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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: S6T-02422

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review public sector guidance on single-sex spaces, in light of reported concerns about the Care Inspectorate and the Scottish Prison Service.

Question reference: S6T-02426

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason hospitals are reportedly still using MRI scanners, CT scanners and X-ray machines that are decades old, in light of reported warnings by experts that equipment over 10 years old should be replaced.

Question reference: S6F-03926

Asked by: Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2025

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the recent UK Living Standards Review 2025, from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, and any implications for its work to grow Scotland’s economy.

Question reference: S6F-03915

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-03924

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2025

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government is marking Endometriosis Awareness Month.

Question reference: S6F-03920

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2025

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to tackle Islamophobia in Scotland, in light of reports of an attack on a mosque in Aberdeen at the weekend.

Question reference: S6F-03919

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2025

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6F-03914

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-35618

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to improve accountability and performance management within the civil service, and whether it is reviewing dismissal procedures for any underperformance.

Performance management procedures in place for Senior Civil Servants and for Civil Servants at delegated grades, are regularly reviewed and include procedure in relation to management of poor performance and dismissal.

While workforce and terms and conditions of employment for Scottish Government civil servants are delegated to Scottish Ministers, the terms and conditions of Senior Civil Servants (SCS) are reserved to the UK Government and any changes made by UK Ministers and their application will be considered by Scottish Ministers in due course.

Question reference: S6W-35462

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-34347 by Maree Todd on 28 February 2025, what its position is on whether its Psychiatry Recruitment and Retention Working Group (a) is a sufficient response to the reported workforce crisis in psychiatry and (b) will result in the reported workforce crisis in psychiatry being resolved, and, if so, by when; through what means; how many new psychiatrists this will require, and where these psychiatrists will be sourced from.

It is important that we work closely with leaders in the Psychiatry profession to address the challenges they are currently facing and the Psychiatry Recruitment and Retention Working Group are currently working towards producing a series of recommendations which will be presented to Ministers in Spring 2025.

Whilst the working group has been ongoing, the Scottish Government has worked in partnership with the profession on a range of measures to support recruitment and retention in psychiatry. This has included funding and supporting recruitment stands at the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) international congress events (2023 and 2024); working with NHS Education for Scotland (NES) colleagues on improvements to psychiatry webpages to increase engagement and on the promotion of vacancies; ensuring that the specific challenges facing psychiatry were considered by the Medical Locums Task and Finish Group and; supporting the Centre for Workforce Supply (CWS) in their direct work with NHS Health Boards to address challenges in filling vacancies and on the promotion of careers in Scotland.

We also continue to work with NES and the RCPsych to encourage medical students to consider a long-term career as a psychiatrist. This work includes the Choose Psychiatry campaign, undergraduate taster sessions and improved psychiatric placements at Foundation level. Recruitment into Core Psychiatry has improved drastically in recent years, with the exception of one unfilled post in 2020, 100% of entry level posts have now been filled for the fourth consecutive year (up from 63% in 2018).