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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-39722

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 27 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ensure that the contractual commitment of around £70 million that is reportedly still outstanding on the Glasgow Subway modernisation project is fully funded so that the key milestone of achieving unattended train operation by the third quarter of 2026 is achieved.

The Scottish Government recognises the crucial role that the Subway plays in Glasgow’s transport system and the importance of the modernisation programme.

By the end of 2024-25 it had contributed £199.9 million to this vital project. With a further £25.1 million allocated for 2025-26, cumulatively this will discharge the Scottish Government’s £225 million commitment to the programme in full. Transport Scotland officials continue to engage regularly with SPT. The most recent meeting took place on 19 June 2025, focusing on the current financial profile of the Subway Modernisation Programme and ensuring ongoing dialogue is maintained.

We remain strongly committed to infrastructure investment as a cornerstone of economic growth and the delivery of high-quality public services across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-39719

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work that it is doing to (a) prevent sexual violence in hospitals and (b) accurately record incidents of sexual assault that have been reported across the NHS estate.

We have recently published a sexual harassment guide to supplement the refreshed Gender Based Violence policy for NHSScotland. The guide has been developed to support employees who are currently experiencing or have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. This includes information on how to report incidents.

Scottish Government officials are continuing discussions with Health Boards, NHS Education for Scotland (NES), and Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) to review existing training provisions and reporting methods. This will allow us to share best practice and develop improvements in how we prevent sexual violence from occurring and how it is reported across all Health Boards.

The Scottish Government continues to expect all NHS Boards to be actively committed to protecting staff from sexual assaults. All incidents should be recorded and reported through existing reporting systems and investigated. Where necessary, cases should be escalated to Police Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-39842

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is provided to NHS boards regarding charging patients for certain GP letters.

The circumstances in which independent GP contractors can charge their patients for services not covered by their contracts are set out in schedule 5 of the National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2018 (box brackets and ellipsis denote edits to the text of the schedule for the sake of clarity):

1. The contractor may demand or accept a fee or other remuneration—

(a) from any statutory body for services rendered for the purposes of that body’s statutory functions;

(b) from any body, employer or school for a routine medical examination of persons for whose welfare the body, employer or school is responsible, or an examination of such persons for the purpose of advising the body, employer or school of any administrative action they might take;

(c) for treatment which is not primary medical services or otherwise required to be provided under the contract and which is given—

(i) pursuant to the provisions of section 57 of [the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978] (a) (accommodation and services for private patients); or

(ii) in accommodation provided by a care home service which is not providing services under the Act,

if, in either case, the person providing the treatment is serving on the staff of a hospital providing services under the Act as a specialist providing treatment of the kind the patient requires and if, within 7 days of giving the treatment, the contractor or the person providing the treatment supplies the Health Board, on a form provided by it for the purpose, with such information about the treatment as it may require;

(d) under section 158 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (payment for emergency treatment of traffic casualties) (b);

(e) when the contractor treats a patient [who claims to be on that contractor’s list of patients, but the contractor has reasonable doubts about that person’s claim], in which case the contractor is entitled to demand and accept a reasonable fee … for any treatment given, if the contractor gives the patient a receipt;

(f) for attending and examining (but not otherwise treating) a patient—

(i) at the patient’s request at a police station in connection with possible criminal proceedings against the patient;

(ii) at the request of a commercial, educational or not-for-profit organisation for the purpose of creating a medical report or certificate; or

(iii) for the purpose of creating a medical report required in connection with an actual or potential claim for compensation by the patient;

(g) for treatment consisting of an immunisation for which no remuneration is payable by the Health Board and which is requested in connection with travel abroad;

(h) for prescribing or providing drugs, medicines or appliances (including a collection of such drugs, medicines and appliances in the form of a travel kit) which a patient requires to have in their possession solely in anticipation of the onset of an ailment or occurrence of an injury while they are outside the United Kingdom but for which they are not requiring treatment when the medicine is prescribed;

(i) for a medical examination—

(i) to enable a decision to be made as to whether or not it is inadvisable on medical grounds for a person to wear a seat belt; or

(ii) for the purpose of creating a report—

(aa) relating to a road traffic accident or criminal assault; or

(bb) that offers an opinion as to whether a patient is fit to travel; or

(j) for prescribing or providing drugs or medicines for malaria chemoprophylaxis.

It is a matter for independent GP contractors to decide whether or not they want to carry out this private work and how much to charge for it.

Question reference: S6W-40047

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many calls to the Scottish Ambulance Service have been responded to (a) within (i) under 10, (ii) 10 to 29, (iii) 30 to 59 and (iv) 60 to 120 and (b) after over 120 minutes in each year since 2021-22, broken down by triaged category of call.

Question reference: S6W-39896

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 27 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the topic of Scottish independence was discussed in the meeting between the First Minister and the President of the European Commission on 26 July 2025.

The First Minister met President Von der Leyen in Scotland on 26 July.

They discussed transatlantic trade talks, the current state of the UK/EU relationship, the UK/EU Summit held in May 2025, energy cooperation and Scotland’s potential as a centre for renewable energy production, Gaza and Ukraine.

President Von der Leyen noted that the visits of European leaders and the US President provided a wonderful opportunity to showcase Scotland to the world.

Question reference: S6W-39873

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 27 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-39300 by Jim Fairlie on 24 July 2025, whether it will consider reviewing the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 in light of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 Post Implementation Review 2024.

Question reference: S6W-39743

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the figures by KPMG, which reported that there was a 31% fall in job vacancies in Scotland in the three months to May 2025.

Question reference: S6W-39749

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that Scotland has higher rates of long-term sickness and disability relative to the UK average, and what analysis it has made of any economic cost of this.

Question reference: S6W-40135

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-39522 by Gillian Martin on 6 August 2025, what consideration it has given to including blue carbon emissions from the marine environment in its (a) annual monitoring of the Climate Change Plan update and (b) next Climate Change Plan.

Question reference: S6W-40122

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to make capital funding available to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde for the specific goal of building new GP premises in the NHS board region, including in the Eastwood constituency.