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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-04118

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-37638

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its proposed timetable is for legislation to reform additional support needs provision.

The Scottish Government is working closely with our local government partners to improve the experience of children and young people with additional support needs at school, implementing the recommendations of the 2020 review of additional support for learning.

During a debate in Parliament on the Review of Additional Support for Learning and Implementation of Mainstreaming, held on 14 May 2025, the Scottish Government committed to engaging in a cross-party roundtable with Local Government to discuss what more can be done to support Additional Support Needs in our schools and to undertaking a review of Additional Support for Learning.

The scope and detail of the review will be informed by the outcome of the roundtable discussion and will also draw on the evidence set out in the recent reports from the Education, Children and Young People Committee Inquiry Report, Audit Scotland briefing and the Children and Young People Commissioner’s Report.

Question reference: S6W-37454

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the effectiveness of BMI as an indicator of health in (a) general and (b) relation to access to IVF treatment.

The Scottish Government is aware of the limitations of BMI as an indicator of obesity and its links to health outcomes and of NICE updated guidance (January 2025) section 1.9 Identifying and assessing overweight, obesity and central adiposity | Overweight and obesity management | Guidance | NICE

Whilst BMI still remains a useful population level indicator, discussions are in progress to include waist circumference to height ratio data in the future Scottish Health Survey Reports.

In relation to access to NHS IVF treatment, I refer you to the answers to written parliamentary question numbers S6W-37455 and S6W-37456 on 27 May 2025.

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

Question reference: S6W-37486

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to address any need to balance the reported operational pressures and budget constraints of Police Scotland with the need to maintain a visible and adequate security presence in courtrooms to ensure safety.

The operation of Police Scotland, including decisions on the allocation of resources and the deployment of officers and staff, is for the Chief Constable, under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority. This includes the provision of Police Officers in courts, to maintain public order within the building, ensuring that all court users continue to be in an environment where their safety is maintained.

Despite unprecedented challenges to public finances, the 2025-26 Scottish Police Authority budget has increased to £1.64 billion, an increase of almost £90 million when compared to the 2024-25 budget.

Question reference: S6W-37653

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many supported accommodation places are available for mental health patients being discharged from hospital, and how this compares with each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-37457

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures, other than BMI, are available to clinicians when making decisions about the health of a woman seeking access to NHS-funded IVF treatment.

Question reference: S6W-37641

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what urgent steps it is taking in light of reports that nearly one in five people abandoned their call to NHS 24 in 2024.

Calls to the 111 service can go unanswered for a variety of reasons, including callers choosing to end their call after being connected to the automated messaging service and hearing the options available to them – including an NHS 24 callback service during busier periods.

Other options include accessing self-care advice via the NHS Inform website or contacting another area of the health service which may be more appropriate to meet their needs.

We continue to support NHS 24’s ongoing work to help reduce unanswered calls, including recently revising NHS 24’s key performance indicators to better reflect and understand the current demands on the service.

This work allows the Service to capture any unmet demand, and any potential risks where callers have made multiple attempts to access 111 without success.

In addition, over the past two financial years NHS 24 has received additional funding of £28.3m to support their wider role in the re-design of unscheduled care. This has allowed the service to boost their staffing numbers with 22 WTE additional clinicians recruited this year and the Service now almost at desired capacity in terms of call handlers.

Question reference: S6W-37026

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its public service reform programme, what proportion of its planned £280 million savings by the end of 2024-25 will have come from reductions in pay costs for the board members of (a) public sector and (b) other non-departmental bodies.

The Scottish Government is committed to driving key efficiency programmes such as Scottish Single Estates, Commercial Value for Money (CVfM), Collaborative Procurement frameworks, the Intelligence Automation Centre of Excellence, and Digital programme. There has been strong progress across these programmes which are expected to reach up to £280 million of cost avoidance and cash releasing savings over a two-year period by the end of 2024-25. This figure is not related to pay costs for board members of public sector or other non-departmental bodies.

Question reference: S6W-37312

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Supreme Court judgment in the case For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, whether the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service will change its donor questionnaire to ensure that questions about pregnancy are only required to be answered by biological women, and whether it will issue apologies to any biological men who may have been unable to give blood as a result of not answering any such questions.

No changes are currently planned to the questions asked in the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) donor health check questionnaire as a result of the Supreme Court judgment. However, SNBTS will continue to review its polices in the light of any further guidance issued.

The Scottish Government is grateful to everyone who takes the time to volunteer to give blood. The questionnaire aims to treat all potential donors equitably, but it is essential that all questions are answered fully in order to ensure that blood can be donated safely. Nonetheless, the Scottish Government regrets any upset caused to people who are not able to donate blood as a result of not answering any of the questions in the questionnaire.

SNBTS adjusted the questionnaire in 2022 so that all donors are asked the same questions. In response to some concerns raised, SNBTS further amended the questionnaire in 2023 to make clear that if the question about whether a donor might be pregnant is not applicable then donors should tick ‘No’. Although some questions will not be relevant for many donors – male and female – the questionnaire is the most practical way of asking sensitive questions in a busy donor environment. Staff cannot know or make assumptions in all cases about a person’s biological sex, so the current approach avoids any risk that someone who could be pregnant does not answer the pregnancy question.

Question reference: S6W-37362

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential implications of the UK Government’s consideration of zonal electricity pricing for any progress towards statutory net zero targets in Scotland, and whether it will publish any underlying modelling or analytical tables.

Decisions on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) are reserved to the UK Government. The UK Government has published impact assessments and is updating its analysis ahead of a final decision this summer. We are awaiting sight of this updated modelling.

In addition, a range of impact assessments have been carried out by consultancies and industry bodies.

We met with researchers, industry and consumer organisations – as well as international electricity market experts – in December 2024 to consider the evidence and have engaged extensively with stakeholders over the past two years to understand all impacts.

This is a complex area and the Scottish Government is clear that UK Government reforms must reduce costs for Scottish consumers, ensure Scotland’s communities feel the benefit of the energy transition and protect investment in our renewables industry and supporting decarbonisation.