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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 MSPs 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-35790

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 27 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6T-02391 by Paul McLennan on 4 March 2025, how many children have lived in temporary accommodation in each year since 2021; what action it is taking to reduce the number of young people in these circumstances, and in light of the minister's comment regarding the Shelter Scotland report, In Their Own Words: Children’s Experiences in Temporary Accommodation, that "we will obviously consider the recommendations" of it, whether it has now considered these and, if so, what its response is to each.

The following table shows the number of children in households with a homelessness application and where there is one or more associated temporary accommodation placements in a calendar year since 2021.

Number of children on homelessness applications where there is at least one associated temporary accommodation placement in the year

	2021	2022	2023	2024 Jan-Sep
Children	18,042	19,529	20,618	18,170

Notes:

Data for 2024 is only available up to 30 September.
Children on the homelessness application may or may not enter associated temporary accommodation placement(s).
There may be duplication in the number of children, for example, if the same child is linked to more than one homelessness application, either within the same reporting year and/or across multiple reporting years.

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing the number of households and time spent in temporary accommodation and we are taking a number of actions in line with the report’s conclusions. The best way to reduce the number of households with children in temporary accommodation is by preventing homelessness before it occurs. The homelessness prevention measures in the Housing (Scotland) Bill will make the prevention of homelessness everybody’s business and will ensure people get the help they need earlier to remain in their homes.

To minimise the harm caused to children who stay in temporary accommodation for long periods, we are supporting local authorities to increase the supply of social and affordable homes of the right type and size, including larger properties suitable for families.

We have provided funding of £80 million over this year and next, 80 per cent of which has been targeted to five local authorities with the most sustained temporary accommodation pressures.

Question reference: S6W-35728

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 21 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what urgent measures can be put in place to protect marine life and stop the reported alleged dumping of wasteful bycatch as a result of bottom-trawling nets being used to catch prawns.

The abundance of fish in Scottish waters means that a varied industry has developed over time, with many different types of fishing vessels operating as part of a mixed fishery. There are different target fish species, depending on the type of fishing vessel and where it operates, and different issues around unwanted catch. Discarding in the nephrops trawl fishery does occur as whitefish it is typically in very small amounts and for very specific reasons. Historically, very small amounts of whitefish may be caught alongside nephrops. Since the introduction of the landing obligation, this unwanted catch can amount to a disproportionate cost for fisherman who have to land and then dispose of it. As such, the Scottish Government have utilised lawful exemptions to the landing obligation for these fish, in order to lessen the financial burden on these small nephrops vessels. These exempted fish are fully accounted for in quota calculations and factored into stock assessments.

Going forward, as part of the policy development of Scotland’s our Future Catching Policy, we have been working with industry to explore pragmatic technical and spatial measures to support fishers to reduce discarding. We also know there are improvements we can make to the implementation of the landing obligation that will make the rules around discarding more effective and will work with industry and others to develop this across Scotland’s diverse fleets in order to minimise instances of unwanted catch in the first place.

This is being supported by the rollout of remote electronic monitoring and vessel tracking technology to enable us to better monitor fishing operations, effort and catch with the aim of ensuring fishing activity remains sustainable, responsible and accountable across all of our waters.

While the management of Scottish waters is an area of devolved competency, the Scottish Government continues to work with the UK Government and other devolved administrations through the delivery of the Marine Wildlife Bycatch Mitigation Initiative (BMI) which is a joint plan for tackling bycatch across the UK to minimise, and where possible eliminate, bycatch of sensitive marine species.

It is important to note that all vessels authorised to operate in Scottish waters do so under the appropriate licences, and are obliged to follow Scottish domestic management rules. This includes a mandatory requirement for all vessels (including EU vessels) operating in UK waters to report all incidences of marine mammal bycatch to the Marine Management Organisation.

Question reference: S6O-04378

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to incentivise businesses to seek opportunities for scaling up.

Question reference: S6W-33282

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in delivering a national round-the-clock thrombectomy service, in line with the Stroke Improvement Plan 2023.

The Scottish Government remains committed to expanding the national thrombectomy service, and ensuring access to this treatment is as equitable as possible. The delivery of a national thrombectomy service has already received over £38m of investment.

Most NHS Boards now refer to thrombectomy Hub centres, increasing geographical access to thrombectomy procedures. We have also funded thrombectomy specialist nurse posts in spoke hospitals with high rates of ischaemic stroke to ensure people who would benefit from thrombectomy are promptly identified.

Through the National Thrombectomy Programme Board and Thrombectomy Advisory Group, planning is being undertaken to drive expansion of the thrombectomy service. Work is ongoing to establish how the £16 million funding announced in the Scottish budget, subject to parliamentary scrutiny, will be best used to maximise the number of patients able to benefit from thrombectomy.

Question reference: S6W-33283

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to enable the availability of a diagnostic/triage tool for the earlier and faster detection of brain tumours.

The Scottish Government is aware of a triage diagnostic test under development that may have a role in the diagnostic pathway for patients presenting with symptoms that may indicate a brain tumour.

If clinical trials are successful, there could be a European Conformity marking by the end of 2025.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office will continue to liaise with those developing diagnostic tools to ensure they are fully informed of the support available for delivering innovation into NHS Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-04228

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to address the reported rise in cases of human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, and ensure that Scotland is prepared for any pandemic regarding this condition.

Question reference: S6O-04129

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in light of statistics reportedly showing that a record number of people have been waiting over a year for heart disease treatment.

Question reference: S6O-04070

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is working to clear the criminal court backlog.

Question reference: S6W-31109

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 20 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that most local authorities are unable to deliver instrumental music tuition to all interested school pupils and are operating waiting lists for instrumental music tuition due to capacity issues, what urgent action it can take to resolve this.

The most recent Instrumental Music Services Survey 2023 Instrumental Music Services: Results from the IMS Survey 2023 (improvementservice.org.uk) (published in December 2023) confirmed that the number of pupils accessing free instrumental music tuition was the highest on record since the survey began in 2012.

It is for individual councils to make decisions about their own provision. For those local authorities which do operate waiting lists, it is clearly important that they work to accommodate as many interested pupils as possible.

Question reference: S6W-31108

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 15 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether reducing tax costs for businesses through rates reliefs would support (a) enterprise in and (b) the local economy of the Mid Scotland and Fife region, and what action it is taking to do so.

The 2024-25 Scottish Budget delivers a competitive non-domestic rates regime including the lowest poundage in the UK for the sixth year in a row, and a package of reliefs worth an estimated £685 million. As at 1 June 2024, over 20,000 properties in the Clackmannanshire, Fife, Perth and Kinross, and Stirling council areas benefited from one or more non-domestic rates reliefs, worth almost £84 million.

The Scottish Government is acutely aware of the enormous pressures facing businesses across Scotland and considers carefully how best to target support for businesses within the limited finances available, noting the important role non-domestic rates play in public finances.

Decisions on non-domestic rates for next year will be considered in the context of the Scottish Budget 2025-26.

The Scottish Government has further committed £45.1 million to the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal, which aims to support economic growth throughout the city region. The Deal supports projects across the region, in sectors including innovation, skills, culture heritage and tourism, and active travel.

In addition, through the Forth Green Freeport, the Scottish Government and UK Government are working together to provide targeted tax incentives at strategic port sites within the Forth estuary. In designated Green Freeport tax site areas in Rosyth and Burntisland, businesses will have access to a range of reserved and devolved tax incentives (including Non-Domestic Rates and Land and Buildings Transaction Tax reliefs). These incentives aim to help drive investment and high-quality job creation in key sectors for the region including offshore wind, shipbuilding, and advanced manufacturing.