Parliamentary questions
Murdo Fraser
2,062 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
15 Sep 2025 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government will support town and city centres as retail destinations.
9 Sep 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further details of its position onmaking all future funding for arts organisations conditional on the applicant’scommitment to protecting freedom of expression.
2 Sep 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the potential impact on farmers and food producers of the introduction of meat-free days in public institutions, such as schools and hospitals.
1 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Retail Consortium’s suggestion in its Scottish Budget 2026-27 recommendations paper that spending restraint rather than tax rises should form the bulk of any measures to plug the projected gap in devolved government finances.
Answer · Shona Robison: Listening to stakeholders is a priority for this government. That is why the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government met with the Scottish Retail Consortium earlier this week on 16 September to discuss the upcoming Budget, amongst other matters. Th…
1 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Retail Consortium’s suggestion in its Scottish Budget 2026-27 recommendations paper that retailers of all sizes should benefit from a meaningfully more competitive business rate than in England.
Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government offers a competitive non-domestic rates regime delivering the lowest property rate in the UK for the seventh year in a row and ensuring that over 95% of non-domestic properties continue to be liable for a lower property tax rate than a…
1 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Retail Consortium’s suggestion in its Scottish Budget 2026-27 recommendations paper that there should be no new levies or taxes on retailers.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40219 on 19 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-commit…
1 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Retail Consortium’s suggestion in its Scottish Budget 2026-27 recommendations paper that no retailer in Scotland should be liable for a higher business rate than counterparts in England.
Answer · Ivan McKee: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39481 on 7 August 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-committee…
1 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Retail Consortium’s suggestion in its Scottish Budget 2026-27 recommendations paper that there should be a plan to narrow any divergence between Scottish and UK income tax rates.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40219 on 19 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-commit…
22 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce the requirement on Police Scotland of having to provide escorts for large vehicles associated with renewable energy projects.
Answer · Gillian Martin: The Onshore Wind Sector Deal, signed in September 2023, commits the Scottish Government and the onshore wind industry to working with Police Scotland to agree plans to ensure sufficient resources and the timely transportation of abnormal loads related to onsh…
22 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Abnormal Loads Legislative Reform sub-group last met, and what actions were agreed.
Answer · Gillian Martin: The Abnormal Loads Legislative Reform sub-group last met on 6 December 2024.At this meeting, Police Scotland committed to an action to develop a proposal for a dedicated police unit to transport abnormal loads associated with onshore wind equipment. The Scott…
27 May 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with UHI Perth in relation to its funding position.
20 May 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported concerns of stakeholder organisations within the muirburn code working group regarding the commencement and practicalities of muirburn licensing.
6 May 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Police Scotland in relation to its policy on the recording of non-crime hate incidents.
29 Apr 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures showing that farm incomes are at a five-year low.
25 Mar 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to increase house building.
24 Mar 2025 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to reduce waiting times for children and adolescents for the diagnosis of autism and ADHD.
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35531 by Richard Lochhead on 18 March 2025, what steps it has taken to measure progress towards meeting the targets set out in its 2021 document, A Strategy for Space in Scotland.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: 2021’s A Strategy for Space in Scotland is a document jointly owned between industry, government and academia, and sets out the goal of achieving a £4 billion market share of the global space market and creating over 20,000 jobs in the sector by 2…
19 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35531 by Richard Lochhead on 18 March 2025, whether it remains committed to all of the targets set out in its 2021 document, A Strategy for Space in Scotland.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: 2021’s A Strategy for Space in Scotland is not a government-owned document but one jointly developed and owned by industry, academia, and government. The Scottish Government, for its part, remains committed to the ambitions set out within.
6 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the development of the SaxaVord and Sutherland spaceports, and whether it is its understanding that the business sector plans to consolidate around a single launch location.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: For progress on SaxaVord and Sutherland Spaceports, I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-34559 and S6W-34600 on 6 March 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which…
6 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to facilitate the development of domestic space launch capabilities, and the growth of associated business sectors.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The delivery of domestic launch capability would close the last link in the end-to-end space value chain. This would allow the manufacture, launch and exploitation of small satellite data all to take place in Scotland and give the sector a unique offering to …
5 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address the reported long-term reduction in the working-age population caused by below-replacement birth rates.
Answer · Kaukab Stewart: Recent population projections from National Records of Scotland indicate that high levels of positive net migration are projected to offset negative natural change, leading to Scotland’s population being projected to increase each year to mid-2047.This …
5 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the latest information that it has on the progress of the Sutherland spaceport project.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Sutherland Spaceport is a private sector project being delivered by the launch vehicle manufacturer Orbex. In December 2024, the company announced a pause in construction, to enable them to focus their initial launches from SaxaVord spaceport, with a view to …
5 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to assess artifical intelligence (AI)-related industry activity in Scotland, in terms of size, location and specialisation.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: There are several measures Scottish Government is taking to assess AI-related industry activity in Scotland, in terms of size, location and specialisation. These include the Scottish Government BICS survey (with data on AI adoption for business and industry) …
5 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has taken any steps to make a cost-benefit analyses of potential measures available to it to promote the artificiak intellegence (AI)-related industry in Scotland.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Currently, a breakdown of spending returns on AI business support is not available as it is challenging to break down elements of work that are specific to AI and their impact as it is implicated in so many wider business impacts. However, recent research ind…
5 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what ongoing steps it is taking to monitor which potential trunk road building or upgrade projects would provide the highest economic return on investment.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Transport Scotland completed the second Strategic Transport Projects Review which sets-out the Scottish Government’s priorities for future capital investment, including new investment in the trunk road network.Alongside the design development process of…
5 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether Scotland can only be an influential responsible artificial intellegence (AI) regulator if it succeeds in attracting people to, and growing, the domestic AI sector.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Although the regulation of AI as a technology is unfortunately reserved to Westminster, Scotland can and has indeed been taking action for years to influence the national and global development of AI in a responsible way that reflects Scottish values. The pur…
5 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the latest information that it has on the progress of the SaxaVord spaceport.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government are supportive of SaxaVord Spaceport and their efforts toward reaching their first launch, which is currently understood to be later this year. This milestone will contribute significantly to Scotland’s launch ambitions and deliv…
27 Jan 2025 · Topical Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of unauthorised absences from schools.
7 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many working-age adults in Scotland are currently both not in work and in receipt of universal credit.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: This information is not held by Scottish Government as Universal Credit is a reserved benefit administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Please redirect your request to the DWP.
7 Jan 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many working-age adults in Scotland are currently both not in work and in receipt of benefits.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: This information is not held by Scottish Government as a number of benefits are reserved to the UK Government. Employment status is not part of the eligibility criteria for any Scottish Government benefits and as such we do not hold information about the numb…