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-04152

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it gave to funding bus franchising in the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) region before the introduction of the £2 bus fare cap.

Question reference: S7W-04125

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the reform of (a) local government, (b) education and (c) NHS boards, what private sector consultancy firms and other external consultants it has commissioned to provide advice, analysis or other support, how much has been spent on this commissioned work to date and what the total anticipated cost of such work is, and whether any further private sector consultancy support is planned in relation to the reform programme.

Question reference: S7W-03548

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Alyn Smith on 7 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much public funding has been committed to each of the four programmes of its National Innovation Strategy since June 2023, and how much of that funding has been spent to date.

The Scottish Government is committed to establishing Scotland as a leading start-up nation that fosters innovation, creates jobs, and accelerates economic growth.

The Scotland Government’s National Innovation Strategy noted the importance of investing in innovation and since its publication in 2023, we have delivered on a broad range of investments in innovation. This investment is spread across a number of agencies and areas of policy, many of which contribute to the four programmes.

University Research & Innovation

The Scottish Government has invested around £1.3b for core university research and innovation grant funding from Academic Year (AY) 2023-24 to AY 2026-27 to maintain high-quality research and innovation at our universities, in addition to enabling and supporting the First Minister's priorities, such as those outlined in the National Innovation Strategy.

In AY 2026-27, we are investing £355 million for core research and innovation grant, an uplift of 8.1% from the previous year. This includes £30 million invested in the Knowledge Exchange and Innovation Fund (KEIF) to support university-business interactions, with an uplift of 20%. We are also providing funding of around £14m in academic year 2026-27 to support a portfolio of knowledge exchange and innovation investments to maintain a strong platform for innovation collaboration and for attracting further investment.

Clusters

In 2025-26, the Scottish Government committed and spent £2.1m through the NIS Innovation Clusters programme, to lay the foundations for the systematic cluster development approach and to accelerate the development of seven of Scotland’s key innovation clusters in Critical Technologies, Space, Robotics, the Built Environment, FinTech, Offshore Wind, and Life Sciences.

Alongside investment into establishing and growing strong leadership in these key innovation clusters, this included spend on robust evaluation tools and methods to ensure cluster success is captured; supporting our quantum and photonics to internationalise; helping companies to understand the value and potential of adopting new robotic solutions; funding new opportunities in semiconductor technology for net zero.

Building on this success, the Scottish Government is investing a further £3m in 2026-27 through the NIS Innovation Clusters programme to scale activity to grow these key clusters and their economic impact - Critical Technologies, Space, Robotics, the Built Environment, FinTech, Offshore Wind and Life Sciences. This funding combines core support for Cluster Management Organisations (CMOs) to strengthen their capability and drive delivery of their growth roadmaps, alongside a stimulus fund to support innovative collaborative projects that increase growth, productivity and international competitiveness.

Ecosystem Funding

The Scottish Government has invested £9.5 million since June 2023 through the Ecosystem Fund and associated Community, Pathways and Entrepreneurial Education funds. This investment has supported projects across Scotland that strengthen the start-up ecosystem, widen access to entrepreneurship and develop entrepreneurial education. This includes £1.75 million committed to 44 projects in 2026-27.

Enterprise Agencies

Highlands and Islands Enterprise do not directly deliver the four national programmes, but does support innovation and entrepreneurship through their client engagement model and programmed activity. Annual reports provide a summary of results secured through innovation support including primary measures, and targets out-turns within which a number are attributed to innovation and productivity, including innovation investment. HIE’s Annual Reports and Accounts can be viewed at Annual Report and Accounts | HIE

South of Scotland Enterprise supports innovation through a range of enterprise support. Impact and expenditure is captured in Annual Reports, tracked against the strategic priority of ‘Advancing innovation and improving productivity’. More detail on this is in annual reports published here: Annual Accounts

Scottish Enterprise supports innovation through a range of enterprise support including its hugely successful Scaling Innovation mission. More details on this can be found via: Accessing our information - spending and accounts | Scottish Enterprise

Question reference: S7W-03544

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Alyn Smith on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reasons for the fall in the proportion of businesses that are innovation active, from 32.4% in 2020-22 to 29.4% in 2022-24.

