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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.

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Question reference: S6W-42420

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many children have been surrendered by birth parents and, comparatively by adoptive parents, under section 25 of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, in each of the last three years.

Question reference: S6W-42416

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that members of the public, particularly older people who are not confident using digital channels, can reliably contact the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) by telephone.

SPPA's telephone lines are open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, and 9am to 1.30pm on Friday. SPPA has handled over 70,000 calls in 2025, with the average call lasting seven minutes. This reflects the service SPPA is committed to giving scheme members.

Whilst the introduction of new digital channels is improving SPPA's customer service model, this will not limit accessibility for those who prefer to contact SPPA by telephone.

Question reference: S6W-42417

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what statutory support is available to adoptive parents following the completion of an adoption order.

Section 1 of The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (The Act) outlines the duty of local authorities to provide an adoption service. Sections 9, 10 and 11 of The Act require local authorities to assess a person’s needs for adoption support services and then provide that support if it is deemed necessary. This applies both pre and post adoption to children, young people, adoptive and birth families and adult adoptees.

Section 45 of The Act also requires local authorities, who have decided that adoption support is needed by a person or family, to prepare an adoption support plan setting out how the person or family’s needs will be met by adoption support services.

In addition, under Part 3 of the Adoption Support Services and Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 2009, every local authority is required to establish an Adoption Allowance Scheme. An adoption allowance may be paid where the local authority determines that one or more of the circumstances set out in Regulation 10 apply. These include supporting the placement of the adoptive child, facilitating special arrangements for placement or adoption, or supporting the continuation of adoption arrangements after an adoption order is made.

Question reference: S6W-42418

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many adopted children have been surrendered under section 25 of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 in each of the last three years, and what percentage of total adoptions this represents during each of these years.

The Scottish Government does not hold information at the level of detail requested. Analysis of related data collected for Looked After Children Statistics is included in the following table.

Year[1]	Total number of looked after children[2, 3]: returned under Section 25 of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, or where adoption did not proceed under Section 26 of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007	Total number of looked after children adopted
2021-22	10	211
2022-23	11	237
2023-24	7	182

[1] Year refers to the 12-month period ending on 31 July.

[2] Total number of looked after children refers to the number of looked after children either returned to the local authority under Section 25 of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, or where adoption did not proceed, under Section 26 of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, during each year.

[3] An adoption order was not issued for children counted in these figures, which have therefore not been shown as a percentage of all adoptions, where an adoption order was issued.

Question reference: S6W-42232

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how long the process for adoption from fostering should take, from beginning the process to the adoption being finalised.

The process of adoption is governed by the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 and The Adoption Agencies (Scotland) Regulations 2009, which set out the legal framework for adoption and the responsibilities of local authorities and adoption panels. The 2007 Act makes the child’s welfare paramount and requires decision-makers to consider any risk of prejudice caused by delay, but it does not set statutory time limits.

The 2011 Scottish Government Guidance on the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 and the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007emphasises that decisions should be made within timescales appropriate to the child’s developmental needs and that avoiding delay is essential, as prolonged uncertainty can harm a child’s welfare and stability.

The duration of the adoption process varies depending on the child’s circumstances, the complexity of the case, the time needed for assessments, matching, panel consideration, and legal procedures. This includes cases where a child is already placed with foster carers.

Question reference: S6W-42230

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what national overview is in place for the streamlining of co-ordination between local authorities during the process for adoption from fostering.

The Scottish Government provides national oversight to ensure adoption from fostering is coordinated effectively across local authorities. Guidance on the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, The Adoption Agencies (Scotland) Regulations 2009 and The Looked-After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 recommends permanence planning to begin promptly when a child becomes looked after to support timely and stable permanence arrangements.

Scotland’s Adoption Register also facilitates matching across local authorities by providing a national system to link approved adopters with children from any local authority in Scotland.

To promote consistent and effective practice in permanence, the Scottish Government has commissioned the Association for Fostering, Kinship and Adoption Scotland to develop three national good practice guides on permanence in kinship care, foster care and adoption, which will be available in early 2026.

Together, these measures provide a national framework intended to promote consistency and improve coordination for children moving from foster care to adoption.

Question reference: S6W-42231

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how long the process for granting a permanence order with power to adopt should take.

Permanence Orders with authority to adopt are governed by the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 and The Adoption Agencies (Scotland) Regulations 2009. The Act makes the child’s welfare paramount and requires decision-makers to consider any risk of prejudice caused by delay, but it does not set statutory time limits.

The 2011 Scottish Government Guidance on the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 and the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 emphasises that decisions should be made within timescales appropriate to the child’s developmental needs and that avoiding delay is essential, as prolonged uncertainty can harm a child’s welfare and stability.

The duration of the process varies according to the child’s circumstances, the complexity of the case, and the time taken to complete necessary legal and administrative procedures.

Question reference: S6W-42472

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6T-02809

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has decided not to take forward changes in relation to national speed limits on single carriageways.

Question reference: S6T-02815

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent attack on the Jewish community at Bondi Beach in Australia, what steps are being taken to ensure community safety in Scotland.