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: S6F-04087

Asked by: Collette Stevenson, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2025

To ask the First Minister, regarding any implications for its work to tackle poverty, what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the Department for Work and Pension’s forecasts reportedly indicating that the UK Government’s planned reductions to disability benefits will impact 700,000 families that are already in poverty.

Question reference: S6F-04082

Asked by: Michelle Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2025

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the recently announced UK-USA trade deal and its potential implications for businesses in Scotland.

Question reference: S6F-04075

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2025

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to address the performance of NHS 24, in light of reports that nearly one in five calls to the service went unanswered last year.

Question reference: S6F-04069

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-36091

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 12 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland report, Investigation into the care and treatment of Mr TU, published in March 2023, what its position is on whether a fatal accident inquiry should be carried out into the circumstances surrounding the homicide, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

In Scotland the Lord Advocate is constitutionally responsible for the decision on whether or not to undertake a Fatal Accident Inquiry. As set out in the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc (Scotland) Act 2016, the Lord Advocate may hold a Fatal Accident Inquiry if they consider that a death was sudden, suspicious, or unexplained; and that it occurred in circumstances giving rise to serious concern; or that it is in the public interest. That decision is for the Lord Advocate alone, acting independently of government, and it would be inappropriate for the Scottish Government to comment.

Question reference: S6W-35730

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 12 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to develop a single passporting system of support for students in (a) further and (b) higher education to support widening access.

The final report of the Commission on Widening Access was published in 2016. A lot has changed since 2016 and we are now considering what has worked well and what we could do better.

The Scottish Government recognises the need to simplify the support landscape for students as it can be difficult for young people and their parents and carers to identify what support is available particularly in non-linear learning pathways.

The Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) currently provides living cost support to higher education students whilst the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) provides bursary support to further education students via individual colleges. The Scottish Government is pressing ahead with the proposal to consolidate all student support funding within SAAS. Bringing student support responsibilities together unlocks opportunities and enables new ways of administering student support, collecting data and providing coherent information and guidance to learners and institutions.

Through the Student Mental Health Action Plan Scottish Government has committed to working with institutions, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), CoSLA, and prospective students to explore what information institutions require to inform continuity of support for newly-enrolled students, and how students and their families can be supported to request and share this information with colleges and universities. This action is being driven forward by the Plan’s Delivery Group, which met recently, and includes consideration of the use of the Getting it Right for Everybody (GIRFE) practice model to support a more person centred offer of support.

Question reference: S6W-37441

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 12 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of convictions that have been made under section 40 of the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 since it came into force.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34490 on 18 February 2025:

Based on the latest published Criminal Proceedings data (available to 2022-23), since January 2014, there have been no prosecutions under section 40(1) of the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (where this was the main crime).

The Criminal Proceedings in Scotland bulletin (2023-24) is scheduled for publication in autumn 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-37586

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Neil Gray on 12 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its consideration of the escalation status for NHS Grampian, under the NHS Scotland Support and Intervention Framework.

NHS Grampian has been experiencing significant financial and operational pressures for several months. This led to the Health Board’s escalation to Stage 3 of the NHS Scotland Support & Intervention Framework for financial management in January 2025. Whilst Stage 3 is the first formal stage of escalation and, as such, NHS Grampian has been receiving tailored support, there remain concerns about the Board’s financial position, plans, leadership and governance; and any associated impact this may have on the delivery of local services.

Following careful consideration, the Government has decided that NHS Grampian’s escalation status be raised to Stage 4 for finance, leadership and governance. Further, formal escalation is felt necessary (along with the additional support and scrutiny this provides) to help mitigate the significant risks to both the local Board and wider, overall NHS Scotland financial positions.

The key focus of this further escalation will be to arrest the rate of expenditure in NHS Grampian and help mitigate immediate concerns about financial and associated operational pressures, and to stabilise the system. One of the key, initial elements of this package of enhanced support and scrutiny will be a whole system diagnostic, to be carried out by an external consultancy and is expected to conclude in June. That will help to inform the tailored support package that follows and will provide a robust basis for the wider, transformation work required over the longer term in NHS Grampian; in support of the local leadership under the new Chief Executive, with the interviews for that post taking place in early June.

With the agreement of Parliament, a ministerial statement will be provided at the appropriate point to keep members updated on this matter.

Question reference: S6W-37428

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 12 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to make the Scottish Kept Birds Register publicly searchable, and, if not, for what reason.

The Scottish Government has no plans to make the Scottish Kept Birds Register publicly searchable.

The Scottish Kept Bird Register is a mandatory register for bird keepers in Scotland under the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024. It was established to allow Scottish Government and its deliver body, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, to send vital biosecurity information to bird keepers to minimise the risk of the spread of notifiable avian diseases, particularly highly pathogenic avian influenza. The register also supports mandatory surveillance activities during disease outbreaks. The information has also been used to help support public health response in the offer of vaccinations to poultry keepers.

In accordance with Data Protection Act 2018 a commitment was made to those registering, in the Scottish Kept Bird Register Privacy Notice, as to how the data collected would be used. This can be summarised as to determine the size and location of the kept bird population in Scotland, for communication and disease control activities during notifiable avian disease outbreaks, and for promoting bird welfare and public health.

To make this data public would be in breach of the Data Protection Act of 2018, as the Scottish Government would be unable to control the uses to which the data was being put. The Scottish Government is legally required to make arrangements to ensure that the data collected is retained securely and protected from data breach. This is in common with registers for other animals and livestock across Scotland held by Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-37429

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 12 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have registered under the Scottish Kept Bird Register, and whether it will provide a breakdown of the number of (a) poultry, (b) birds of prey and (c) other captive birds.

As of 8 May 2025, there are 10,786 bird keepers registered on the Scottish Kept Bird Register. In total, they have registered 15,539,346 birds. 15,393,511 of these birds are classified as poultry (which are defined as birds kept for the production of meat or eggs for consumption, or other products, or for restocking and breeding programmes). This category includes chickens, turkeys, ducks, gamebirds and geese. 3,383 of the registered birds are birds of prey and 142, 450 are captive birds of other species.