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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-41022

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Sands report, Lost in the system: Bereaved parents experiences of mental health care following baby loss, which found that only 8% of bereaved parents in Scotland felt they received the specialist mental health support they wanted through the NHS.

The loss of a baby, no matter at what stage of pregnancy, is a traumatic event that can have a profound impact on families. The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that families who have experienced a pregnancy or baby loss receive the right information, care and support tailored to their individual circumstances. This includes high quality, sensitive bereavement care and support.

For most parents who have suffered a pregnancy loss, bereavement and grief support provided by their Health Board or third sector organisations will meet their needs and they will not require specialist mental health services.

A small number of parents experience more complicated grief and may benefit from engagement with specialist mental health services. If a parent is identified as requiring Maternity and Neonatal Psychological Intervention (MNPI) services in Scotland after the loss of their baby, they would typically be referred by their midwife, GP or other healthcare professional.

The way in which MNPI services are provided will differ across Boards, depending on population size and birth rate but we expect those who need the services to be able to access them in all areas of Scotland. All NHS Boards now provide these services either from a dedicated local team or, for very small Board areas, via pathways to MNPI care in larger Boards that host the maternity hospitals where the patient is receiving inpatient care.

Question reference: S6W-41430

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the Distress Brief Intervention programme before May 2026.

The Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) Programme is now live in all 31 HSCPs across Scotland. At end August 2025, over 97,000 people had been referred to the programme. We will shortly provide an update on our progress towards the significant milestone of 100,000 people referred.

Over the coming months, the Scottish Government will be working with our partners to review how well DBI has been embedded, and what else may be needed moving forward to strengthen it. Our focus will be on the sustainability of the programme, and maintaining the right level of support to frontline services.

The first step of this review will be considering the results of the evaluation of under 18s elements of the DBI programme, which we are due to publish in November 2025.

Question reference: S6W-41428

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing a flexible delivery model for roofing apprenticeships, including in South Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-41427

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage an uptake in construction apprenticeships, including in South Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-41426

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the barriers young people face in accessing construction apprenticeships, including in South Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-41429

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the (a) accessibility and (b) affordability of scaffolding training, including in South Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-41018

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given in the preparation of the 2026-27 Budget to ensure adequate provision of care and support for individuals with severe and enduring mental illness.

Mental health is an absolute priority for this Government and ensuring provision of care and support for individuals with mental illness will be considered as part of the ongoing budget process. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance has confirmed that the Scottish Government will publish the 2026-27 Scottish Budget on Tuesday 13 January 2026. The UK Government’s decision to publish its Autumn Budget on 26 November has significantly compressed the Scottish Budget timetable.

Question reference: S6W-41019

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10103 by Maree Todd on 16 August 2022, what budget it allocated for smoking prevention and cessation services in (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25.

In 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 the Scottish Government provided annual funding to Health Boards for smoking cessation and prevention services as part of a wider Outcomes Framework allocation, whereby budget was provided to Health Boards to cover a range of outcomes and individual Health Boards decide how much of this funding to allocate to each outcome.

The value of the Outcomes Framework allocation was £74.1 million (2022-23); £74.1 million (2023-24); and £72.2 million (2024-25).

Question reference: S6W-40962

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve public awareness of the difference between polycystic ovaries and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), in relation to PCOS being a hormonal disorder that can lead to a number of other health consequences.

NHS Inform helps women to access the information they need on a range of issues relating to their health. The Platform includes comprehensive information on polycystic ovary syndrome This includes an animation produced by the University of Edinburgh which provides an explanation of the condition in an easy to understand way including what polycystic ovaries are and their relevance in a diagnosis of PCOS.

To raise awareness of the condition and provide further information to women we worked with the Health and Social Care Alliance to deliver a series of webinars on menstrual health including a webinar on PCOS. This session explored the condition and how it is diagnosed, included information about polycystic ovaries as well as busting some common myths about the condition.

Each September we highlight the condition to the public by lighting our Scottish Government buildings to mark PCOS awareness month and utilise this opportunity to highlight the information available on NHS Inform.

Question reference: S6W-40961

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support women with polycystic ovary syndrome, as it develops the next phase of the women’s health plan.

Menstrual health, which includes polycystic ovary syndrome, was a priority in the first phase of the Women’s Health Plan.

To support women with symptomspolycystic ovary syndrome of we have;

improved access to comprehensive information on menstrual symptoms and PCOS through our Women's Health Platform on NHS Inform.
worked with the Health and Social Care Alliance deliver a series of webinars for women on menstrual health including a session on PCOS.
published a workplace policy for NHSScotland on menstrual health and menopause, which can be adapted for use in other employment sectors.
worked with NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to develop eLearning on menstrual health, including PCOS, for those working in primary care.

Menstrual health, including PCOS, will continue to be an important area of focus in the next phase of the Women’s Health Plan.