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-04949

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the funding that each of the 10 local authorities will receive from the £700,000 of additional funding announced on 29 October 2026 for bringing empty homes back into use.

Question reference: S7W-04961

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with NHS Dumfries and Galloway regarding the development of a locally based workforce model, including training for GPs, practice nurses and other community healthcare professionals to provide additional support to pregnant women in rural and remote areas, and whether it plans to support the implementation of such a model in the South Scotland region, in light of concerns raised by the Scottish Human Rights Commission and Scotland's Patient Safety Commissioner.

Question reference: S7W-04973

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many ophthalmology procedures each NHS board has commissioned from the independent sector in 2025-26.

Question reference: S7W-04933

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many misconduct investigations involving Scottish Prison Service employees have been discontinued following the resignation or retirement of the individual concerned, in each of the last five financial years.

Question reference: S7W-04974

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what plan it has put in place to ensure that no patient waits beyond 26 weeks for ophthalmology treatment by the end of 2031, and what interim milestones it has set for this specialty.

Question reference: S7W-04929

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many protected disclosures have been recorded by the Scottish Prison Service in each of the last five financial years.

Question reference: S7W-04948

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that children and young people have access to NHS healthcare services that provide treatment for nicotine addiction.

Question reference: S7W-05003

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the expected commencement date is of the Greyhound Racing (Offences) (Scotland) Act 2026.