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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: S6F-04434

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 10 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 November 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-41735

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that every maternity ward properly records serious birth tears and the number of women who experience significant blood loss while giving birth.

Question reference: S6W-41730

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care last met the Royal College of Midwives; whether the organisation raised any concerns about staffing, and, if so, what action has been taken as a result.

Question reference: S6W-41736

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many new midwives and nurses have been recruited at maternity units in each year since 2020-21.

Question reference: S6W-41733

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints Healthcare Improvement Scotland has received about maternity care provided by maternity units in each year since 2020-21, broken down by maternity unit.

Question reference: S6W-41731

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many inspections Healthcare Improvement Scotland has made of maternity units in each year since 2020-21, broken down by (a) maternity unit and (b) whether these were announced or unannounced visits.

Question reference: S6W-41734

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it took to support NHS Lothian following the NHS board’s whistleblowing investigation into maternity care at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in December 2024.

Question reference: S6W-41453

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to hold to account corporations that reportedly use specific branding to justify a so-called pink tax, which targets women to pay higher prices for basic goods.

The Scottish Government has no powers to hold corporations to account for the use of specific branding to target women to pay higher prices for basic goods. Consumer protection, including provisions to protect consumers from unfair trading practices, is wholly reserved to the UK Government and regulated by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

However, we believe that this practice is unacceptable and have raised the issue with the CMA.

Question reference: S6W-41080

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are to increase funding for hospices in line with inflation, in light of reports that hospices in Edinburgh are reducing services due to a lack of funding increases.

Through the 2025-26 Scottish Budget the Scottish Government has provided £5 million for independent hospices. This is to help independent hospices achieve pay parity for staff supporting clinical care with NHS levels for 2025-26.

However, it is important to reflect that it remains the responsibility of Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to commission palliative care services, including independent hospices, to meet the needs of their local populations. As such, we expect Scottish hospices and IJBs to continue to engage on any matters that may impact on the delivery of local palliative care services.

Scottish Government officials continue to work with the chair of the Scottish Hospice Leadership Group and Hospice UK to take forward work to help provide financial stability to independent hospices. This includes developing a new framework to support discussion between IJBs and independent hospices related to the commissioning of services.

Question reference: S6W-41407

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 20 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 3 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many companies have been excluded from participating in tender processes for public services contracts under public procurement regulations, and for what reasons each of those companies has been excluded.

Public procurement legislation provides that bidders may be excluded from a tender exercise in some circumstances.

Any decision to exclude a bidder must be evidenced-based and proportionate. It must also consider any evidence which the bidder provides of “self-cleansing” measures it has taken, such as co-operation with investigating authorities, payment of compensation, or appropriate organisational and personnel changes intended to prevent further misconduct.

Decisions about whether to exclude a bidder from any given procurement process must be made on a case-by-case basis, and are for the contracting authority carrying out that process.

The Scottish Government does not hold a record of companies which have been excluded.