Questions and answers

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 ��˿�� 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-40375

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered increasing the budget allocated to the Future Farming Investment Scheme in the event that it is oversubscribed.

Question reference: S6W-40372

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recently published report, Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder; The Welfare State: Recommendations for Reform, how it will (a) act to improve the experiences of people with premenstrual dysphoric disorder applying for a social security benefit and (b) implement the report’s recommendations.

Question reference: S6W-40377

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support and accelerate economic growth across Scotland’s circular fashion and sustainable textiles sector; what consideration it has given to establishing a national industrial cluster for circular fashion and sustainable textiles, and what steps it will take to engage with Scottish operators, such as ACS Clothing, in its design and delivery of policies to support Scotland’s circular economy and net zero commitments.

Question reference: S6W-40376

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many ScotRail services have been (a) cancelled, (b) part-cancelled and (c) delayed by at least (i) one minute, (ii) 15 minutes, (iii) 30 minutes and (iv) 60 minutes in (A) each of the last three financial years and (B) 2025-26 to date, and how many of these were attributed to (1) air conditioning/cooling failures, (2) other rolling-stock defects, (3) train crew availability, (4) infrastructure or signalling faults, (5) the weather and (6) other causes, also broken down by ScotRail service group.

Question reference: S6W-40371

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38735 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 1 July 2025, what its response is to the new research on the welfare benefits system and premenstrual dysphoric disorder published in the report, Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder: The Welfare State: Recommendations for Reform.

Question reference: S6W-40373

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when applicants to the Future Farming Investment Scheme will be informed whether their application has been approved.

Question reference: S6W-40374

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications it received to the Future Farming Investment Scheme in 2025.

Question reference: S6W-40340

Asked by: Michael Matheson, MSP for Falkirk West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 5 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress made in the further decarbonisation of Scotland's suburban rail services, and what plans it has to replace the rolling stock currently operating on ScotRail’s suburban services.

I can confirm that the next phase in Scotland’s programme to decarbonise the railway network will involve the electrification of sections on the Fife and Borders railways. Works are already underway, with significant progress being made on the electrification of the line between Haymarket and Dalmeny. This forms part of the Scottish Government’s sustained investment in Scotland’s rail infrastructure and represents the initial phase of enabling works for the future electrification of the Fife Circle services.

The Scottish Government’s ongoing commitment to electrification supports the deployment of electric and battery-electric trains. I can further confirm that ScotRail has been authorised to initiate a procurement exercise for a new electric Suburban Fleet. This procurement will facilitate the replacement of trains currently operating on the Borders Railway and in Fife, as well as replace some of Glasgow’s Suburban trains. ScotRail expects to issue a contract notice for the Suburban Fleets in Autumn 2025.

This latest Scottish Government investment will be in excess of £342 million and demonstrates our continuing commitment to making Scotland’s railway even greener, with greater capacity and reliability.

Question reference: S6W-40341

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Neil Gray on 5 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to pilot spinal muscular atrophy screening in Scotland.

Based on current planning, in early 2026, Scotland will become the first country in the UK to begin an in service evaluation (ISE) of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) screening. Under the plans, all babies in Scotland will be offered screening for the condition for at least the next two years.

The Scottish Government recognises that SMA can be devastating for babies and families, and supports any intervention that can be shown to improve the quality of life for those affected.

While there is evidence around the benefits of SMA screening, the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) requires further supporting evidence before it can recommend it as a long term part of the newborn screening programme.

This ISE will allow the NHS to potentially find and treat babies with SMA earlier than they otherwise might have, and will generate valuable data to inform the UK NSC’s final recommendation on SMA screening.

The evidence generated by the Scottish ISE will be submitted to the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), which will analyse it alongside data from the planned SMA ISE in England.

Question reference: S6W-40353

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties it anticipates will be acquired through the £3 million investment in the Housing First expansion scheme, and what estimate it has made of total demand.