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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-03803

Asked by: Lorna Slater, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 February 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-03802

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

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-03823

Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 February 2025

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the recent Labour Market Outlook survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development on UK business confidence.

Question reference: S6F-03808

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

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on the Scottish Government’s plans to update the School Premises (General Requirements and Standards) (Scotland) Regulations 1967.

Question reference: S6F-03801

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

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-03814

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 February 2025

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to reduce the disability employment gap.

Question reference: S6W-34315

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to review the current legal framework for abortion law.

The Scottish Government believes that all women in Scotland should have access to abortion services, available free from stigma.

In the 2023 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government committed to undertake a review of the law on abortion to ensure that it is first and foremost a healthcare matter. That review is now underway.

As part of the review, the Scottish Government has convened an expert group chaired by Professor Anna Glasier, the Scottish Government’s Women’s Health Champion. The expert group is reviewing the existing law on abortion in Scotland and will produce a report for the Scottish Government this Summer.. If the group considers that the law could be changed for the better, the report will include recommendations for reform.

The Scottish Government will consider the expert group’s report and take into account views of other stakeholders and other relevant considerations too. Any proposals for changes to abortion law would be subject to a public consultation.

Details of the expert group, including minutes of their meetings are published on the Scottish Government website here: Abortion Law Review Expert Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

Question reference: S6W-34288

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the prisoners released early under emergency legislation in the last year had previous convictions for domestic abuse, irrespective of whether their current sentence was being served for a separate matter.

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The regulations for the Emergency Early Release process conducted in June-July 2024 included an exclusion for any individual serving a sentence for a conviction for domestic abuse (or aggravation), or where a previous unspent conviction for such an offence had led to a custodial sentence.

Prison Governors also had the power to veto the emergency early release of an otherwise eligible prisoner, where their early release would have presented a risk to a specific person, or group. The Scottish Prison Service consulted with Police Scotland and Justice and Children and Families Social Work, to request any risk relevant information regarding each individual, to inform any veto decision.

Question reference: S6W-34299

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has allocated any funding for a national campaign to promote taking a vitamin D supplement during winter months.

The Scottish Government supports and works closely with Food Standards Scotland, who have previously run national campaigns over winter months to raise awareness of vitamin D and encourage people to take a daily vitamin D supplement to maintain bone and muscle health.

Since April 2017, Scottish Government has provided free Healthy Start vitamins for women for the whole of their pregnancy. These were developed to meet their nutritional needs, and include vitamins C, D and Folic Acid. Since Jan 2021, Health Boards have provided free vitamin D to all breastfeeding mothers and children under three years.

Question reference: S6W-34313

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done to remove any stigma or fears to encourage cervical screening self-sampling among the (a) under- and (b) never-screened population.

Cervical self-sampling is not yet recommended by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), the independent expert advisory group which advises all four UK nations on screening policy, and therefore is not currently offered within the cervical screening programme. However, the UK NSC are currently consulting on whether cervical self-sampling should be offered to under-screened people eligible for cervical screening.

In preparation for a positive UK NSC recommendation, Screening Oversight and Assurance Scotland are re-establishing the self-sampling working group, whose remit will include assessing implementation options in light of new evidence on the effectiveness of different approaches, and ensuring that communications around a potential roll-out are inclusive and supportive.

In the meantime, the Scottish Government and its partners continue to explore alternative interventions that seek to encourage increased uptake of cervical screening, particularly among under- and never-screened populations. We published the Equity in Screening Strategy in July 2023 that outlines a strategic approach to identifying, addressing and removing barriers to participants across the screening pathway, and ensuring that professionals working within screening are knowledgeable of and use effective interventions to reduce these inequalities. To support this, the Equity in Screening Network was also launched in July 2023, allowing individuals that work across screening to share evidence, best practice and learning around screening inequalities.

Finally, as part of the Scottish Government’s work to eliminate cervical cancer, an expert group on cervical screening is exploring the effectiveness of a range of strategies to increase cervical screening uptake, and are currently considering how different media interventions could remove stigma and fear for all participants.