- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 18 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that ambulance workers are regularly required to work through their rest breaks, what action it is taking to ensure that Scottish Ambulance Service crew members can take the rest breaks that they are legally entitled to.
Answer
Following discussions facilitated by the Scottish Government between the Scottish Ambulance Service and trade unions, a working group has been established to seek to resolve the complex issues surrounding rest break compliance. The group will meet fortnightly, with an oversight group established which includes representation from the Scottish Government. This oversight group will meet regularly to monitor the progress of the working group.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 July 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 17 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the cost to Scotland’s economy of poor mobile connectivity.
Answer
Telecommunications policy, which includes mobile connectivity, is currently reserved to the UK Government. Whilst the Scottish Government has not conducted any analysis on the economic impacts of poor mobile connectivity, we do recognise the social and economic importance of high-quality and reliable mobile services, particularly for our rural and island areas. Through our Scottish 4G Infill (S4GI) programme, we have invested £28.75 million to deliver and activate 55 mobile masts in areas that previously had no coverage.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 July 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 17 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what data it collects on the scale of organised sexual exploitation of children.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not collect data on the scale of organised child sexual exploitation. External agencies such as Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and local authorities collect and record concerns and/or offences related to child sexual abuse and exploitation tailored to their statutory and operational responsibilities.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 July 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many people received more than one social security payment type in the financial year 2024-25.
Answer
Social Security Scotland does not currently publish statistics on the number of people who receive more than one benefit from Social Security Scotland. Social Security Scotland recently published Official Statistics on the number of individual clients paid and in 2024-25, Social Security Scotland paid 962,525 individual clients (excluding clients in receipt of Carer’s Allowance Supplement).
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 17 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency regarding potentially expanding the available locations offered by the Scottish Driving Assessment Service for people who wish to commence, resume or continue driving after illness or injury, in light of the reported barriers to attendance for those in the Highlands and island areas.
Answer
The Scottish Government has had no recent discussions with the DVSA about the expansion of locations offered by the Scottish Driving Assessment Service.
The Scottish Driving Assessment Service is a matter for NHS Boards, and is hosted by NHS Lothian on behalf of NHS Scotland. The service is free for users and is currently funded through contributions from NHS Boards to NHS Lothian.
The NHS Directors of Planning Group has agreed to oversee a review of the Scottish Driving Assessment Service (SDAS) and present a paper to the NHS Boards Chief Executives group. A Working Group will oversee a detailed scoping exercise to understand the demand for driving assessment in Scotland, and how this is currently being met.
It is proposed that the review will conclude with an Option Appraisal, supported by NHS Ayrshire and Arran, enabling stakeholders from throughout Scotland to discuss and appraise potential future service delivery models for driving assessment in Scotland.
The Scottish Government is in regular contact with NHS Ayrshire and Arran, and the review is expected to conclude in late 2025.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 17 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many foreign direct investment (FDI) projects have been undertaken in Scotland in the last 10 years, broken down by (a) new investment projects, (b) expansion investment projects, (c) retention investment projects, (d) mergers and acquisitions projects and (e) joint ventures.
Answer
Responsibility for measuring Scotland’s inward investment performance, which includes planned jobs and supply chain impacts for involved projects, rests with Scottish Enterprise. The independent EY Attractiveness Survey and the UK Government’s Department for Business and Trade’s (DBT) annual inward investment results provide an additional performance indicator for inward investment. Collectively, the results provide robust estimates of Scotland’s inward investment activity and performance.
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) is not a classification that the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise nor EY use when measuring the performance of inward investment projects into Scotland.
Scotland has a strong record in attracting foreign direct investment and our Inward Investment Plan (IIP) plays a central role in supporting our ambitions to be a destination of choice for global inward investors. Information on how Scotland has performed in terms of attracting inward investment projects is available via the EY attractiveness survey (the latest results can be found here: ey-uk-attractiveness-survey-scotland-06-2025.pdf) and the Department for Business and Trade Inward Investment Results (the latest results can be found here: DBT inward investment results 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK). Scottish Enterprise results will be published in the Autumn.
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 July 2025
The ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports that women wait longer than men for NHS operations.
Answer
In the majority of specialties there is minimal variation between female and male median waits but we recognise that in specialties that focus on treating conditions relating to urinary and reproductive systems there can be variation.
The Scottish Government is acutely aware that many women are particularly impacted by long waits for gynaecological appointments and procedures and this is not good enough.
As the first country in the UK to publish a Women’s Health Plan we are committed to reducing health inequalities and improving health outcomes for women and girls. Timely access to gynaecology services must be addressed and I am committed to including gynaecology as a priority in the next phase of the Plan.
As a starting point, the Government has allocated over £8.8 million to Health Boards to target long waits for gynaecology and I expect this to deliver significant improvements to the backlog in the coming year through waiting list initiatives and recruitment.
The investment is part of the £200 million announced as part of the Programme for Government to build capacity, tackle delayed discharge and improve patient flow through hospitals.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, following the removal of peak rail fares in September, whether super off-peak tickets will still be available for purchase at a reduced rate to commuters, and, if so, to which routes this will apply.
Answer
Super off-peak journeys account for 0.2 per cent of all journeys made on ScotRail services. Only a very small number of journeys actually qualify for the ticket, and there are restricted travel times aimed at the quietest trains on particular routes, between 11am and 3pm, and after 8pm. Details of all ScotRail fares and products, following the removal of peak fares on 1 September 2025, will be available in early August.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what progress Social Security Scotland has made in making sure that frontline staff are trained in the particular needs of the veteran community, to ensure that veterans are not subjected to any unnecessary misunderstanding or distress when accessing financial support.
Answer
Social Security Scotland recognises and values a wide range of diverse groups beyond the nine protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010, including a strong commitment to the armed forces community – veterans and their families.
The organisation remains committed to reviewing and enhancing how it supports people accessing benefits. In particular, how to strengthen colleagues’ understanding of veterans, particularly in light of the report and recommendations published by the Scottish Veterans Commissioner’s June 2025 report on veterans’ experiences with the benefits system.
To promote internal awareness and understanding, Social Security Scotland has delivered sessions highlighting the lived experiences of the armed forces community featuring contributions from veterans now employed within the organisation.
In 2024, the organisation worked closely with Scottish Government colleagues to recruit veterans as Client Advisers on 12-month fixed-term contracts, with the option to extend. Hiring managers received training to help support these new colleagues, recognising the challenges they may have faced.
While there is no specific training tailored exclusively for individual groups like veterans, all colleagues involved in assessing applications receive comprehensive training. This training is developed in consultation with people with lived experience of health conditions and disabilities and is informed by the Scottish Government’s benefit take-up strategy and focuses on understanding each person’s unique circumstances.
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 17 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the trade deal between the UK and India, whether it is considering expanding its current list of nine trade and investment envoys to include an envoy for the Indian market.
Answer
Scottish Government officials reviewed the Trade & Investment Envoy network footprint in 2024 to help ensure we have the right people, in the right places, with appropriate knowledge of our priority sectors. The review noted there are significant opportunities in India and the Scottish Government recognises the recent conclusion of UK-India Free Trade Agreement negotiations. We plan to increase our engagement with India given its rapid economic growth and Scotland’s synergies with India, including: Renewable Energy; Information Technology & Innovation; Life Sciences & Healthcare; and Food & Beverage. We remain open to appointing an Envoy in India should an appropriate candidate be identified.
