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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

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Question reference: S6W-42598

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 9 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what additional funding it has provided to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service Office of the Public Guardian in each of the last three years to support improvements in the processing of power of attorney applications.

The Office of the Public Guardian is part of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS). As a non-ministerial public body, decisions on the allocation of the SCTS budget are a matter for the judicially led SCTS Board.

In recognition of the ongoing pressures on SCTS, including the Office of the Public Guardian, in each of the last three years additional funding has been provided by the Scottish Government.

In addition to the funding allocation in the Budget Bill, the SCTS receives income primarily from civil court fees and retained fines; in-year funding from the Scottish Government related to non-baseline areas; and through the Recovery, Renewal and Transformation (RRT) budget.

Within the 2023-24 Budget, the Scottish Government provided additional funding through RRT to SCTS totalling £26.8m which included £0.3m for OPG recovery. The Scottish Government also provided SCTS with £4.7m in additional capital funding, on top of their £8m baseline capital allocation. The additional £4.7m was to support a number of priority SCTS capital projects, including towards the costs in 2023-24 of the replacement of the Office of the Public Guardian IT system.

In the 2024-25 Budget an additional £9.7 million resource funding and £3.9 million additional capital budget was provided to SCTS.

In the 2025-26 Budget an additional £11.5m resource funding and £2.0m capital funding has been provided to the SCTS (compared to the 2024-25 budget bill allocation).

Question reference: S6O-05385

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with Transport Scotland and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S6W-42603

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 7 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact that delays in registering power of attorney applications have on (a) families, (b) legal practitioners and (c) healthcare decision-making.

The Scottish Government has acknowledged that, while the current system for Powers of Attorney (PoA) generally functions well, certain elements require improving and updating.

As part of the Adults with Incapacity reform programme, the Expert Working Group and the Minister-led Oversight Group are developing proposals to strengthen and streamline the Power of Attorney framework (Part 2 of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000), including registration processes.

Where there is an urgent medical, financial or welfare need, it is possible to request expedited processing of a power of attorney (PoA) from the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland). The expedited service can register a power of attorney within 5 working days.

Question reference: S6W-42596

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the current (a) average and (b) longest waiting time is for registration of power of attorney applications by the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland).

Question reference: S6W-42599

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the current staffing complement is in the Office of the Public Guardian, and what its position is on whether this is sufficient to meet demand for power of attorney registrations.

Question reference: S6W-42602

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates that waiting times for power of attorney registrations will return to pre-backlog levels.

Question reference: S6W-42601

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many power of attorney applications have been expedited in each of the last three years, and what the average turnaround time was.

Question reference: S6W-42597

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reasons for any recent increase in waiting times for power of attorney registrations.

Question reference: S6W-42600

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what performance measures it uses to monitor the timeliness of power of attorney registrations, and how often the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) reports progress to ministers.

Question reference: S6W-42388

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the status is of the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund; whether it is closed, and, if so, when it will reopen for applications.

The Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund (TTF) was launched by the Scottish and UK Governments in July 2025. Financial year 2025-26 represents a pilot phase for the TTF.

In September, the Scottish Government confirmed further funding of up to £450,000 to process additional applications during the pilot phase.

As of 8 December, all applications on the waitlist are being processed and Skills Development Scotland are contacting further prospective applicants who have already registered their interest to invite them to proceed with an application. The TTF is not open to entirely new applications at this stage.

We expect the TTF to open again for entirely new applications early in the next financial year. The Scottish Government, in partnership with the UK Government, has also announced joint funding of up to £18 million to extend and expand the TTF over the next three financial years (2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29), subject to the outcome of the Scottish Budget and Spending Review.

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