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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-43413

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report by The Brain Tumour Charity, The Cost of a Brain Tumour: The Economic Case for Urgent Action, including the recommendations made.

Question reference: S6W-43253

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 5 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the ongoing employment position of shop-floor manufacturing workers at Alexander Dennis's site in (a) Larbert and (b) Falkirk, in light of reports that the company has not applied for any funding through the furlough scheme that was created to support the retention of jobs at the company.

Question reference: S6W-43436

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to launch a public consultation on any legislation required to enable the operation of roll-on, roll-off (a) passenger and (b) freight ferry services between Rosyth and Dunkirk.

Question reference: S6W-43250

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 5 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been formally (a) applied for, (b) approved and (c) distributed to date through the furlough scheme for Alexander Dennis, in each month since the scheme was announced.

Question reference: S6W-43383

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to divert lithium-ion batteries from the residual waste stream.

Lithium-ion batteries should not be disposed of in the residual waste stream and must clearly display markings relating to their disposal (the crossed out wheelie bin symbol). They are hazardous waste, pose safety risks due to fire, and result in valuable material being lost from Scotland’s economy.

Products containing lithium-ion batteries are regulated under both the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations and the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations. Producers of these products must fund collection and recycling infrastructure, and the Scottish Government is working on a four-nation basis to reform waste batteries legislation to strengthen product standards and set statutory recovery and recycling targets for lithium batteries.

UK retailers selling electrical items containing a lithium-ion battery, including vapes, must offer a free takeback service for used items and meet statutory recycling targets. In 2025, a new category of Electrical and Electronic Equipment was established for vapes to ensure producers of vape products are legally required to finance the collection, recycling, and safe disposal of used vapes. New targets for vape-specific collections will be introduced in 2026.

The Scottish Government will consider further measures to divert lithium-ion batteries from the residual waste stream in its forthcoming product stewardship plan. This includes working with the UK Government and other nations on proposals set out in the WEEE consultation and call for evidence, held in 2024.

Question reference: S6W-43396

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 5 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of testimony from survivors of grooming gangs, frontline service organisations and justice agencies that child sexual exploitation (CSE) and grooming are core pathways through which vulnerable children are drawn into the commercial sexual exploitation of prostitution, both in childhood and later in adulthood, whether it consulted Professor Alexis Jay, its expert adviser on CSE, including grooming, in relation to the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill, ahead of the stage 1 vote on 3 February 2026.

It would be a matter for the sponsoring MSP to determine who she would wish to consult with on her Bill.

Professor Alexis Jay has been appointed independent Chair of the National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) Strategic Group and will provide expert advice to Scottish Ministers on CSAE, and on the findings of the National Review of local responses to group-based CSAE announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in December 2025. Professor Jay chaired her first meeting of the Group on 28 January 2026.

A key focus of the Group’s current activity is to recommend improvements to workforce education and training to ensure professionals are better equipped to identify and respond when children are at risk of experiencing abuse.

This includes consideration and collaboration with other key workstreams and initiatives, including our Strategic Approach to challenge demand for prostitution.

Question reference: S6W-43335

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what national guidance applies to the delivery of annual health checks for adults with learning disabilities, and whether these checks are expected to be offered within GP practices as standard, with home visits provided as a reasonable adjustment where required.

Scottish Government issued National Directions in 2023 for Learning Disability Annual Health Checks which detail the legal duties of Health Boards with regard to annual health checks as well as practical guidance on delivery. Annual health checks for people with learning disabilities (Scotland) directions 2023.

In Scotland, annual health checks are not required to be delivered via primary care. £2 million funding is provided per annum to Health Boards to offer LD health checks with flexibility in their chosen delivery mechanisms. The majority of LD annual health checks are being delivered via a nurse led model and the remainder via a hybrid model, which in some cases includes a Local Enhanced Service agreement with GP practices.

Question reference: S6W-43403

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-43029 by Tom Arthur on 27 January 2026, whether ministers will consider encouraging all NHS boards to aspire to accepting self-referrals from people with eating disorders.

The Scottish Government has made clear through the National Specification for the Care and Treatment of Eating Disorders in Scotland that NHS Boards should be supported to accept self-referrals.

We continue to support Boards in implementing the Specification, and the recently completed self-assessment tools have highlighted positive work that several Boards are taking forward with regard to self-referral pathways.

Where responses have identified areas requiring further Scottish Government support, we are engaging with those boards through officials and professional advisors.

Question reference: S6W-43336

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether home-based annual health checks for adults with learning disabilities are an adjustment of choice, or the default model of delivery, and how equity of access to GP practices is ensured in this regard.

A pre-questionnaire filled in by the person with a learning disability and/or their family or supportive carer provides the opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments required, including any preference for the location of their health check.

If the preference is for a home visit, delivery teams should contact individuals to make arrangements or suggest an alternative location that better suits the person’s needs.

Question reference: S6W-43404

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-43029 by Tom Arthur on 27 January 2026, whether ministers will consider collecting data on child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) self-referrals for eating disorders.