UK Government, with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology being the lead government department.

The move to digital-based services is an industry-led decision and process. The decision to upgrade the legacy PSTN network is driven by the increasing fragility of the 40-year old analogue landline technology and the increased difficulty in maintaining the current network, due to reduced availability of replacement parts and the reduction of expertise in these analogue systems.

Critical Systems

The Scottish Government continue to work across the full range of SG Directorates to ensure all sectoral areas and their relevant stakeholders are informed and have plans in place to mitigate any potential impacts of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) switch off.

Additionally, we have ensured that external responder agencies and categorised responders are appropriately briefed on the potential impacts by facilitating information sessions with telecoms operators.

We continue to work with industry, UK Government, the regulator (Ofcom) and other devolved governments through the Electronic Communications – Resilience and Response Group (EC-RRG) whose aim is to develop and maintain cooperation between the Communications Sector and Government on issues regarding resilience and emergency planning.

Telecare

Since 2018 we have had a local government programme under way to navigate and support migration of the telecare provision to 140,000 citizens across Scotland, in advance of the PSTN migration from analogue to digital.

Telecare providers across local authorities and housing associations have made excellent progress with more than 60% of lines and equipment now being fully digital. All telecare providers are engaged with the national programme and progressing their individual update programmes. In addition to this, a national call handling platform for telecare is being deployed, using the latest digital and cloud technology. As of November 2025, 18 organisations with more than 90,000 connections in total are delivering call handling services through this solution. While there is currently no concern with the migration plans of any telecare provider, the Digital Telecare Programme remains alert to the potential risk to the individual telecare users, who are often considered very vulnerable. There is a raised risk profile for those telecare users in rural areas for whom SIM-enabled devices may not be an option for continued telecare service from January 2027. Early mitigation of this, or alternative solutions, are being explored continuously.

Question reference: S6W-41959

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 3 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration has been given to funding schemes for battery backup units or alternative technologies for households in areas prone to long power cuts, in light of the planned switch-off of the Public Switched Telephone Network in January 2027.

As you will already be aware, responsibility for the UK’s telecommunications network is reserved to the UK Government, with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology being the lead government department.

The move to digital-based services is an industry-led decision and process. The decision to upgrade the legacy PSTN network is driven by the increasing fragility of the 40-year old analogue landline technology and the increased difficulty in maintaining the current network, due to reduced availability of replacement parts and the reduction of expertise in these analogue systems.

Universal Service Obligations

It is worth noting that the PSTN migration does not affect the Universal Service Obligations set in the Electronic Communications (Universal Service) Order 2003, which require the designated providers to offer telephony services throughout the UK, and providers will remain bound by their existing statutory responsibilities.

Ofcom, the independent telecoms regulator, has issued guidance on how telecoms companies can fulfil their regulatory obligation to ensure that their VoIP customers have access to the emergency services in such circumstances. This guidance states that providers should have at least one solution available that enables access to emergency organisations for a minimum of one hour in the event of a power outage in the premises. The solution should be suitable for customers’ needs and should be offered free of charge to those who are at risk as they are dependent on their landline.

You can read Ofcom’s full guidance at the following links:

Customers who are not eligible for a free resilience solution should be able to request one but their provider may charge for it. Customers who are moving to VoIP services and are reliant on their landline should discuss their situation and requirements for a back-up solution with their provider before they are moved on to VoIP services.

PSTN Charter

You may be pleased to learn that on the 18 December 2023 a number of Communications Providers signed a Public Switched Telephone Network charter, where signatories (full list at link below) commit to the following:

1. We will not undertake any non-voluntary migrations to digital landlines, until we have full confidence that we are taking all possible steps to protect vulnerable people through the migration process.

2. No telecare users will be migrated to digital landline services without us, the customer, or the telecare company confirming that they have a compatible and functioning telecare solution in place.

3. Where battery back-up solutions are provided, we will work to provide solutions that go beyond the Ofcom minimum of 1 hour of continued, uninterrupted access to emergency services in the event of a power outage.

4. We will collectively work with Ofcom and Government to create a shared definition of vulnerable customer groups that require greater support, specific to the digital landline migration.

5. We will conduct additional checks on customers who have already been non-voluntarily migrated to ensure they do not have telecare devices we were unaware of, and if they do, ensure suitable support is provided.

We continue to work with industry, UK Government, the regulator (Ofcom) and other devolved governments through the Electronic Communications – Resilience and Response Group (EC-RRG) whose aim is to develop and maintain cooperation between the Communications Sector and Government on issues regarding resilience and emergency planning.

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