Parliamentary questions
Murdo Fraser
2,062 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
23 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to local authorities and the General Teaching Council for Scotland on balancing teachers' responsibilities to demonstrate political impartiality in schools with their rights to hold and express protected religious beliefs under the Equality Act 2010, and what ac…
22 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent large fires, including at a recycling centre in the Perth Harbour area, what action it is taking to give the Scottish Fire and Rescue the resources that it needs to deal with the modern causes of such incidents, such as lithium batteries from electronic vapes.
20 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish guidance on the factors that define a green data centre, and whether, pending publication of that guidance, it will invite planning authorities to defer determining applications for hyperscale data centres.
20 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it, the Energy Consents Unit or the National Planning Hub holds data on the cumulative electricity and water demand of all data centre proposals currently in the planning system, and if not, what its position is on commissioning such data before further determinations in relation…
20 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on household and business electricity bills in Scotland of transmission network charges forecast by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to rise from £2.8 billion in 2020-21 to £13.6 billion in 2030-31, and of Ofgem's early fund…
20 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether Scotland’s construction and engineering workforce has the capacity to deliver simultaneously the consented onshore wind pipeline, the electricity transmission network expansion, which the National Energy System Operator (NESO) has reportedly s…
20 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the implications for Scotland, including for the period after Torness closes in 2030, of the electricity grid frequency event of 23 June 2026 and the subsequent matters raised in the letter by the Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero t…
17 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce a national strategy plan for the location of AI data centres or allow local authorities to determine this on an individual basis.
Answer · Hannah Mary Goodlad: Decisions on the location of such developments are currently taken through Scotland’s plan-led planning system. This includes the National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), which sets out national planning policies and priorities, alongside local development…
17 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the National Planning Framework 4 provides sufficient guidance to local authorities to appropriately with applications for AI data centres, including the impact on the grid.
Answer · Hannah Mary Goodlad: Planning authorities have qualified planning officers who apply their professional analysis and judgement to inform decisions. National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) designates “Green Data Centres” as National Development. NPF4 must be considered, r…
17 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what advice it provides local authorities in relation to assessing planning applications for AI data centres, including regarding the cumulative energy demand and energy security impact of the entire national data centre pipeline.
Answer · Hannah Mary Goodlad: National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) designates “Green Data Centres” as National Development. Policy 24 of NPF4 supports Digital Infrastructure, encouraging, promoting and facilitating the roll out of digital infrastructure across Scotland to unlo…
16 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support disability football.
Answer · Maree Todd: For financial year 2026-27, the Scottish Government will provide Scottish Para-Football with £160,000 to deliver a range of Summer of Sport and related legacy activities and allow Scottish Para-Football to appoint a Youth Development Officer for two yea…
10 Jun 2026 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reconsider its plan to reorganise neonatal care across Scotland, in light of reports that it could result in the downgrading of essential units, including the service at Ninewells Hospital.
4 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its response to petition PE1976 (Backdate council tax discounts for dementia to the date of GP certification), when it plans to bring forward legislation to backdate council tax discounts for individuals living with dementia.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: As previously confirmed to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee in the last Parliamentary session, the Scottish Government recognises the concerns being raised on this issue.Local authorities have the flexibility to backdate applications f…
4 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the contribution that geothermal energy could make to Scotland's economy.
Answer · Stephen Gethins: I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-00834 on 12 June 2026. 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-committees/…
3 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its strategy, A Connected Scotland, whether it has published (a) the interim report, which was scheduled for publication in 2024, (b) the final report and (c) look ahead, which were scheduled for publication in early 2026, and, if so, whether it will provide links to those pub…
Answer · Simita Kumar: Progress against delivery of A Connected Scotland is monitored and reported through the Social Isolation and Loneliness Advisory Group (SIALAG), which will be chaired by the Minister for Equalities and International Development.In recognition of the significa…
29 May 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Scottish National Party 2026 manifesto commitment to "reduce the hours police officers need to spend in courts andhospitals, including through the expansion ofmental health triage cars to reduce the pressureon police when people are reported as being inmental health distr…
Answer · Maree Todd: Scottish Ministers will be considering options with the Scottish Ambulance Service to increase the availability of this service across Scotland, this will be informed by an evaluation of the current three sites funded by the Scottish Government in Glasgow, In…
29 May 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will increase police funding in line with inflation, in order to prevent further reductions to community policing.
