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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-43048

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the current criteria for GP referral for NHS surgery for varicose veins.

Question reference: S6W-43046

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have undergone surgery for varicose veins under the NHS, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) sex, in each of the last five years.

This information is not held at sub-specialty level. Public Health Scotland uses the national waiting times datamart to track inpatient, day-case and new outpatient waits. While the system identifies the treatment specialty, planned procedure data is often incomplete or unreliable, and the actual procedure performed isn’t recorded and as such PHS cannot report waiting times for specific procedures.

Question reference: S6W-43047

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the average time has been from referral to treatment for patients referred by their GP for surgery for varicose veins, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) sex, in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-42757

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many Pension Age Winter Heating Payments (a) had been and (b) were still to be paid, by 30 November 2025.

Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will support at least 880,000 pensioners with their heating bills this winter.

As of 14 December 2025, more than 568,000 Pension Age Winter Heating Payments had been made.

A release of Official Statistics on Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will be published on 19 May 2026 which will include payments made each month.

Further details are available on Social Security Scotland’s website at: Winter Benefits management information release to 14 December 2025.

Question reference: S6O-05372

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Mid Scotland and Fife who are eligible for the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment have not yet received their payment for winter 2025-26.

Question reference: S6W-42758

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many Pension Age Winter Heating Payments (a) had been and (b) were still to be paid, by 19 December 2025.

Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will support at least 880,000 pensioners with their heating bills this winter.

As of 14 December 2025, more than 568,000 Pension Age Winter Heating Payments had been made.

A release of Official Statistics on Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will be published on 19 May 2026 which will include payments made each month.

Further details are available on Social Security Scotland’s website at: Winter Benefits management information release to 14 December 2025.

Question reference: S6W-42756

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many Pension Age Winter Heating Payments it expects will remain to be paid by 31 December 2025.

Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will support at least 880,000 pensioners with their heating bills this winter.

Payments started in November and Social Security Scotland expects the vast majority of payments to be issued by the end of December. Work will continue throughout the rest of the winter to finalise any remaining payments.

As of 14 December 2025, more than 568,000 Pension Age Winter Heating Payments had been made. Updated figures will be published in the next management information release on 4 February 2026.

Further details are available on Social Security Scotland’s website at: Winter Benefits management information release to 14 December 2025.

Question reference: S6W-42291

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter to the Finance and Public Administration Committee by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government on 28 January 2025, in which the cabinet secretary announced the proposed establishment of a 12-month £2 bus fare cap pilot in a regional transport partnership area from 1 January 2026 with "£10 million to operate for the one year term of the pilot, with a cost of £3 million in the [2025-26] budget for the establishment and operation of the scheme", whether it can confirm that these plans are still in place; what progress there has been with establishing the scheme, and by what date it will be fully operational.

Scottish Government is fully committed to delivery of the bus fare cap pilot. Engagement has taken place with Regional Transport Partnerships regarding the pilot, via an Expression of Interest process. This process was taken forward for RTPs to provide information on how they would work with Transport Scotland and bus operators to deliver the pilot in their area. We expect to confirm the selected RTP area for the pilot shortly with operational launch in the new year.

Question reference: S6W-41939

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a timescale for the statutory consultation on the appointment of a new chair for the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry.

The appointment of a new Chair for the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry is an immediate priority, and steps to progress this have already commenced at pace. However, this is a complex process that must comply with statutory requirements. Under section 10 of the Inquiries Act 2005, consultation with the Lord President is required if a serving judge is being considered. While there is no statutory requirement for the Chair to be a serving or former member of the judiciary, continuity within the judiciary is considered important to maintain confidence among core participants. It is also essential that the Inquiry continues to meet the State’s obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and a legally qualified Chair may be best placed to ensure those obligations are fully met. For these reasons, it is not possible to provide a definitive timescale at this stage, but the process is being treated as a matter of urgency.

Question reference: S6W-41938

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry is expected to publish its final report.

The timing of the publication of the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry’s final report is a matter for the Inquiry. Public inquiries operate independently of government, and decisions about the report’s preparation and publication rest solely with the Chair. This will now become the responsibility of the new Chair. It is in the public interest for the Inquiry to come to a conclusion promptly and for its recommendations to be implemented as swiftly as possible.