- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 September 2026
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Current Status:
Holding Answer by Maree Todd on 21 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its commitment in the 2026-2031 Programme for Government to invest an additional £250 million in its national mission on drugs, whether this represents new funding or a continuation of funding allocated during the previous parliamentary session.
Answer
Holding Answer by Maree Todd on 21 September 2026
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 21 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what specific financial and training resources are available to local authorities to support primary school educators in adopting and delivering systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) as a primary method of reading instruction.
Answer
Education Scotland’s professional learning resource, Learning to Read in the Early Years (2024) makes it clear that systematic phonics is a critical component of early reading instruction.
During 2024, 2025 and 2026, Education Scotland delivered 25 professional learning events to support research-informed early reading pedagogy and practitioner enquiry, engaging 785 practitioners. This included year-long professional learning programmes which, including the 2026-27 cohort, will have engaged 309 practitioners from 84 schools and early learning and childcare settings. Education Scotland will continue to promote and share this guidance and professional learning resources.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 21 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that protected sites are being effectively protected, in light of NatureScot data indicating a decline in the proportion of protected sites being monitored annually, from 97 sites (5.27%) in 2021 to 54 sites (2.94%) in 2025.
Answer
For over 20 years NatureScot has evaluated the condition of protected areas through its Site Condition Monitoring (SCM) programme. Evaluation of SCM has shown that it can be resource intensive and does not always provide the information required to discuss management changes with land managers, particularly where landscape scale pressures such as over grazing or invasive non-native species are negatively affecting nature.
As a result, NatureScot is looking to build on the strengths of SCM by transitioning to a new monitoring approach known as Delivering Healthy Ecosystems (DHE). Developed in consultation with stakeholders, DHE offers the opportunity to collect data in more effective and efficient ways, utilising where appropriate new technology. This will ensure that we can have confidence in the data on the health of our sites and, most importantly, information on the protection and management actions necessary to deliver healthy ecosystems, thereby maximising the role that protected areas play in halting and reversing biodiversity loss.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Fife North East, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Stephen Flynn on 21 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the UK Government regarding the procurement of trains for future services between Scotland and London once HS2 is operational.
Answer
Scottish Government officials engage regularly with UK Government counterparts on a range of rail matters. While the procurement of trains, or fleet replacement, for services between Scotland and London has not been the subject of formal discussions, decisions regarding procurement are a matter for the UK Government.
Competitive end-to-end journey times, reliability and capacity are all important for cross-border passenger rail connectivity. The Scottish Government continues to emphasise the importance of these outcomes in its engagement with the UK Government and would be disappointed with any increase to the current Scotland to London journey times.
The UK Government is responsible for the HS2 programme, its reduced scope, the HS2 reset announced earlier this year, the procurement of future rolling stock, and the work of West Coast Partnership Development.
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 18 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to research by Family Fund indicating that 56% of surveyed families raising disabled children experienced digital exclusion due to a lack of internet access, device access and/or digital skills and confidence.
Answer
The Scottish Government recognises the barriers highlighted by the Family Fund research, including affordability, access to devices and connectivity, and lack of digital skills and confidence. We are taking action to address these.
Since 2024, the Scottish Government has committed more than £870,000 in grant funding to support over 50 locally-delivered digital inclusion projects across Scotland. We also continue to work with Ofcom and delivery partners to raise awareness of affordable connectivity options, including social tariffs.
Alongside this, we are developing a Digital Inclusion Delivery Plan, which will be published later this year. This will set out clear actions to address the wider barriers that prevent people from participating digitally and how we will work with partners, including local government, to achieve this.
- Asked by: Kayleigh Kinross-O'Neill, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 18 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to take in the current parliamentary session to continue implementing the recommendations of the Scottish Eating Disorder Services Review.
Answer
In line with the recommendation from the National Review of Eating Disorder Services, the National Eating Disorders Network was established in 2024 to help improve training, skills development, and public health strategies.
We are currently delivering on the medium and longer term recommendations with the help of the Network including:
- Supporting implementation of the Specification by assessing Health Boards’ needs and collecting relevant data through an audit tool.
- Producing content for NHS inform, providing free and accessible information and advice on eating disorders for people in Scotland.
- Developing and delivering further training for NHS colleagues.
- Working with partners in hosting regular webinars for clinicians, carers and people with lived experience from across Scotland.
- Engaging with stakeholders to discuss our approach to GLP-1 weight loss medications, in respect of eating disorders.
- Engaging with stakeholders on data collection and reporting, to understand how best to support them in this area.
- Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what response it has received from COSLA regarding its engagement on the introduction of byelaws for seasonal agricultural worker accommodation.
Answer
Following the former Cabinet Secretary for Housing’s letter to COSLA, officials met with COSLA officers to reiterate Scottish Government’s expectations regarding the availability of powers for local authorities to make use of byelaws in order to ensure accommodation standards for seasonal workers are appropriate.
COSLA officers had committed to undertake further engagement with local authority officers that have agricultural seasonal workers in their area to identify the necessary requirements in order for further discussions with officials to take place on how the Scottish Government can support local authorities’ consideration of byelaws through information, advice and guidance. Officials stand ready to support COSLA officers when such an approach will be made.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 18 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on prohibiting registered sex offenders from changing their name without police permission, similar to the provision contained in the Crime and Policing Act 2026.
Answer
The Scottish Government takes the safety of the public very seriously. Sex offender notification requirements apply to an individual, irrespective of what name they use, and Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements documentation includes the recording of any aliases. Sex offenders must inform the police of a name change within three days and failure to notify such a change can result in a prison sentence.
Last year, the Scottish Parliament agreed to a Legislative Consent Memorandum (LCM) which recommended that the sex offender management provisions contained in the UK Crime and Policing Bill be extended to Scotland.
The Crime and Policing Bill received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026; however, none of the sex offender management provisions have yet been commenced by the UK Government.
In relation to the name change provision, full implementation is dependent on matters reserved to the UK Government, specifically the making of regulations relating to driving licence applications in a new name.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 18 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards implementing artificial intelligence technology to support the identification and triage of patients who may be eligible for thrombectomy, and whether any outstanding approvals or financial sign-offs are currently delaying implementation.
Answer
The Scottish Government has approved funding for the procurement of an artificial intelligence solution to support the expansion of thrombectomy services.
We are working with relevant stakeholders, including Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSDS) and NHS Boards, to support implementation of the artificial intelligence solution as quickly as possible.
- Asked by: Helen McDade, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 August 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 18 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reported proposal by Stirling Council to outsource its primary and nursery school meals provision, and, in light of reported concerns raised about a similar proposal by Perth and Kinross Council in 2019, whether it plans to have discussions with Stirling Council regarding the potential impact such a proposal could have on food quality and local employment prior to any contract being awarded.
Answer
Operational delivery of primary and nursery school meals is a matter for local authorities however they must adhere to legislation that protects the quality of food provided.
In Scotland, all food, drink, and meals served in schools must meet the nutritional standards set out in the Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020, regardless of whether the catering service is provided in-house or sub-contracted to an external provider. How those standards are achieved is a matter for each local authority taking into account local needs and circumstances.
Furthermore, under the provisions of the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022, local authorities are under a statutory duty to consider the principles of sustainable development as they procure for school catering services, recognising the benefits of doing so to health, the environment and the local economy.
