Chamber and committees

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

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 5076 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S7W-04294

Asked by: Kate Nevens, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 12 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the University of Edinburgh proposing reductions in Outdoor and Environmental Education provision, how it plans to support the provision of outdoor education across primary, secondary and tertiary education.

As universities are autonomous institutions with responsibility for determining their own academic provision, the Scottish Government has no role in decisions relating to individual courses or programmes. The Scottish government continues to support the provision of outdoor education across primary, secondary and tertiary education by:

Working with partners to implement the Learning for Sustainability (LfS) Action Plan, available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/target-2030-movement-people-planet-prosperity/
Providing £457,400 of funding in 2026/27 to support delivery of programmes and initiatives that help schools provide curriculum linked outdoor learning experiences. This includes the Climate Action Schools programme, maintenance of the Scottish Advisory Panel on Outdoor Education’s Going Out There resource, and roll out of the Nature Discovery Map Scotland tool;
Working closely with Education Scotland as they lead delivery of the Curriculum Improvement Cycle;
Working with key partners to prepare for the commencement of the Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Act 2026; and
Investing over £2.4 billion in 2026-27 in the post school education and skills system, supporting the delivery of outdoor education provision at providers across Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-04292

Asked by: Duncan Dunlop, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 12 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the 591 young people who were eligible for continuing care but were not receiving it on 31 July 2025, (a) how many declined an offer of continuing care, (b) how many were not offered continuing care, and (c) what reasons were recorded for eligible young people not entering continuing care.

The Scottish Government does not hold any information on the reasons behind why young people, who are eligible for continuing care, do not enter it, or whether they were offered it and declined. This information would be held by the local authority responsible for the young person.

The Scottish Government collates data on the number of young people in continuing care, their care setting, age and local authority. These statistics are published in the annual Children’s Social Work Statistics for Looked After Children.

We are aware our data collection on care leavers could be improved and we are considering how to improve the data collection we receive on continuing care. We know that having a better understanding of the reasons behind a young person not entering continuing care will help us to ensure we are removing barriers to entering continuing care, where they exist.

The Scottish Government is pleased to see an increasing number of care leavers taking up the offer of continuing care, but we know that there is further work to do to improve consistency of implementation. We are engaging with young people, carers, and stakeholders to understand the challenges faced in providing continuing care and how to overcome these.

Question reference: S7W-04734

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the cost in (a) 2027-28 and (b) 2028-29 of providing businesses in Scotland with support equivalent to each of the business rates measures announced for England in the UK Budget on 28 October 2026, broken down by measure.

Question reference: S7W-04737

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the £576 million of savings identified in Annex B, Portfolio Efficiency and Reform Plans, of its Scottish Spending Review 2026, how much had been realised as at 30 September 2026, broken down by portfolio.

Question reference: S7W-04718

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that women with ovarian cancer who are assessed as inoperable, or whose surgery is considered not to be possible within services in the West of Scotland, are able to access a second opinion and expertise, particularly when there are differing clinical opinions regarding whether surgery is appropriate.

Question reference: S7W-04724

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential for the Insch Hospital site to support integrated community health and social care provision, including diagnostic, rehabilitation, preventative and palliative care services.

Question reference: S7W-04684

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent decision by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) to remove a former social care worker from the SSSC register following their conviction for a violent and abusive offence, what further action it can take to support the care sector in strengthening recruitment and safeguarding processes.

Question reference: S7W-04735

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Barnett consequential funding arising from business rates measures announced in the UK Budget on 28 October 2026 is attributable to each individual measure, broken down by financial year.

Question reference: S7W-04730

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many retail properties that are liable for the (a) basic and (b) intermediate property rates are eligible for the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure relief rates, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S7W-04719

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason some women with ovarian cancer are offered additional cycles of treatment prior to surgery, what assessment it has made of the impact of this approach on patient outcomes, and how any identified challenges are being addressed.