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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 1014 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S7W-02894

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board last met.

Question reference: S7W-02895

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comment at the Rural Affairs Committee on 2 September 2026 that the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board had ceased to exist, whether it will confirm (a) on what date the board was discontinued, (b) for what reason this decision was taken and (c) how its role will be replaced.

I wrote to members of the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB) in August to confirm that the Board would no longer continue. At that time members were informed that the Scottish Government was forming a new stakeholder group, the Land, Agriculture and Nature Delivery (LAND) Group which will be chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs.

The LAND Group will be multi-disciplinary, made up of 12 member organisations reflecting the mix of key interest areas. These include agriculture, forestry, peatland, biodiversity, wildlife and species management and water. It will meet three times a year and will take forward strategic discussions around how land use can be integrated to deliver the multiple benefits needed to achieve the wider ambitions of ‘Scotland PLC’ and its people.

The Land, Agriculture and Nature Delivery (LAND) Group is not intended to be a direct replacement for the ARIOB but instead reflects the strategic understanding of our land as an interactive system and the expanded responsibilities in the current Climate Action and Rural Affairs portfolio. This approach ensures our stakeholder engagement is structured to provide a truly holistic approach to land use issues.

Additionally, the Agriculture Policy Development Group (APDG), which was originally set up to support the ARIOB, has been expanded and has met a number of times since the last meeting of the ARIOB. I attended their meeting in May to make clear the APDG is an essential part of our engagement with the industry on agricultural reform and the Scottish Government will rely on it to help get us into the delivery phase of the Agricultural Reform Programme. I will chair the Group going forward and we will continue working towards positive outcomes for agriculture in Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-03249

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it will (a) begin and (b) complete consultation on its Rural Renewal Bill.

Question reference: S7W-03220

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to conducting public awareness campaigns on illegal puppy trading.

Question reference: S7W-03246

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it plans to bring sections 23 to 25 of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026 into force.

Question reference: S7W-03219

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to review the impact of the Welfare of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2025 in reducing illegal puppy trading.

Question reference: S7W-03218

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to calls for regulations to be updated to protect dogs from poor breeding practices, particularly those that can result in heritable health conditions.

Question reference: S7O-00226

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that waiting times for High Court trials are expected to almost triple by 2028.

Question reference: S7W-02447

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its answer to question S7W-01392 by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026, which indicated that the Vision 3 GP clinical system is currently the only GP clinical system available through the national framework for the replacement of EMIS PCS in Scotland, what work is being undertaken to identify alternative suppliers and avoid single-supplier dependency in future IT provision for GP practices.

Question reference: S7O-00188

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that local authorities have sufficient resources to support town centres.