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.

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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-04909

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its proposed ScotWind Wealth Fund, (a) how much it plans to allocate to the fund as an initial endowment, (b) whether any ScotWind revenues will be used for this purpose, and, if so, what (i) proportion and (ii) amount, and (c) when a final decision will be made.

Question reference: S7W-04901

Asked by: Adam Harley, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 09 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is provided to (a) NHS boards, (b) GPs and (c) acute care practitioners for recognising, managing and referring patients suspected of having Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS).

Question reference: S7W-04914

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding applicants who were unsuccessful in the 2025 Future Farm Investment Scheme, how it is ensuring that this will not disadvantage their applications to the 2026 scheme.

Question reference: S7W-04913

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Future Farm Investment Scheme will be continued after 2026 and, if so, what arrangements it is making to fund the scheme.

Question reference: S7W-04920

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the guidance provided to GP practices regarding access to children's medical information by separated parents who are both responsible for their care, and what action it is taking to ensure that children who live across more than one residence are not disadvantaged compared with children living at a single address.

Question reference: S7W-04905

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of patients referred for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with suspected coeliac disease were seen within six weeks in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S7W-04881

Asked by: Yi-pei Chou Turvey, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 09 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether any targets or key performance indicators are in place for the restoration of Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites on publicly owned or managed land and, if so, when they were last met.

Question reference: S7W-04902

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 23 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will commence section 44 of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026, in light of its commitment during the Stage 2 scrutiny process that the fisheries penalties review would be conducted during the current parliamentary session.