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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: S6O-05702

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential public health impact of silica air pollution.

Question reference: S6W-44172

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress that Transport Scotland has made towards changing the speed limit from 30mph to 20mph on appropriate roads for which it is the transport authority.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing 20mph limits on appropriate roads across Scotland by the end of March 2026. Of the 75 locations on the trunk road network that were assessed as being appropriate for a reduced speed limit. Good progress has been made in implementing these with 64 already having a 20mph speed limit in place. 10 of the remaining locations are currently programmed to have a 20mph speed limit in place by 31 March 2026. The exception is the A78 in Greenock. While Transport Scotland will have the necessary Temporary Traffic Regulation Order made and associated works on the trunk road complete by 31 March, the 20mph speed limit will not become live until Inverclyde Council complete their works on the adjacent side roads. Inverclyde Council have indicated that this will be done on 27 April.

Question reference: S6W-44173

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what funding will be available to local authorities that are still undertaking the roll out of 20mph zones to move forward, in light of the targeted £4 million funding not continuing beyond the fiscal year 2024-25.

Question reference: S6W-43619

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any potential environmental impact, what its position is on the decommissioning and storage of nuclear submarines at dockyards in Scotland, including Rosyth.

Question reference: S6W-44327

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what progress has been made towards reviewing allowances for paternity and parental partner leave for all staff.

Question reference: S6O-05664

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of NHS Tayside having stopped accepting referrals for children without co-existing mental health disorders in March 2025, what further action it has taken to support children in accessing timely autism spectrum disorder assessments.

Question reference: S6W-43961

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 10 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it last published a report on safe staffing levels in early learning and childcare provision.

The legislative requirements in relation to safe staffing levels in Early Learning and Childcare settings falls under The Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act which was enacted on 1 April 2024. The Act is applicable to all health and care staff in Scotland.

The first ministerial report on the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019, was published on 27 November 2025. The report marks an important milestone in our collective efforts to ensure safe and effective staffing decisions across Scotland’s health and care services following commencement of the legislation. While the report is system-wide, it has implications for early learning and childcare. The report explains how Scottish Ministers have considered the information submitted by health boards, local authorities, and care providers about how they are meeting their statutory staffing duties.

The Act requires local authorities to demonstrate that ELC staffing is appropriate, safe, and aligned with the Act’s principles. The Act also reinforces that ELC services are part of the care landscape subject to statutory staffing duties, not just regulatory expectations. The Act also ensures that annual reporting and Ministerial scrutiny increase accountability for safe staffing in ELC.

Question reference: S6W-43962

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 10 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether the safe staffing guidance for early learning and childcare settings has been reviewed, including in relation to safe staffing levels when supporting children with additional support needs.

The legislative requirements for Early Learning and Childcare settings falls under The Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act which was enacted on 1 April 2024. The Act is applicable to all health and care staff in Scotland. Statutory guidance was published on 1 April 2024 alongside the Act to support services to understand their responsibilities and ensure staffing arrangements meet the individual needs of people using care services.

The Health and Social Care Standards also detail expectations in relation to meeting the needs of people experiencing care, which includes children in ELC settings. In particular, section 3 includes details about staffing arrangements to meet individual needs.

The Care Inspectorate guidance on adult to child ratios in early learning and childcare settings sets out the minimum expectations for staffing levels in children's services. However, all children should have a personal plan where the service would capture, among other things, children's support needs, interests and stage of development, and this should be used to inform decisions about staffing levels. The ongoing maintenance of this guidance is the responsibility of the Care Inspectorate.

Under the Additional Support for Learning (ASL) Act 2004, education authorities are responsible for identifying and meeting the additional support needs of children in ELC settings. In line with the National Standard, we expect local authorities and funded providers to work together to support children with additional support needs to access appropriate support to ensure that children's disabilities or additional support needs do not provide a barrier to them accessing a full range of experiences, and meets their individual needs. It is for education authorities to determine the most appropriate provision for children and young people with ASN, taking account of their legislative responsibilities and the individual circumstances and wishes of children, young people and their families. Education authorities are supported with these decisions through the statutory supporting learners' code of practice guidance, which is accessible online at Additional support for learning: statutory guidance 2017

Question reference: S6W-43953

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on (a) what new action it has taken to reduce waiting times for gender-affirming care at Glasgow's Sandyford Gender Identity Clinic, and (b) what funding it has allocated in the Budget 2026-27 to support this work.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with Health Boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to improve the delivery and accessibility of gender identity services in Scotland.

Since December 2022, the Scottish Government has invested over £8.5 million to support this work. Of this, over £2.2 million has been allocated directly to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to support the reduction of waiting times for these services. This includes an anticipated £430,800 of new funding for the 2026-27 financial year, subject to final budgetary processes.

In February 2026, I met with the Chief Executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to discuss what more can be done to bring down waiting times for these services. This discussion included the exploration of new models of care, the role of sub-national planning, the sharing of best practice between Health Boards; and providing recurrent funding to stabilise staff recruitment and retention.

Additionally, work is also progressing to implement a new Target Operating Model for young people’s gender identity services. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is currently considering how this model will be applied locally.

Question reference: S6W-43872

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 20 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 5 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the active travel budget being underspent over the last two years of budget decisions, for what reason it was reduced in the Autumn revision of the Budget.

The active travel budget was adjusted in the Autumn Budget Revision. The original 2025-26 active travel budget was £164.8 million, comprising £12.4 million resource and £152.4 million capital. In addition, a further £23.9 million for Cycling, Walking & Safer Routes was allocated within the ‘central government grants’ budget line, bringing the total original allocation for 2025-26 to £188.7 million.

The comparator figures for 2025-26 are lower following agreed transfers at the Autumn Budget Revision. Funding was moved from the Active Travel budget to Local Authorities and to the Road Safety Directorate of Transport Scotland so that these delivery partners could take forward active travel projects directly. A further £0.5 million was transferred into the Active Travel budget to support Bikeability.

Following these adjustments, the revised total of £135.9 million, consisting of £13.1 million resource and £122.8 million capital, reflects these transfers and ensures that the budget is aligned with where delivery responsibility sits for the remainder of the year.

This revision is a technical adjustment to support delivery and does not represent any reduction in the Scottish Government’s commitment to active travel investment.