Parliamentary questions

Craig Hoy

1,298 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

17 Sep 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions the business minister has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the impact of the visitor levy on the hotel and tourism sectors.

1 Sep 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further details regarding the announcement that NHS Dumfries and Galloway has moved to stage 3 of the NHS Scotland Support and Intervention Framework.

20 Aug 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-25344 by Richard Lochhead on 4 March 2024, whether it plans to make a financial commitment to the Scottish Growth Scheme until March 2029. 

Answer · Kate Forbes: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40008 on 8 September 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committ…

20 Aug 2025 · Written Question

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Growth Scheme (SGS) was established in December 2018 and operational during financial year 2019-20, being set-up to provide early-stage equity and debt to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across Scotland. To date, the Scottish Government has c…

6 Aug 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a full list of the incentives offered in each of its designated Enterprise Areas, also broken down by the statutory basis of each incentive.

Answer · Kate Forbes: Information on the incentives available in Enterprise Areas have been published on the following Scottish Government webpage: https://www.gov.scot/policies/supporting-business/enterprise-areas/As noted, Enterprise Areas (EAs) have access to a package of finan…

21 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether firms liable for the higher property rate in Scotland are better placed to pay higher non-domestic rates than their counterparts in England in similar sized premises.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Non-domestic rates are a property-based tax charged on the private, public or third sectors, with the tax liability based on the rateable value of a property. The Higher Property Rate applies to all properties with a rateable value above £100,000.The Sc…

21 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has reportedly not brought the higher property rate for non-domestic rates in line with that in England, in light of the Barclay Review recommending that it did so by April 2020.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government committed, in the Framework for Tax 2021, to reducing the combined poundage rate for the largest properties to match the equivalent rate in England over the course of the Parliament.Since the independent Barclay Review of Non-Domestic …

21 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of the Scottish Retail Consortium’s reported statement that retailers in Scotland have paid an additional £93 million in non-domestic rates over the last decade, compared with their England-based counterparts, as a result of the higher property rate bei…

Answer · Ivan McKee: While shops, and other rateable non-domestic properties, will have been liable for a higher property tax under the combined poundage plus Large Business Supplement (up to 31 March 2020) or Higher Property Rate (from 1 April 2020 onwards) over the last decade,…

9 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Scottish Government has not undertaken any formal assessment to assess the effectiveness of the enforcement of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021. Officials engage regularly however with local author…

9 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Scottish Government presently has no plans to review the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021.

9 Jun 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the health secretary has had with ministerial colleagues and NHS Lothian regarding the provision of education and tutoring for sick children at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh and other NHS facilities and services.

28 May 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the scale of online bullying in schools.

20 May 2025 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the education secretary has had with NHS boards and local authorities regarding the levying of fees for hospital teaching costs for children who routinely attend independent schools.

9 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-36629 by John Swinney on 3 April 2025, how much funding it anticipates will be made available for public spending in 2025-26 as a result of the decision to equalise the MSP element of minsters' salary with that of MSPs who are not currently serving …

Answer · Ivan McKee: In 2025-26 the Ministerial element of all Ministers' pay remains frozen at 2008-09 levels. This is the seventeenth consecutive year in which Ministerial pay has been frozen. In 2025-26, it is estimated that, as a result of the Ministerial pay freeze, Minister…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on digital infrastructure in the current parliamentary session to date, and how much it estimates it will have spent in total by the end of the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Spend on digital connectivity infrastructure for the current parliamentary session and projected spend for the remainder of the session is set out in the table below by financial year. The Scottish Government has also secured UK Government funding for investm…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on supporting community-led regeneration and town centre revitalisation in the current parliamentary session to date, and how much it estimates it will have spent in total by the end of the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Tom Arthur: Through our regeneration investment programmes £294.55m has been delivered in the current Parliamentary term over the period 1 April 2021 until end March 2025 to support community-led regeneration and town centre revitalisation across Scotland. The 2025…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on the Baird and Anchor project in the current parliamentary session to date, and how much it estimates it will have spent in total by the end of the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Neil Gray: The most recent budget forecast of £261.1 million for the Baird and ANCHOR project remains under pressure until design changes and completion strategies for both buildings are addressed. A full update on project costs is expected by late summer pending …

