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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-43959

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will request that Transport Scotland undertakes additional modelling of the local and regional bypass traffic impacts of replacing the M8 Woodside Viaducts with an urban six-lane surface-level boulevard with at-grade junctions as part of its options appraisal for the potential permanent repair, replacement, or removal of the viaducts.

Question reference: S6W-43974

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation it has undertaken of how radiographer and clinical radiologist staffing levels impact timely access to CT and MRI scans.

Question reference: S6W-43975

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether the existing CT and MRI scanner stock across NHS boards is sufficient to meet (a) present and (b) future demand.

Question reference: S6W-43972

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve timely access to CT and MRI scans, and how the impact of initiatives such as seven-day services and mobile scanning units are being evaluated.

Question reference: S6W-43973

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the likelihood of meeting the March 2026 diagnostic waiting times target for radiology, in light of the most recent Public Health Scotland data.

Question reference: S6W-43829

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 26 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many mental health workers are currently employed in general practice, broken down by NHS board.

Mental Health Workers working in General Practice can be employed by either Health Boards or by GP practices.

Data on the whole-time equivalent (WTE) Mental Health Workers, who are employed as part of Primary Care Improvement Plans associated with delivery of the 2018 GMS contract, is published annually by Scottish Government: Primary care improvement plans - implementation progress summary: March 2025 - gov.scot. Most of these staff are employed by Health Boards and most are funded from the Scottish Government’s Primary Care Improvement Fund.

Data on the Mental Health Workforce, which is directly employed by GP practices, is published annually by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) in the General Practice Workforce Survey 2025 Dashboard | Turas Data Intelligence report. This reports that as of 31 March 2025, there are 23 Mental Health Nurses(14.1 WTE) employed by GP practices.

The combined data from both sources above is displayed in the following table.

NHS Board	Mental Health Workers – WTE
Ayrshire and Arran	31.9
Borders	20.5
Dumfries and Galloway	16
Fife	22.6
Forth Valley	25
Grampian	23.6
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	39.4
Highland	35.9
Lanarkshire	101.9
Lothian	70.06
Orkney	0
Shetland	0
Tayside	20.01
Western Isles	0

Question reference: S6O-05610

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 February 2026
Current Status: Due to be taken in the Chamber on 5 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support registered social landlords with the costs of retrofitting the building fabric of social homes to make them energy efficient and fit for the future.

Question reference: S6W-43724

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 13 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what regulations have been created for the enforcement of measures, including destruction, in relation to vehicles linked to fly-tipping, since the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 came into force.

The Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 strengthens the legislative framework for tackling flytipping. The current position on the relevant Sections of the Act are set out below:

Section 11 (fixed penalty notices for flytipping): this provision enabling Scottish Ministers to increase the flytipping fixed penalty amount in section 33A(9) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 up to £1,000 (and also provide for different amounts in different cases or descriptions of cases) by way of order is in force, but no secondary legislation has been made in exercise of that power. The amendment was supported during Stage 2 to provide flexibility for the future, particularly following the increase of the flytipping fixed penalty amount to £500 under existing powers from 1 January 2024. No commitment was made to increase the fixed penalty amount further within a specific timeframe.
Sections 12 (removal of unlawfully deposited waste) amends Section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and sets out the current process on the face of legislation and amends the appeals process. the same approach applies, regulation making powers have been commenced to enable the necessary supporting regulations to be developed in advance of full commencement of the substantive provisions.
Section 13 (information on flytipping offences) is in force. The provision creates a power for Scottish Ministers to require information from relevant authorities in order to better understand the national picture on flytipping and to progress towards effective and accurate national reporting. Beyond the power itself being commenced, there are currently no further statutory requirements or published commitments setting out when or how that power will be exercised. Work to improve flytipping data is ongoing through delivery of the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy.
Section 14 (householder’s duty of care) amends the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to make breach of the existing householder duty of care an offence and to provide for enforcement by way of fixed penalty notice. While the core offence and fixed penalty amount are set out on the face of the Act, the section also includes regulation-making powers, for example to modify the fixed penalty amount or to specify additional categories of authorised enforcement officers. At present, section 14 has been commenced for the purpose of making regulations only and the amended offence and fixed penalty regime are therefore not yet fully in force.
Section 19 (powers to search and seize vehicles): the powers to make various regulations necessary for the effective operation of the new provisions inserted into the Environment Act 1995 by section 19 are in force, with the intention to bring the provision fully into force once the regulations are made.

Question reference: S6W-43725

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 13 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what actions are being taken to address habitual industrial fly-tipping.

As set out in the Duty of Care: Code of Practice for Managing Controlled Waste, every organisation and individual has a duty to ensure that, when they dispose of waste, they do so using a registered waste carrier. SEPA provides a public register of waste carriers on its website. SEPA and Revenue Scotland are members of the Joint Unit for Waste Crime, a multi-agency taskforce that works in partnership to tackle serious and organised crime in the UK waste industry.

Our new digital waste tracking system, which is being introduced in all four nations, will replace existing paper-based and inconsistent systems for tracking waste with a streamlined digital service, reducing opportunities for waste crime and underpinning our transition to a circular economy.

The Scottish Government laid The Digital Waste Tracking (Scotland) Regulations 2026 before the Scottish Parliament on 12 January. These Regulations introduce the first phase of the new digital waste tracking system.

Powers introduced by the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024, when fully implemented, will strengthen the legislative foundation for tackling and deterring fly tipping. For example, new powers to be inserted into the Environment Act 1995 by section 19 will allow local authorities to search and seize vehicles suspected of being used in relation to specified waste crimes.

Question reference: S6W-43726

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 13 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided to local authorities to support their work to address habitual fly-tipping.

No additional direct funding has been provided to local councils for the implementation of the National Litter and Fly tipping Strategy. However, we have funded Keep Scotland Beautiful to deliver targeted interventions working with councils and communities, and SEPA has developed the partnership enforcement model with councils.

The Scottish Government is making available record funding of £15.7 billion for Local Government in 2026-27. The vast majority of funding allocated to councils is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including meeting the requirements set out in the 2018 Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse (CoPLAR).