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 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: S7W-01844

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish guidance on the factors that define a green data centre, and whether, pending publication of that guidance, it will invite planning authorities to defer determining applications for hyperscale data centres.

Question reference: S7W-01845

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it, the Energy Consents Unit or the National Planning Hub holds data on the cumulative electricity and water demand of all data centre proposals currently in the planning system, and if not, what its position is on commissioning such data before further determinations in relation to these proposals are made.

Question reference: S7W-01846

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on household and business electricity bills in Scotland of transmission network charges forecast by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to rise from £2.8 billion in 2020-21 to £13.6 billion in 2030-31, and of Ofgem's early funding decisions indicating substantial cost increases for transmission projects in Scotland, including the Denny to Wishaw and Tealing to Kincardine projects.

Question reference: S7W-01843

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the implications for Scotland, including for the period after Torness closes in 2030, of the electricity grid frequency event of 23 June 2026 and the subsequent matters raised in the letter by the Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to the National Energy System Operator (NESO) of 10 July 2026.

Question reference: S7W-01847

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether Scotland’s construction and engineering workforce has the capacity to deliver simultaneously the consented onshore wind pipeline, the electricity transmission network expansion, which the National Energy System Operator (NESO) has reportedly said must proceed at more than four times the rate of the last decade, and proposed hyperscale data centres, and what role its skills agencies will play in meeting any workforce requirements.

Question reference: S7W-01098

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support disability football.

For financial year 2026-27, the Scottish Government will provide Scottish Para-Football with £160,000 to deliver a range of Summer of Sport and related legacy activities and allow Scottish Para-Football to appoint a Youth Development Officer for two years.

Activities will include holding a number of “come and try’ festivals, running an 18-month Youth Training Programme, providing coach training and education and para-football referee development, purchasing new equipment and holding public exhibition matches to raise awareness and encourage wider participation.

Question reference: S7W-01149

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce a national strategy plan for the location of AI data centres or allow local authorities to determine this on an individual basis.

Question reference: S7W-01147

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it provides local authorities in relation to assessing planning applications for AI data centres, including regarding the cumulative energy demand and energy security impact of the entire national data centre pipeline.

Question reference: S7W-01148

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the National Planning Framework 4 provides sufficient guidance to local authorities to appropriately with applications for AI data centres, including the impact on the grid.

Question reference: S7W-00837

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 12 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the contribution that geothermal energy could make to Scotland's economy.