The latest data from the UK Innovation Survey shows that, between 2020-2022 and 2022-2024, the proportion of businesses innovation active decreased for Scotland, the UK and for most regions within the UK.

‘Energy prices’ was the most important factor given by survey respondents in constraining innovation activity for innovators in Scotland and UK-wide in 2022-2024: an estimated 23.2% and 23.9% respectively rated it as ‘high’ importance.

In both Scotland and UK-wide, the most common reason given for not innovating in 2022-2024 was ‘No need due to previous innovations’; this was a reason for an estimated 51.6% of non-innovators in Scotland and 47.4% in the UK.

More detail is available from the Scottish Government statistical release UK innovation survey 2025: results for Scotland - gov.scot, which was published on the 16th of September 2026.

Question reference: S7W-03545

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Alyn Smith on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any reason why 29.4% of Scottish businesses were innovation active in 2022-24, compared with 34.0% across the UK.

The innovation active rate of an area is influenced by the industrial composition of the businesses headquartered there. Innovation rates can vary markedly by industrial sector, for example, 12.7% of Scottish ‘Accommodation & Food Services’ businesses were innovation active in 2022-24, compared to 73.9% of Scottish ‘Scientific research & development’ businesses.

The 2022-24 headline innovation active rates of 29.4% for Scotland, and 34.0% for the UK, are based on a wide range of sectors covered by the UK Innovation Survey. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports on a smaller group of industrial sectors, excluding sectors like ‘Construction’, ‘Retail’ and ‘Accommodation & Food Services’. When these sectors are removed, the results for Scotland and the UK are more similar. In the latest survey (2022-2024), 50.6% of businesses based in Scotland were ‘innovation active’ under the OECD definition and methodology; the same share as the UK.

More detail is available from the Scottish Government statistical release UK innovation survey 2025: results for Scotland - gov.scot, which was published on the 16th of September 2026.

Question reference: S7W-03546

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Alyn Smith on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it remains committed to delivering its National Innovation Strategy.

Question reference: S7W-03543

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Alyn Smith on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of its National Productivity Programme, in light of the proportion of businesses classified as innovation active falling from 32.4% in 2020-22 to 29.4% in 2022-24.

Question reference: S7W-03547

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Alyn Smith on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made in delivering the National Productivity Programme that it committed to in the National Innovation Strategy 2023 to 2033, including the innovation marketplace and the customer platform, and how many businesses have benefited from each element of the programme to date.

Question reference: S7W-03519

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether any of the £3.4 million of additional neurodevelopmental investment it announced in 2026 has been allocated to support those living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and, if so, how much.

Details of how the additional neurodevelopmental funding was allocated are set out in a recent FOI response.

The funding was not allocated on a condition-specific basis. Most funding support projects or initiatives intended to consider neurodevelopmental needs more broadly, although some funded projects had a particular focus on autism and ADHD diagnosis.

No funding was allocated to programmes exclusively to support people living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). However, people with FASD may benefit from wider neurodevelopmental services and supports.

Separately, the Scottish Government continues to support individuals and families affected by FASD through a range of measures. This includes funding for the FASD Hub, which received £231,500 in 2025-26 to provide information, advice, training and support to 123 families and carers; and training events to over 480 professionals supporting children affected by FASD

Question reference: S7W-03504

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 5 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions have taken place between Transport Scotland and the Justice Directorate to progress the recommendation of the Rail Enforcement Powers Working Group that new legislation should be introduced to improve legal protections for public transport workers against abuse and assault at work.

Transport Scotland continues to engage with colleagues across the Scottish Government, including Criminal Justice and Community Safety policy officials, regarding the recommendation of the Rail Enforcement Powers Working Group on enhanced legal protections for rail workers.

Transport Scotland is leading this work in collaboration with justice, policy and legal colleagues as well as other key partners. Consideration is being given to the most appropriate legislative approach to deliver the Scottish Government's commitment to strengthen statutory protections for public transport workers.