Parliamentary questions
Kevin Stewart
579 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
12 Mar 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its actions to advance the Acorn Carbon Capture and Storage project.
Answer · Gillian Martin: The First Minister, Deputy First Minister and I have repeatedly urged the Prime Minister and Secretary of State to get a move on and make key decisions to progress Acorn. The immediate one is to release the £200 million that was announced last June, the…
12 Mar 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its discussions with the UK Government regarding the abolition or reform of the Energy Profits Levy.
Answer · Shona Robison: UK Government decisions in reserved areas of offshore energy policy are driving an accelerated decline in North Sea oil and gas and opening up a gap with the renewables industry – a gap into which jobs and livelihoods are being lost. That is why we are …
11 Mar 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any discussions with COSLA or any local authorities about reviewing the licensing of vape shops.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Scottish Government officials meet quarterly with the Trading Standards Policy & Co-ordination Group, attended by COSLA and representatives of Local Authorities, and regularly with Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards (SCOTSS) to discuss issues …
11 Mar 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider running a safety campaign with local authority and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service partners aimed at highlighting the safe storage of products in vape shops and other businesses that deal with products with lithium batteries.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) already carry out regular lithium-ion battery fire safety campaigns, most notably alongside Glasgow City Council highlighting the need for proper use and disposal (here). SFRS also have dedicated advice on their web…
11 Mar 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to review the licensing of vape shops.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Scotland is the only country in the UK with a Tobacco and Vapes Retail Register. All businesses, regardless of size, need to be registered to be able to sell these products in Scotland. The register exists to support the enforcement of regulation on age restr…
11 Mar 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service visits vape shops as part of its fire prevention work.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: Dutyholders (the employer, as well as any other person who may have control to any extent of any part of the premises) are responsible for complying with the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the associated Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 to ensure the saf…
9 Mar 2026 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to promote vaccinations to combat measles, in light of reports of recent diagnoses in the NHS Grampian area.
5 Mar 2026 · SPCB Oral Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will consider increasing the resources and staffing available to the Non-Government Bills Unit.
14 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Distress Brief Intervention programme.
Answer · Tom Arthur: The Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) Programme is live in all 31 HSCPs across Scotland providing timely support to those in distress and easing pressures on frontline services.In November the programme reached the milestone of 100,000 referrals.Over the comi…
14 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider having discussions with COSLA, local authorities and the third sector to promote the expansion of Housing First.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: Housing First is delivered through close partnership between the Scottish Government, COSLA, local authorities, and third sector organisations. Discussions between partners about the scaling up of Housing First take place, among many others, at the Rapid Reho…
14 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider providing dedicated funding for the expansion of the Housing First programme.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government continues to support Housing First delivery across Scotland through funding for rapid rehousing and transition plans. By the end of March 2027, we will have allocated £84.5 million to local authorities for rapid rehousing and Hou…
14 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which third sector organisations are involved in supporting Housing First tenancies.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government has published national monitoring reports on Housing First since 1 April 2021. These monitoring reports are publicly available on the Scottish Government website: Housing First: monitoring reports - gov.scot.The Scottish Government doe…
14 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider expanding the Housing First programme to support people with mental health difficulties to attain and sustain tenancies.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government has published national monitoring reports on Housing First since 1 April 2021. These monitoring reports are publicly available on the Scottish Government website: Housing First: monitoring reports - gov.scot.Housing First is designed t…
14 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many families with children currently have a Housing First tenancy.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government has published national monitoring reports on Housing First since 1 April 2021. These monitoring reports are publicly available on the Scottish Government website: Housing First: monitoring reports - gov.scot.Scottish Government monitor…
14 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to increase the number of Housing First tenancies available to families with children in order to provide holistic support.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government has published national monitoring reports on Housing First since 1 April 2021. These monitoring reports are publicly available on the Scottish Government website: Housing First: monitoring reports - gov.scot.Housing First supports peop…
