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-01358

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the current median and maximum waiting times are for (a) diagnosis following urgent suspicion referral and (b) treatment following diagnosis for aggressive cancers.

Question reference: S7W-01441

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what direction, if any, Scottish Ministers have provided to the Independent Commission on the Criminalisation of the Purchase of Sex regarding the inclusion of women who have exited prostitution on the Commission’s panel of experts.

Question reference: S7W-01514

Asked by: Jamie Langan, MSP for South Scotland, Reform UK
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 20 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the potential development of new nuclear projects in Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-01273

Asked by: Kate Nevens, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that existing guidance for people relating to GP practices catchment areas is sufficiently clear, including whether it clearly explains that people are not required to register with a new GP practice when their current practice's catchment area is revised and they no longer live within it.

Question reference: S7W-01186

Asked by: Q Manivannan, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 20 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the capacity of NHS Lothian’s community mental health services to respond to trauma experienced by minority ethnic communities in the aftermath of racially motivated violence, and whether it will commit to additional resource to meet any identified gaps.

Scotland is a welcoming nation that rejects racism, hate, and prejudice. The Scottish Government stands in solidarity with Muslim communities across Scotland and unequivocally condemned the heinous attacks in Edinburgh in June.

NHS Lothian holds statutory responsibility to assess and meet the mental health needs of its population. In accordance with its duties under the Equality Act, it provides a range of culturally appropriate and accessible mental health supports and services (delivered in collaboration with local statutory and voluntary sector partners), which ensures responsiveness to the trauma experienced by minority ethnic communities. In practice, NHS Lothian’s evidence-based tiered provision of community-based, psychologically informed, trauma services includes: the Minority Ethnic Health Inclusion Service; Health in Mind; Rivers Centre (specialist psychological trauma service);and CAMHS (Meadows) trauma service.

It is the responsibility of all NHS Boards to ensure delivery of high quality mental health services for their population, underpinned by robust capacity and resilience planning. No issues have been highlighted by NHS Lothian in meeting current levels of mental health demand following the attacks of 19 June.

Question reference: S7W-01438

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates the Independent Commission on the Criminalisation of the Purchase of Sex to hold its first meeting.

Early work on the Commission has begun, with its Chair Fiona Taylor QPM appointed in March 2026.

In terms of next-steps, Ministers will work with Ms Taylor to finalise the Commission’s terms of reference, and a panel of experts will be appointed to support her. The Commission’s first meeting will take place once its members have been appointed. Updates (including the terms of reference) will be provided on the Scottish Government website in due course.

The Commission will undertake its work independently of government.

Question reference: S7W-01464

Asked by: Helen McDade, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of a combined cost of £425 million for bank and agency nursing and midwifery staffing in 2025-26, equivalent to 7,320 whole-time-equivalent staff, and in the context of appointable newly qualified nurses being unable to secure permanent posts, what assessment it has made of the value for money of expenditure on supplementary staffing.

The use of temporary staff in an organisation as large and complex as NHS Scotland will always be required to ensure vital service provision during times of unplanned absence, sickness and increased unforeseen activity, with the majority of spend on temporary staff directed through the NHS staff bank. These are NHS staff, on NHS contracts at NHS rates of pay.

In keeping with our commitment to direct as much of our resources as possible towards frontline services, the latest workforce statistics demonstrate the significant progress made to reduce NHS Scotland’s reliance on agency workers, with a 39% reduction in nurse agency usage alongside a 4% reduction in medical agency usage delivered across 2025-26.

Question reference: S7W-01461

Asked by: Helen McDade, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the situation whereby appointable nursing graduates have been told that no posts are available, while at the same time as there were reportedly 3,227.3 whole-time-equivalent unfilled nursing and midwifery posts as at 30 June 2025, compared with 2,015.4 WTE at 31 December 2024.

Whilst the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy direction for the NHS in Scotland, operational matters such as staffing and recruitment, including the recruitment of graduates, are the responsibility of the individual health and social care employers, taking into account national, regional and local priorities.

NHS Boards actively manage their turnover and vacancies throughout the year, to ensure all posts recruited meet current and future demands and will deliver the best outcomes in the most effective and efficient way. NHS Scotland is a large organisation and will always carry some vacancies. While it is hoped that all nursing graduates will secure a post in Scotland upon graduation, this is not always immediately possible, as vacancies can fluctuate significantly from year to year due to a range of factors.

We have also committed to an NHS Job Guarantee for all graduates for medicine, dentistry, nursing, and other NHS professions in Scotland with a guaranteed position for a minimum 3-year contract, so they can put their training into practice.

Question reference: S7W-01529

Asked by: Jamie Langan, MSP for South Scotland, Reform UK
Date lodged: Friday, 03 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the staffing pressures that reportedly led to the temporary closure of the GP walk-in clinic in Hawick, and what assurances it can provide that the clinic will be adequately staffed to prevent similar closures in future.

Question reference: S7W-01600

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) Cross Sector Working Group has not met since November 2024.

The Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) Cross Sector Working Group was established on a limited term basis to support the co-ordination of data collection and information sharing about RAAC across the public sector estate in Scotland. The aims and objectives of the Working Group are now met by the Cross Sector Building Safety Forum which, with a broader remit, meets to discuss a range of building safety issues with representation from across key sectors. Information about the Forum is published here: Building safety: cross sector forum - gov.scot.