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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-04736

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding improving the process for bringing forward orders under section 104 of the Scotland Act 1998.

Question reference: S6O-04757

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that pupils with additional support needs receive consistent and adequate support.

Question reference: S6O-04748

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further detail regarding the reasons why it is not planning a broader review of the statutory grounds for fatal accident inquiries, in light of the previous review of statutory grounds being undertaken nearly a decade ago and reports of growing public concern over preventable deaths outside of custody settings.

Question reference: S6O-04752

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with UHI Perth in relation to its funding position.

Question reference: S6O-04756

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the children's minister last met with Aberdeenshire Council to discuss nursery closures.

Question reference: S6W-37781

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to expand the deployment of solar panels across the NHS Scotland estate.

The NHS Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy 2022-2026 includes a target to deliver a 75% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from its buildings compared to a 1990 baseline by 2030 and net-zero emissions from its estate by 2040. To support this, the Scottish Government is working with NHS Scotland Health Boards to implement a range of energy efficiency and decarbonisation measures, including onsite and offsite renewable energy systems such as solar panels.

The current funding approach for NHS Scotland decarbonisation involves leveraging both public capital and private investment as funding options for renewable energy schemes and to consider partnerships with suppliers through Power Purchase Agreements. Capital funding from the Scottish Government may also be made available for onsite arrays, although NHS Boards are expected to consider renewable energy and energy efficiency measures as part of their planning.

Question reference: S6W-37775

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 28 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of a six-fold increase in ferry cancellations due to technical faults on the Clyde and Hebrides routes, what specific measures it is taking to improve service reliability and maintain consistent connectivity for island communities.

CalMac make every effort to avoid cancellations due to technical breakdowns, but it is impossible to completely remove the risk of this happening in technically complex vessels.

Between 2015 and 2024 CalMac have operated over 1.5 million sailings, with 5.2% cancelled. Of those cancelled sailings, 22% were for technical reasons and 62% were related to weather.

The arrival of 13 new vessels by 2029, which started with MV Glen Sannox in January this year, will help improve connectivity and resilience for island residents, businesses, and communities. These new vessels should be able to operate in more challenging weather and sea conditions and will also improve accessibility and route flexibility. Communities and services will also benefit from the provision of shore power upgrades and enhanced port facilities.

Question reference: S6W-37616

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 28 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting electric vehicle users, who live in properties without a private driveway, to charge their vehicles.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the transition to electric vehicles by ensuring that charging infrastructure is comprehensive, convenient, and accessible to all. We understand the importance of enabling those without access to off street parking to charge their vehicles conveniently and safely.

Three local authorities, Dundee, East Lothian and Stirling are currently trialling cross-pavement charging solutions and the Scottish Government is supporting the Scottish Collaboration of Transport Specialists (SCOTS), a network representing transport officers from Scotland’s local authorities and Regional Transport Partnerships, to develop guidance on cross-pavement charging which addresses legal and safety issues and supports all local authorities to enable cross-pavement charging.

This year’s Programme for Government also announced a new pilot grant scheme to help households without off-street parking to install cross-pavement EV charging solutions. Further details of this scheme will be announced soon.

Question reference: S6W-37733

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many delayed discharge incidents from hospital were attributable to a lack of available social care packages, in each of the last five years, also broken down by NHS board.

A delayed discharge occurs when a hospital patient who is clinically ready for discharge from inpatient hospital care continues to occupy a hospital bed beyond the date they are ready for discharge. Information held nationally on delayed discharges can identify the number of people aged 18 and over who were delayed in their discharge from hospital.

People delayed due to a lack of available social care packages can be identified using Delay Reason code 25D – “Awaiting completion of arrangements - in order to live in their own home – awaiting social care support (non-availability of services)”.

Figures from Financial Year 2020-21 to 2024-25 (inclusive) are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Number of people delayed due to Awaiting completion of arrangements in order to live in their own home, awaiting social care support (non-availability of services) in the financial Years 2020-21 to 2024-25 by Health Board.

Health Board	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25
NHS Ayrshire & Arran	1,112	1,530	1,460	1,660	1,652
NHS Borders	173	213	190	178	211
NHS Dumfries & Galloway	148	338	453	512	498
NHS Fife	350	745	471	128	281
NHS Forth Valley	583	761	777	428	451
NHS Grampian	289	383	374	356	391
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde	684	1,331	1,622	1,552	1,123
NHS Highland	396	387	406	424	505
NHS Lanarkshire	2,485	2,258	2,539	2,584	2,424
NHS Lothian	1,568	2,044	2,159	2,167	2,226
NHS Orkney	16	26	34	24	37
NHS Shetland	8	37	47	46	61
NHS Tayside	531	786	942	738	750
NHS Western Isles	78	85	68	55	88
Scotland	8,416	10,892	11,507	10,814	10,671

1.The data relate to individuals aged 18 years and over, in the delayed discharges data collection, who were clinically ready for discharge from hospital and experienced a delay reason recorded as due to awaiting completion of arrangements in order to live in their own home, awaiting social care support (non-availability of services).

2.If an individual was delayed in multiple financial years, they will be counted in each financial year they were delayed.

3.The total for Scotland in a year may not match the sum of the people delayed in each Health Board in a year. This is due to some people experienced delays in more than one Health Board during a financial year. A person would count once in each health board they were delayed in and at Scotland level, a person will only be counted once in the financial year.

4.Further information on Delayed Discharges can be found on the Public Health Scotland (PHS) website:

https://publichealthscotland.scot/healthcare-system/secondary-care/delayed-discharges/overview/

Source: Public Health Scotland

Ref IR2025-00417

Question reference: S6W-37717

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients (a) are currently waiting for cataract surgery and (b) have been on a waiting list for cataract surgery in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.