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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-42980

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42573 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 January 2026, whether it will provide the information that was requested and confirm what action it is taking to address reported concerns that 40% of people with disabilities are worried their benefits will be removed if they are seen to be more active.

The Scottish Government actively encourage disabled people to improve their wellbeing by being more physically active, in a way that suits them. Sport Disability Scotland has invested £750,000 to support this work.

Social Security Scotland make it clear on their website that disabled people are encouraged to improve their wellbeing by being more physically active, in a way that suits them, without it impacting their eligibility for disability benefits. A link to this resource can be read here: Celebrating Scottish Disability Sport Week - Social Security Scotland

Question reference: S6W-43192

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42985 by Jenni Minto on 20 January 2026, what funding has been allocated in the 2026-27 draft Scottish Budget to allow a national respiratory audit to progress.

Question reference: S6W-42985

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42568 by Jenni Minto on 5 January 2026, by what date the scoping exercise for a national respiratory audit by Public Health Scotland will be completed.

The scoping exercise we commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS) to carry out for a national respiratory audit was completed in March 2024 but due to fiscal challenges PHS have been unable to progress the development of a national respiratory audit.

We continue to engage with the Scottish Respiratory Advisory Committee and stakeholders to improve standards of care and data collection for respiratory care across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-42935

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendation in the Audit Scotland report, Delayed discharges: A symptom of the challenges facing health and social care, which was published on 8 January 2026, that "the Scottish Government, NHS Scotland, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), Healthcare Improvement Scotland, integration authorities and their partner NHS boards and councils, should...over the next 12 months, provide guidance on, and better promote public awareness of the benefits of, establishing a power of attorney or a guardianship order".

The Scottish Government welcomes Audit Scotland’s report and has asked the Collaborative Response and Assurance group, which is co-chaired by the Scottish Government and CoSLA to come together to consider these recommendations as a whole and develop a partnership approach to addressing them. The Scottish Government remains committed to reforming the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) 2000 Act will which will play a critical role in embedding this recommendation in future.

Question reference: S6W-42936

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Audit Scotland report, Delayed discharges: A symptom of the challenges facing health and social care, which was published on 8 January 2026, what plans it has to carry out a workforce evaluation to understand the implications of the anticipated rise in demand for power of attorney or a guardianship orders associated with the recommendation in the report for "the Scottish Government, NHS Scotland, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), Healthcare Improvement Scotland, integration authorities and their partner NHS boards and councils [to] provide guidance on, and better promote public awareness of the benefits of, establishing a power of attorney or a guardianship order".

The Scottish Government welcomes Audit Scotland’s report and has asked the Collaborative Response and Assurance group, which is co-chaired by the Scottish Government and CoSLA to come together to consider these recommendations as a whole and develop a partnership approach to addressing them. The Scottish Government has begun this work and is engaged with key partners to discuss the delivery of Powers of Attorney and Guardianship processes.

Question reference: S6W-42986

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42576 by Jenni Minto on 29 December 2025, what the timescale is for the introduction of enhanced service practitioners.

As noted in response to question S6W-42576, as part of the strategic work to implement the Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework, the Scottish Government are considering how best to shift the balance of care by reducing referrals to hospital dental services and retain patients within their local community for a wider range of care and treatment. Officials are appraising various options as part of this work, including the potential further roll-out of enhanced skills dentists in primary care, therefore there is currently no timeline for further roll-out at this stage.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Question reference: S6W-42983

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42569 by Jenni Minto on 29 December 2025, what the total number of individual respondents from Scotland was to the (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 Action on Smoking and Health Smokefree GB Youth Survey, and whether it considers the number to be sufficiently robust and representative of young people living across the entire spectrum of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) in comparison to the 21,559 S2 and S4 pupils who responded to the Scottish School Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) in 2018 and 25,411 S2 and S4 pupils who replied to the 2021-22 Health and Wellbeing Census.

The total number of Scottish participants in the ASH SmokeFree GB Youth survey was:

(a) 760 (677 aged 11-17) in 2024

(b) 856 (755 aged 11-17) in 2025

Information on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is not available for this sample. Data are collected on social grade and grouped into ABC1 and C2DE categories, which are not directly comparable with SIMD. The sample is unlikely to be representative in terms of deprivation as it leans towards higher social grades. The data are not weighted to account for this, and this limitation should be considered when interpreting the results.

The aim of the booster sample is to enable monitoring of progress against key indicators 4(i) and 4(ii) of the Tobacco and Vaping Framework (i.e. smoking and vaping behaviours in children and young people), while balancing cost, analytical value, and timeliness.

Information on the methodology (including sample size) and results for 2024 and 2025 are available on the Scottish Government website (https://www.gov.scot/publications/vaping-smoking-scottish-adolescents/pages/1/;https://www.gov.scot/publications/vaping-smoking-scottish-adolescents-results-ash-smokefree-gb-youth-survey-2025/).

Question reference: S6W-42575

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any benefit of physical activity for disabled people.

The Scottish Government’s Physical Activity for Health Framework highlights the critical role of sport and physical activity for everyone, including disabled people. Grounded in the latest scientific evidence and key public health principles, the Framework emphasises the role physical activity plays in reducing non-communicable diseases and improving overall health.

The Framework also recognises the positive impact of physical activity on mental wellbeing, by reducing isolation, fostering community cohesion, and building resilience and confidence. Additionally, the Framework underscores the wider societal benefits of physical activity, such as supporting educational attainment, reducing reoffending, promoting sustainable transport, and enhancing engagement with the natural environment.

Question reference: S6W-42578

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 7 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the inclusion of dentistry within the MyCare.scot app roll-out.

A detailed stakeholder identification and mapping exercise is currently underway as part of NHS Education Scotland’s discovery work into onboarding primary care services into MyCare.scot.

As with other primary care services such as optometry and pharmacy, dentistry will come into consideration as part of that mapping process. However, given that dental practices operate independently and their IT systems are not connected to wider primary care systems detailed consideration is required to achieve their onboarding and integration.

Question reference: S6W-42572

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address recent reports that 90% of people with disabilities do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity.

The Scottish Government welcomes Scottish Disability Sport’s (SDS) National Survey and Call to Action. We acknowledge that disabled people are less likely to be active, and we remain committed to working with SDS and wider partners to reduce barriers to participation.

Our national agency for sport, sportscotland, has invested £750,000 into SDS for 2025/26, and is working to create an inclusive sporting system through initiatives such as the Moving to Inclusion Framework, which supports governing bodies of sport to tackle inequalities in participation.

Addressing inequalities in participation of sport and physical activity requires a whole-system approach beyond sport, encompassing transport, education, social security, and health. Our Physical Activity for Health Framework sets out a vision for a more active Scotland across eight strategic areas. Implementation of this Framework will help ensure that physical activity is embedded into everyday life for all.