Answer · Neil Gray: Scotland’s police service will always be visible and at the heart of our communities. Police Scotland are keeping people safe every day as shown by recorded crime falling by half since 1991.Using the GDP deflator, the 2026-27 Scottish Police Authority (…
29 May 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Scottish National Party 2026 manifesto pledge to commit £10 million over three years to introduce a Police Scotland Retail Crime Taskforce, what the timeline is for this rollout.
Answer · Kirsten Oswald: The Scottish Government confirmed that a further £3 million was available to help Police Scotland tackle retail crime in its budget for 2026-27. This will ensure that the service can build upon its work carried out the previous year, which included the …
28 May 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards the implementation of the new national Learn to Swim initiative to ensure that all primary school pupils learn to swim and gain water safety skills.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government is working in close partnership with COSLA and Scottish Swimming to deliver a national programme of free swimming lessons for all primary school children. A School Swimming Working Group, chaired by the Scottish Government and COSLA, h…
27 May 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assistance is being provided to households that are reliant on domestic heating oil and are facing substantial increases in cost.
Answer · Stephen Gethins: Global events continue to reinforce the impact of high energy prices with the crisis in the Middle East significantly increasing the cost of heating oil and liquid petroleum gas ("LPG"). That is why the Scottish Government launched the Scottish Emergency Heat…
22 May 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many public bodies it plans to abolish or merge through the measures to be proposed in the Public Service Renewal Bill.
Answer · Ivan McKee: As committed to in our Public Service Reform Strategy the Scottish Government is working in partnership with public bodies to review the public service delivery landscape.We want public bodies and Scottish Government, working individually and collectively, to…
22 May 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce a reformed National Performance Framework, in light of it pausing and abandoning its previously proposed national outcomes in 2025 after a full statutory review.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Following the statutory review, Ministers committed the Scottish Government to a period of reform of the National Performance Framework (NPF). During this period, no changes were made to the current national outcomes and indicators. These remain in operation …
22 May 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the cost was of the National Performance Framework review process that was undertaken during the previous parliamentary session, the outcomes of which were not implemented.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Following the statutory review, Ministers have committed the Scottish Government to a programme of reform of the National Performance Framework (NPF).Activity to support the review has been undertaken as part of the Scottish Government’s core business a…
22 May 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the proposed Public Service Renewal Bill will differ from the public body reduction already committed to in its Public Service Reform Strategy of June 2025.
Answer · Ivan McKee: A key strand of the 2025 Public Service Reform Strategy is to ensure that the service delivery landscape is proportionate, streamlined and designed to meet Scotland’s needs in the most efficient way by eliminating duplication. As part of this, we contin…
22 May 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of the Fiscal Sustainability Delivery Plan, what proportion of the identified £5 billion fiscal gap has been closed by measures announced to date, broken down by year.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: In June 2025 we published the Medium-Term Financial Strategy and the Fiscal Sustainability Delivery plan.The Medium-Term Financial Strategy provided our assessment of the scale of the fiscal challenge over the next five years. This was £2.6 billion for …
22 May 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will introduce the Public Service Renewal Bill, in light of its commitment to do so in the first year of the current parliamentary session.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The First Minister’s 100 days programme commits to developing outline plans that will facilitate delivery of public service renewal. This includes working in partnership with stakeholders, such as public bodies, and trade unions to scope plans for addit…
22 May 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Auditor General's reported assessment that an approach to public sector reform focused purely on controlling workforce numbers will not balance the public finances.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government recognises that workforce measures alone are not sufficient to deliver the ambition for reforming public services. The Public Service Reform Strategy sets out a wider programme of reform, including prevention, service redesign and effi…
22 May 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Audit Scotland's report finding that such data was lacking for over 100 of these, whether it now holds adequate data on the size, cost and skillset of the workforce in its public bodies,
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government has made significant progress in addressing Audit Scotland’s 2023 recommendations to strengthen the evidence base on the size, cost and composition of the devolved public sector workforce.In June 2025, we published the first cons…
22 May 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its commitment to reduce the public sector workforce, for what reason the devolved civil service headcount increased in the year to December 2025.
Answer · Ivan McKee: In the calendar year to December 2025 the core Scottish Government made a reduction of 2.5% in its total workforce, including both directly employed FTE and contingent worker headcount, as a result of tighter recruitment controls being implemented and taking …
22 May 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Reform's specific savings target is for 2026-27, and what independent body will verify whether this is met.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Our Portfolio Efficiency and Reform Plans published alongside the Scottish Spending Review, set out savings by portfolio, by year.These plans incorporate savings arising from efficiency and reform activity, aligned with our savings targets as set out in the F…