14 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many neurodivergent people currently have a Housing First tenancy.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government has published national monitoring reports on Housing First since 1 April 2021. These monitoring reports are publicly available on the Scottish Government website: Housing First: monitoring reports - gov.scot.The Scottish Government doe…
14 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether any local authorities deliver specialist Housing First programmes to provide tenancies for young people leaving care.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: Some local authorities (Glasgow, Fife and West Lothian) deliver Housing First programmes which have elements that focus on young people. By combining a national Housing First model with locally adapted interventions, these areas can offer stable accommodation…
14 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many housing associations currently operate Housing First programmes.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government has published national monitoring reports on Housing First since 1 April 2021. These monitoring reports are publicly available on the Scottish Government website: Housing First: monitoring reports - gov.scot.The Scottish Government doe…
14 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many Housing First tenancies exist in each local authority.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government has published national monitoring reports on Housing First since 1 April 2021. These monitoring reports are publicly available on the Scottish Government website: Housing First: monitoring reports - gov.scot.Since 1 April 2021, 1,320 H…
14 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many care experienced people currently have a Housing First tenancy.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government has published national monitoring reports on Housing First since 1 April 2021. These monitoring reports are publicly available on the Scottish Government website: Housing First: monitoring reports - gov.scot.The Scottish Government doe…
14 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to expand Housing First tenancies in cooperation with partners.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government strongly supports Housing First and continues to support Housing First delivery across Scotland through funding for rapid rehousing and transition plans. By the end of March 2027, we will have allocated £84.5 million to local aut…
14 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people with learning disabilities currently have a Housing First tenancy.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government has published national monitoring reports on Housing First since 1 April 2021. These monitoring reports are publicly available on the Scottish Government website: Housing First: monitoring reports - gov.scot.The Scottish Government doe…
14 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many third sector organisations are involved in supporting Housing First tenancies.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government has published national monitoring reports on Housing First since 1 April 2021. These monitoring reports are publicly available on the Scottish Government website: Housing First: monitoring reports - gov.scot.The Scottish Government doe…
2 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service are currently examining any files relating to Jeffrey Epstein to determine whether any criminality took place in Scotland.
Answer · Dorothy Bain: Police Scotland have confirmed that there are no active criminal investigations in Scotland relating to any files released by the United States of America authorities relating to Jeffrey Epstein. Neither Police Scotland or the Crown Office and Procurator Fisc…
2 Feb 2026 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to boost the economy of Aberdeen and the north east of Scotland.
2 Feb 2026 · Inspired Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update to the Parliament on its commitment to dual the A96, and what the investment in the draft Scottish Budget 2026-27 and the Capital Spending Review will deliver for the people of the north and north east.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The position of the Scottish Government has not changed: we support fully dualling the A96 and we are already starting the dualling process from Inverness to Nairn, including a Nairn Bypass.I can confirm today that we remain committed to dualling the A96 and …
28 Jan 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider encouraging businesses and public bodies to take part in DFN Project Search internship schemes.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Through our devolved approach to employability, No One Left Behind, Local Employability Partnerships (LEPs) have responsibility for designing and commissioning services that respond to the needs of the local labour market.As part of our investment in Speciali…
28 Jan 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider resourcing an expansion of DFN Project Search internship places in Scotland.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Through our No One Left Behind approach, we remain firmly committed to strengthening specialist employability support for experiencing structural barriers to entering and sustaining employment. Since July 2025, all 32 Local Employability Partnerships have bee…
28 Jan 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many DFN Project Search internship places are available for young people with learning disabilities and/or autism, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government does not collect or publish data on the total number of DFN Project Search internship places available in Scotland.However, with the implementation of Specialist Employability Support in July 2025 as part of our devolved employability …
28 Jan 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-43030 by Tom Arthur on 27 January 2026, whether ministers will consider collecting data on the implementation of the pathway for eating disorders and autism developed from clinical experience (PEACE).
Answer · Tom Arthur: As NHS Boards continue to develop work in this area, we will request further information on the PEACE pathway in future self-reporting documents.