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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-40487

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Scottish Rugby report, Breaking the silence: why breast health matters in rugby, which was published in September 2025 and highlights research concerning the difference in performance made by having a proper fitting for a sports bra, how it will raise awareness among women and girls of the potential damage to health that can be caused by ill-fitting sports bras, including informing them of the potential damage that might arise in sporting settings.

Question reference: S6W-40013

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the article in The Lancet, The potential role of mifepristone in breast cancer prevention: beyond medical abortion, whether it would support research into the use of mifepristone as a drug to help prevent women at high risk of breast cancer from developing the disease.

Within the Scottish Government, the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) is responsible for supporting Health and Care research.

CSO runs a number of project and fellowship funding schemes for Scottish-led research and this role is well known across the Health and Care research community here.

Grant Funding – Chief Scientist Office

Fellowship Funding – Chief Scientist Office

Applications on the potential use of Mifepristone to prevent women at high risk of breast cancer from developing the disease are welcomed. In common with all applications, these would go through CSO's standard independent expert review process to enable funding decisions to be made.

In addition, through UK-wide funding arrangements, the majority of funding programmes administered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) are open to applications led by researchers based in Scotland.

Scottish Researchers to be able to access further NIHR research funding – Chief Scientist Office

Question reference: S6W-40372

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recently published report, Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder; The Welfare State: Recommendations for Reform, how it will (a) act to improve the experiences of people with premenstrual dysphoric disorder applying for a social security benefit and (b) implement the report’s recommendations.

Question reference: S6W-40371

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38735 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 1 July 2025, what its response is to the new research on the welfare benefits system and premenstrual dysphoric disorder published in the report, Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder: The Welfare State: Recommendations for Reform.

Question reference: S6W-40207

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the two-week deadline for urgent cancer referrals in cases involving hormone replacement therapy has been met in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-39846

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing for women to access antenatal classes in remote areas like the Scottish Borders.

We expect all NHS Boards to provide high quality prenatal and antenatal education for all pregnant women and their families and to continue to promote and improve early access to antenatal education, tailored to their local populations. Recommendation 9 of The Best Start provided that antenatal education must be available to all and that NHS Boards should promote and improve early access. The focus on quality antenatal education is now embedded in ‘business as usual’ delivery for all NHS Boards in Scotland, as described in the Scottish Government’s Best Start 2017-2024 Report, published in May 2025.

At a national level, the Scottish Government commissions access to the Solihull Approach online antenatal education. This has been available under license through NHS Education for Scotland since May 2020 and the current license period runs to 31 May 2028. The programme is made freely available to all maternity service users across Scotland through their routine midwifery care.

Question reference: S6W-39847

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports charities like Nurture the Borders, based in Selkirk, which provides a variety of services for pregnant women who would not be able to access them otherwise.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring equitable coordinated access to mental health provision for women, infants and their families throughout pregnancy and during the postnatal period. Between October 2024 and March 2025 the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health (PIMH) fund has provided peer support, counselling and befriending services to over 5200 parents, expected parents and infants. Nurture The Borders has received £79,253 as part of the latest round of the PIMH fund.

Question reference: S6W-39844

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 29 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports local authorities in their efforts to reduce isolation and improve access to services for refugees in rural communities.

Scotland’s approach to supporting the integration of refugees and people seeking asylum within our communities is set out in the New Scots refugee integration strategy. The strategy is led jointly by the Scottish Government, COSLA (representing Scottish local authorities) and Scottish Refugee Council.

In 2025-2026 the Scottish Government is providing £3.4m funding to local authorities from the Refugees, Resettlement and Asylum Division budget. This funding is intended to support the integration of people displaced from Ukraine and the full closure of welcome accommodation except to new arrivals in 2025-26.

In addition to this direct funding, wider support is provided to local authorities across Scotland through various routes, including:

Funding to support COSLA as a joint partner in delivering the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy, and progressing New Scots Delivery Plan actions.
Funding for the Refugee Support Service (RSS), delivered by Scottish Refugee Council. The RSS supports refugees and people seeking asylum to settle into communities across Scotland through providing advice, information and resources, improving access to support services and facilitating social connections.
Funding for British Red Cross to deliver a project aimed at increasing the support available to people who arrive in Scotland under Family Reunion visas. This project includes capacity building work to support local authorities to understand family reunion processes and empower them to support people who have recently arrived under family reunion routes.

Question reference: S6W-39923

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that the Scottish Ambulance Service is able to reach patients within its response time targets, especially in rural locations.

The Scottish Government is clear that there should be no unnecessary delays in responding to patients, regardless of their location. The Scottish Ambulance Service’s 2025-26 budget is £437.2 million. This represents increased investment of £88 million from 2024-25, including additional funding to provide for prior year pay deals as well as a range of funding to support vital frontline services, including in rural and island communities.

Question reference: S6W-39922

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it tracks the Scottish Ambulance Service’s response time targets nationally to ensure that people are receiving the lifesaving care that they need.