Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

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 ��˿�� 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.

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Question reference: S6W-36902

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of a potential £2.1 billion welfare budget shortfall, how it plans to address any such shortfall without imposing further pressure on public services.

Question reference: S6W-36246

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases that are currently lodged with the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) are yet to have an initial hearing date set.

Question reference: S6W-37055

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that sewage may have been discharged into Scottish waters once every 90 seconds in 2024.

Question reference: S6W-36592

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints it has received from members of the public in relation to school education in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-36759

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35620 by Neil Gray on 20 March 2025, whether it will provide details of the work that Healthcare Improvement Scotland is undertaking to standardise the reporting of incidents of rape and sexual assault in hospitals and on the NHS estate, and when these changes will be implemented.

Health Improvement Scotland are working with all NHS boards and partner organisations to standardise the reporting of adverse events, and have developed a national framework which was published in February 2025.

This also includes a standard review process through the development of a national Significant Adverse Event Review template with associated guidance and national learning summary. The category of violence and aggression (which includes instances of sexual violence) is a priority category.

The safety of staff and patients is the responsibility of the individual Health Board. We expect Health Boards to make every effort to keep staff, patients and service users safe and to report incidents to the police where appropriate.

The courts have extensive powers to deal robustly with sexual offending. All instances of such behaviour should be reported and escalated to Police Scotland as quickly as possible for consideration of necessary action.

Question reference: S6O-04567

Asked by: Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any progress on the funding model for the Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme in its current iteration, following its decision not to “call in” the scheme for ministerial inquiry.

Under the Flood Risk Management Act when valid objections are raised to a proposed flood protection scheme Scottish Ministers decide whether it should be ‘called in’ to a public local inquiry or considered through a local authority local hearing.

Scottish Ministers have decided the next steps in the process for the Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme should be undertaken locally.

Should Falkirk Council confirm the scheme in its current form and wish to access Scottish Government funding, it will be necessary to demonstrate that the scheme, in whole or phased elements, are value for money, and assessed against other flood protection schemes across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-36796

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many applicants there were for health visitor training in 2024; what percentage were accepted onto a training programme, and how many completed their training.

Question reference: S6W-37206

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Angela Constance on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress to establish the public inquiry into the investigation of Emma Caldwell's murder.

Last year, I announced that there would be a judge-led, statutory Public Inquiry into the investigation of Emma Caldwell's murder in 2005.

I can now confirm that Lord Scott, a current Senator of the College of Justice, has agreed to chair the Public Inquiry. I am pleased that someone of Lord Scott’s experience and legal standing will chair this important inquiry.

I have a statutory obligation to consult Lord Scott on the terms of reference for the Inquiry. I met with him earlier this week and we will meet again in due course to discuss the terms of reference and timescales for the Inquiry’s formal setting up date.

It is also my intention to share terms of reference with the family of Emma Caldwell and other interested parties to hear their views on the Inquiry’s remit. I will provide a further update to Parliament in due course.

Question reference: S6W-36757

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the care sector, in light of reported comments from the Chief Executive of Scottish Care that "the bottom will fall out of the sector in three months".

The Scottish Government understand the level of concern Dr Donald Macaskill has for the challenges currently being faced by the Social Care sector within Scotland

We are particularly concerned about the impact of the decisions taken by the UK Government, most notably the increase in employers National Insurance Contributions, as well as changes to the social care visa system and salary threshold levels. These decisions place serious financial strain on social care services, that so many people across Scotland rely on.

The Scottish Government has increased investment into our Health & Social Care Sector, the 2025-26 Budget provides funding of £21.7 billion for Health and Social Care - an uplift exceeding consequentials and taking funding to record levels. This budget will have a continued focus on reform and improvement in our services, driving efficiency and changing how we deliver our services to improve quality and access.

We are continuing to invest in health and social care services, with almost 2.2 billion invested in social care and integration – exceeding our commitment to increase funding by 25% by almost £350 million.

We are providing an additional £125 million to support delivery of the pay uplift to a minimum of £12.60 per hour for adult social care workers as well as £5.9 million of investment into Care Inspectorate and £13.4 million into the Independent Living Fund.

Despite substantial funding increases, significant challenge remains – prevention, early intervention and reform remain critical to delivering an effective, efficient and sustainable health and social care system. Scottish Government officials have estimated that the social care sector alone face additional costs of more than £84m as a result of the increase in Employer National Insurance Contributions.

The Scottish Government and COSLA continue to raise this issue with the UK Government and request that funding is provided to cover the full cost of these changes for public services and those commissioned services that deliver critical services such as social care.

While we continue to engage with the UK Government on this matter, Scottish Government officials are undertaking a programme of work to understand and respond to the current financial viability pressures in the sector and the impact that this change will have. This has included engaging with local leaders through the Collaborative Response and Assurance Group(CRAG), as well as monthly roundtables and weekly meetings with partners including Scottish Care.

That work is ongoing, and the Scottish Government is committed to working closely with partners to identify the pro-active steps that can be taken to mitigate these impacts and protect services.

Question reference: S6W-36817

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the 2025-26 social care budget will be used to support essential frontline services, as opposed to administrative overheads or bureaucracy.

The 2025-26 Scottish Budget includes almost £2.2 billion for social care and integration – exceeding our commitment to increase funding by 25% by almost £350 million.

However, While the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, it is for local authorities and health boards to work with the Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) to ensure that social care support services are in place to provide people with the appropriate support.

Decisions on how best to deliver services to local communities are ultimately for integration authorities and locally elected representatives to make.