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on the Learning Estate Investment Programme in the current parliamentary session to date, and how much it estimates it will have spent in total by the end of the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The £2bn Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP), in collaboration with local authorities, commenced in 2021 and will deliver 47 school infrastructure projects across Scotland. The LEIP builds on the success of the £1.8bn Scotland's Schools fo…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on city region and regional growth deals in the current parliamentary session to date, and how much it estimates it will have spent in total by the end of the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Kate Forbes: In the current parliamentary session, the Scottish Government, acting in its capacity as Accountable Officer for the wider City and Regional Growth Deal programme has provided £695 million in funding to date (by end of Q4 2024-25) to Regional Partners. …

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on redeveloping the Stranraer waterfront in the current parliamentary session to date, and how much it estimates it will have spent in total by the end of the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Tom Arthur: There has been no investment specifically related to Stranraer waterfront in the current Parliamentary term through Regeneration programmes.Regeneration has supported a number of projects in Stranraer, including funding for Stranraer Development Trust, within…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funds it has created since the start of the current parliamentary session to support the tourism sector.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government recognises the vital importance of tourism to Scotland’s economy. Whilst, several funds were created as part of our covid recovery plan in the previous parliamentary session, no specific funds have been created during this sessio…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much capital funding it has committed to the building of a new Monklands Hospital.

Answer · Maree Todd: The outline business case estimated costs at £1.3 billion. Design and expected costs will be confirmed as part of the Full Business Case (FBC) submission which is expected in late 2025- early 2026. The 2025-26 budget provides funding to support developm…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on rail improvements in the current parliamentary session to date, and how much it estimates it will have spent in total by the end of the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Figures representing all rail expenditure for the years 2021-22 to 2023-24 can be found in Transport Scotland accounts:Year 2022-23: Annual Accounts | Transport ScotlandYear 2023-24: Annual Accounts | Transport ScotlandThe budget figures for the current and p…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on emerging energy technologies funds in the current parliamentary session to date.

Answer · Gillian Martin: In the current parliamentary session to date the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund has spent a total of £15.3 million on grant awards:£6.8m to 31 projects, via the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme (details at: Emerging Energy Technologies Fund - Hydroge…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is its policy to create a Scottish food agency.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: It is not the policy of the Scottish Government to create a Scottish food agency. Following the manifesto commitment to set up a Scottish Food Agency, exploratory work was undertaken and the decision was taken not to proceed. Scotland Food & Drink and the…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it (a) spent in Session 5, (b) has spent in the current parliamentary session to date and (c) estimates it will spend in total in Session 6 on private sector-led research and development projects.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes an annual report on Research and Development (R&D) expenditure by government departments. The latest report was published on 9 April 2025 and can be found at: Research and development expenditure by the U…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) monitors and (b) estimates the number of jobs supported by its infrastructure spending.

Answer · Shona Robison: Our current Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP) which was published alongside the last Capital Spending Review, estimated that annually, around 45,000 construction and maintenance jobs would be supported through the associated total capital investment. This …

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on rural entrepreneur funds in the current parliamentary session to date; how much it plans to spend by the end of the current parliamentary session, and whether it is its policy to create a £20 million rural entrepreneur fund.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: This Government is committed to building a vibrant, sustainable, and inclusive rural economy.We are widening participation in entrepreneurship, giving more people the opportunity to start, grow and scale their business. To date we have supported a range of pr…

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to develop Scotland as a tech start-up hub in the current parliamentary session to date, and how much it plans to provide by the end of the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government has set the goal of establishing Scotland as one of Europe's leading start-up economies, fostering an environment where innovation and high-growth businesses flourish. Within this parliamentary term it has spent over £60 million …

7 May 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is its policy to provide arts funding through a Percentage for the Arts scheme for public capital projects, and, if so, how it has implemented any such policy.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The Scottish Government has committed through its 2024 Programme for Government to review the way the culture sector is supported. This ongoing culture sector support programme will, amongst other things, explore alternative and additional funding mechanisms …