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-02672

Asked by: Karen Adam, MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi McAllan on 25 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the publication of the consultation on restricting mobile phones in schools.

I can confirm that the consultation on restricting mobile phones in Scotland’s schools has been published and is open for responses until 17 November 2026. I would like to take this opportunity to invite MSPs, and their constituents, to respond to the consultation here: Restricting mobile phones in Scotland’s schools.

The consultation will provide an important opportunity to hear a range of views from children, young people, parents and carers, school staff, education authorities and interested organisations, and enable their voices to shape future action.

Question reference: S7W-02656

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the risk of "demolition by neglect" across the historic built environment, and what mechanisms are in place to ensure that developers are not financially rewarded for allowing listed buildings to deteriorate while awaiting planning consent for complete demolition.

Question reference: S7W-02644

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support a national, public-facing drug-checking network building on multi-agency models piloting in Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow that combines rapid test strips with advanced laboratory testing such as mass spectrometry.

Question reference: S7W-02675

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK Government's joint committee report on biodiversity collapse, what progress has been made toward reaching a decision on the planning application for the proposed golf development at Coul Links since the report was submitted to the Scottish Ministers on 29 August 2025, and by what date that decision will be issued.

Question reference: S7W-02662

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many participants in the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund have subsequently entered employment, and, of these, how many entered employment in the renewable energy or wider low-carbon energy sector.

Question reference: S7W-02663

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of projects supported by the Just Transition Fund are required to report the number of (a) jobs created, (b) jobs safeguarded and (c) people subsequently entering employment, and when it expects to have complete outcome data for any projects supported in 2025-26.

Question reference: S7W-02658

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the enforcement of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) Policy 7 (Historic assets and places), specifically in circumstances where a developer cites private commercial targets, such as a 20% Profit on Cost (PoC) margin, as the primary justification for the demolition of a listed building rather than structural impossibility.

Question reference: S7W-02637

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42836 by Kate Forbes on 20 January 2026, when it plans to publish the business and regulatory impact assessment in relation to its defence sector support policy, which was updated on 3 September 2025, and whether that assessment will include information on the number of companies affected and any impact on investor confidence.

Question reference: S7W-02645

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether funds from the £250 million National Mission on Drug Deaths can be made available to third-sector groups and local Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) looking to purchase and maintain smart, digital harm-reduction dispensers in urban and rural areas currently lacking fixed-site needle exchanges or overdose prevention centres.

Question reference: S7W-02636

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment in the 2026 Scottish National Party manifesto to continue Scotland's '"land reform journey" in a new Rural Renewal Bill, what its position is on reviewing the historic right to ferry in Scots law as part of the Bill, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.