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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 MSPs 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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-43953

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on (a) what new action it has taken to reduce waiting times for gender-affirming care at Glasgow's Sandyford Gender Identity Clinic, and (b) what funding it has allocated in the Budget 2026-27 to support this work.

Question reference: S6W-43816

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what powers it has to shape incinerator capacity once all planned incinerator facilities have entered into the full consultation process.

The Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland made it clear that Scotland does not need additional waste incineration facilities to treat our unavoidable and unrecyclable municipal residual waste, beyond those for which planning permission has already been granted, with very limited exceptions.

That is why the Scottish Government introduced restrictions on energy from waste developments in National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), which came into effect on 13 February 2023. This sets out that development proposals for energy from waste facilities will not be supported except in limited circumstances where a national or local need has been sufficiently demonstrated (e.g. in terms of capacity need or carbon benefits) as part of a strategic approach to residual waste management. No new energy from waste planning requests have been submitted since NPF4 was adopted.

Any changes to an existing incineration facility’s throughput (i.e. authorised capacity) requires an application to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) for a permit variation.

The Scottish Government recognises that national capacity is not currently considered in SEPA’s environmental permit decisions and will work with SEPA to ensure that the Scottish Government’s indicative capacity cap for residual waste, under development through Scotland’s residual waste plan due in 2027, is reflected in regulations and considered when assessing environmental permits. This will ensure that, going forward, SEPA will consider national capacity as part of environmental permitting.

Question reference: S6W-43818

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to waste being sent for incineration in Scotland, whether (a) it knows where this waste comes from and (b) it is possible for waste to be sent from other parts of the UK to be burned in Scotland's incinerators.

Question reference: S6W-43817

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its recent agreement with Environmental Standards Scotland regarding action to prevent excess incineration capacity, whether it plans to conduct its revised incinerator capacity analysis earlier than 2027, and when it plans to publish this analysis.

Question reference: S6W-43820

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what resources it estimates will be required to conduct a revised incinerator capacity analysis.

Question reference: S6W-43783

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support youth organisations to include trans young people, in light of the UK Supreme Court’s judgment in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers and any subsequent updates to equality guidance.

Question reference: S6W-43821

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) has considered creating guidelines for Scotland relating to the way that Business Improvement District (BID) levies are set and enforced and (b) plans to introduce a public record of the levies being charged by BID companies across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-43784

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK Supreme Court’s judgment in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers and any subsequent updates to equality guidance reportedly leading some youth organisations to exclude trans children and young people from their services, what its position is on whether there is a gap in opportunities for trans children and young people.

Question reference: S6W-43785

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address any issues regarding the potential financial burden or loss of living-cost funding associated with the different Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) funding paths for modular routes of study, such as HNC/HND to degree progression courses, which are not currently recognised as one continuous matriculation.

Question reference: S6W-43618

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the UK Government report, Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security.