- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 25 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many new bus routes are expected to be created in the Highlands and Islands region, following its decision to establish capped bus fares, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
Answer expected on 25 March 2026
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 25 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the number of bridges on the trunk road network that require repair work, including (a) the name and location of each bridge, (b) when work was first identified as being required and (c) when work is projected to be completed by.
Answer
Answer expected on 25 March 2026
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 25 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools currently offer pupils CPR training, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
Answer expected on 25 March 2026
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 March 2026
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Current Status:
Initiated by the Scottish Government.
Answered by Angela Constance on 11 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on the recommendation of the Criminal Justice Committee that an independent commission should be established to consider legislation around prostitution and the support required for those seeking to exit prostitution.
Answer
The Minister for Victims and Community Safety said during Stage 1 of the Prostitution (Offences and Support) Scotland Bill on 3 February, that work to establish an independent Commission would commence immediately. I am pleased to announce that Fiona Taylor QPM has today been appointed to Chair the Independent Commission on the Criminalisation of the Purchase of Sex in Scotland and will begin work straight away.
Fiona Taylor brings significant experience to the issues and challenges engaged in this important area of work, having had a distinguished career including serving as Deputy Chief Constable and Interim Chief Constable of Police Scotland.
The Commission will provide recommendations to Ministers on how to safely and effectively criminalise the purchase of sex in Scotland with particular focus on ensuing any new offence is operationally effective and enforceable and identifying the requirements of a deliverable and sustainable support package for those who wish to exit prostitution. The Commission will report to Ministers within 12 months of commencing.
Recognising the value and importance of lived experience will be at the heart of the Commission. The Chair will be supported by expert members who will be appointed in due course.
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 11 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) target and (b) current average processing time is for Social Security Scotland to recognise the legal authority of a power of attorney document when presented with it, and to permit and enable a person granted such a power of attorney to manage the Social Security Scotland benefits of the claimant in question.
Answer
Social Security Scotland does not measure the average processing time for accepting a power of attorney, and does not have a target for this.
There are four types of power of attorney that may be put in place in Scotland; however, only those that confer financial powers can be used in relation to benefits administered by Social Security Scotland.
When a power of attorney document is provided, and both the individual and the document are verified, this forms part of the client’s broader case handling. As this activity is undertaken as part of routine application management rather than through a separately defined or measured process, no specific performance data is collected or reported.
- Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 March 2026
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Current Status:
Initiated by the Scottish Government.
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the pilot for free rail travel for companions accompanying blind National Entitlement Cardholders (NEC+1), which was launched in April 2025.
Answer
I am pleased to announce that following a positive evaluation from Transport Scotland, I have agreed that free rail travel for companions accompanying blind NEC + 1 cardholders can be made permanent from 1 April 2026.
The evaluation found that a significant majority of surveyed cardholders who used the free companion offer, increased their number of journeys on rail, experienced a range of benefits from increased activity and indicated they are less likely to require dedicated staff assistance as a result of travelling with a companion. The final evaluation report can be found at Transport Scotland’s website at;
https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/blind-companion-free-rail-travel-pilot-evaluation-report/
Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans have received overwhelmingly positive feedback to the free companion rail travel pilot scheme. Cardholders and their companions have consistently highlighted the profound impact it has had on their independence, confidence and quality of life.
NEC + 1 cardholders and their companion will continue to have the convenience of being waved onto rail services by displaying their card. Free travel is available on all ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper services at stations within Scotland and to Carlisle or Berwick Upon Tweed.
The 8,000 NEC + 1 cardholders and their companion can now travel free on bus, ferry and rail services across Scotland, this concession is only available in Scotland and not replicated in other parts of Britain, reflecting the choices we can make through public ownership of our own railway.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding salmon farming, what its position is in relation to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s reported total antibiotic usage for 2024 of 1,268 kilograms, which differed from Salmon Scotland’s reports of 1,564 kilograms of antibiotic usage.
Answer
The regulation of veterinary medicines is a reserved matter for the UK Government. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is responsible for market authorisation of antibiotics and undertaking appropriate monitoring. It also publishes sectoral antibiotic sales and usage figures annually in its Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance Sales and Surveillance (VARSS) Report.
VMD works in partnership with various animal sectors to develop, facilitate and coordinate antibiotic usage data collection systems. These data are reported on a voluntary basis and, for salmon farming, cover both freshwater and marine production. Data is collected by Salmon Scotland representing 100% of the salmon farming sector. Recently Salmon Scotland discovered an error in their 2024 return which was swiftly corrected and is now reflected in the VMD’s 2024 report.
For the purpose of environmental protection, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) places licence conditions on marine fish farm operators to record and report antibiotic treatments to SEPA, including the product and volume used. Figures for 2024 remain unchanged.
Figures published by SEPA and VMD are inherently different as they each report on different phases of production.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what discussion it has had with Salmon Scotland regarding the recent misreported levels of antibiotic used to treat sick fish.
Answer
Scottish Government confirmed that Salmon Scotland identified an error in its 2024 antibiotic usage figures submitted to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) and that it would correct the public record and in future introduce additional verification of their antibiotic usage data collection and reporting system.
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-44092 on 11 March 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it did not inform the Scottish Parliament or patients that it had stopped funding Scotland’s national residential service for chronic pain in Glasgow after 10 years, in light of this service being created following a unanimous, cross-party vote of the Parliament in 2013, leading to its opening in 2015.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-44072 on 11 March 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has withdrawn funding from Scotland’s national residential service for severe chronic pain, which it funded since its opening in 2015 and until 2025, to support areas such as the islands and rural areas, which are still without pain services for outpatients.
Answer
Funding for this Service has not been withdrawn. As the Scottish National Pain Management Programme (SNPMP) is now an established national specialist service, it is now funded in the same way as all other national specialist services, with money top sliced from NHS Boards’ core funding allocations to contribute to the service.
NHS Boards began to contribute to covering the cost of the SNPMP through top slicing from 2024-2025, with the Scottish Government providing the remainder of the funding. As of 2025-2026, the service is funded entirely through top slicing, in line with other national specialist services.
The Scottish National Pain Management Programme is a designated national specialist service. This means that anyone resident in Scotland who meets the criteria can be referred to the Programme and seen by the Programme. This ensures equity of access to all patients across Scotland.
The Service is now funded in its entirety through this national funding mechanism. There are no additional costs to NHS Boards or to individual patients to access this service.
