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: S7O-00399

Asked by: Collette Stevenson, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve public health in East Kilbride, including through its proposed reform of health and social care services.

Question reference: S7O-00389

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has provided the emergency funding for organisations supporting victims and survivors that it committed to in the Programme for Government 2026-31.

Question reference: S7O-00388

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to monitor the use of e-bikes in residential areas.

Question reference: S7O-00391

Asked by: Kim Schmulian, MSP for Glasgow, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to applying the approach and practices used in Operation Begonia to other vulnerable groups.

Question reference: S7W-04147

Asked by: Joe Fagan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 09 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to include in its proposed Public Service Renewal Bill any legislative changes required to implement its local governance proposals.

The Programme for Government commits to seeking to give statutory backing, where required, to reform the public service delivery landscape in support of the aims of the Public Service Reform Strategy. This could include the possible merging and abolition of public bodies and the transfer of functions between core government and public bodies. Officials are currently working with stakeholders to determine the content of the Public Service Renewal (Scotland) Bill and no decisions have been as to whether this will include any legislative changes required to implement local governance proposals.

Question reference: S7W-04256

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the voluntary sector representatives sitting on the Programme Board for Public Service Reform, how many there are and which charities or voluntary organisations they represent.

Question reference: S7W-03781

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce a dedicated national action plan for arthritis and wider musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions.

There are no plans to publish a national action plan for arthritis and wider musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. We will publish our Long Term Conditions Strategy for Adults in March 2027, which will include both arthritis and wider MSK conditions. This will allow us to take a more strategic approach to long term conditions, recognising the impact of multimorbidity and the fact that an increasing number of people in Scotland are living with one or more long term conditions.

As part of this, an advisory group on chronic musculoskeletal, pain and digestive conditions, one of six expert advisory groups, was set up to provide recommendations that will help inform the Strategy.

Question reference: S7W-04149

Asked by: Joe Fagan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Friday, 09 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether its proposed Public Service Renewal Bill will include provision to enable the merger of local authorities.

The Programme for Government commits to seeking to give statutory backing, where required, to reform the public service delivery landscape in support of the aims of the Public Service Reform Strategy. This could include the possible merging and abolition of public bodies and the transfer of functions between core government and public bodies. Officials are currently working with stakeholders to determine the content of the Public Service Renewal (Scotland) Bill and no decisions have been as to whether this will include any provision to enable the merger of local authorities.

Question reference: S7W-03981

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Simita Kumar on 21 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the prevalence and nature of violence against women aged 65 and older, and what action it is taking to ensure that such women experiencing domestic abuse, sexual violence, financial abuse or other forms of gender-based violence have access to appropriate support, protection and specialist services.

Our Equally Safe strategy recognises that violence against women and girls can affect women throughout their lives. Through our £23m Delivering Equally Safe fund we are funding specialist support services to ensure that all victims and survivors can access support and assistance when they need it.

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey collects data on the prevalence and nature of violence against women and girls, including older adults. The latest figures available are from the 2018-20 survey sweeps. We are working to provide updated figures for the combined 2023-24 and 2024-25 survey.

Question reference: S7W-03987

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Alison Thewliss on 21 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to older men following bereavement, and what assessment it has carried out of the effectiveness of such services.

Bereavement affects many aspects of our lives, often leading to poorer mental wellbeing, loneliness and social isolation, with some research suggesting that men can be more vulnerable to some of these negative impacts than women. The Scottish Government recognises that getting the right care and support following a bereavement is crucial for people’s health and wellbeing.

With this in mind, bereavement support is a priority within our Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund, which supports local groups and organisations to help people make connections and look after their mental health and wellbeing. A total of £99 million in funding has been awarded since the fund was introduced in 2021.

The Fund is distributed by Third Sector Interface (TSI) organisations, in collaboration with other local partners, based on local priorities and in line with their local partnership plans.

TSIs are required to submit monitoring and reporting data annually, which informs the content of the Reporting and Monitoring Summary, which is published for each year of the Fund. The published reports can be found at: Wellbeing and prevention - Mental health - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

Further to this, the Scottish Government continues to fund Cruse Scotland in 2026-7. This includes funding for a bereavement freephone helpline, webchat and email support facility, with Cruse providing regular reporting on the take-up of these services as part of its grant.

We also provide funding to the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care (SPPC) to support their work on bereavement, including Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief, and End of Life Aid Skills for Everyone (EASE) - a course designed to enable people to be more comfortable and confident supporting family and community members with issues they face during dying, death and bereavement. Over the last year, the number of communities where EASE is being offered has increased, with participants feeding back that it has helped to increase their confidence and ability to support others.