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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 43013 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-29959

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it will undertake with (a) hauliers, (b) the seafood sector and (c) passengers from the Northern Isles ahead of the decision on whether or not to extend the current Northern Isles Ferry Service contract from 30 June 2026 to 30 June 2028.

Question reference: S6W-29982

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS boards currently deliver the Family Nurse Partnership programme.

The Family Nurse Partnership has been carefully scaled up with quality since its introduction in 2010 and Scotland became the first country in the world to deliver FNP at scale in 2018.

The programme is delivered in 11 mainland health boards as follows:

NHS Ayrshire and Arran
NHS Borders
NHS Dumfries and Galloway
NHS Fife
NHS Forth Valley
NHS Grampian
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
NHS Highland
NHS Lanarkshire
NHS Lothian
NHS Tayside

Question reference: S6W-30001

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 September 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported information from National Records of Scotland stating that, in the second quarter of 2024, Dumfries and Galloway had the highest stillbirth rate, perinatal death rate and extended perinatal death rate in Scotland, as well as one of the highest infant death rates and neonatal death rates in Scotland, whether it has any plans to launch an investigation into healthcare outcomes for expectant mothers and infants in Dumfries and Galloway.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving outcomes for babies and children and funds key initiatives, including the established Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) led by Healthcare Improvement Scotland. SPSP Perinatal currently supports NHS Boards to improve outcomes by reducing stillbirth, neonatal morbidity and mortality. The SPSP Paediatric Collaborative, launched in September 2023, aims to improve the recognition and response to clinical deterioration in children and young people.

The Scottish Government continue to fund and participate in UK-wide audits including Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries – UK (MBRRACE-UK), which undertakes surveillance on Perinatal deaths and makes recommendations for improvement, and are considered carefully with an expectation NHS Boards will review their local data and act on emerging themes. We wrote to NHS Boards on 12 September 2024 to ensure they have taken account of the MBRRACE-UK reports and National Records of Scotland data, and to seek assurances from those with higher-than-average rates that work is underway to understand and learn from the possible factors which may have contributed to these deaths.

Since October 2021 a National Hub has been in place to review and learn from the deaths of all babies, children and young people in Scotland. Commissioned and funded by Scottish Government, the National Hub is jointly hosted by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Care Inspectorate. A principal aim of the National Hub is to channel the learning from child death reviews to inform change and improvement and ultimately help reduce future preventable child deaths.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway has confirmed that they are aware of the higher than usual rates within their NHS Board as published by National Records of Scotland, Births, Deaths and Other Vital Events - Quarterly Figures: Second Quarter, and have proactively been interrogating the findings to be assured that the numbers can be explained within the local context and not attributed to any shortcomings in care. It is important to note that quarterly National Records of Scotland publications data contains relatively small numbers, and the rates are subject to large percentage fluctuations.

Question reference: S6T-02122

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to council leaders withdrawing support for its National Care Service Bill.

Question reference: S6T-02121

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that pensioners can afford to heat their homes this winter.

Question reference: S6F-03413

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2024

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is regarding whether teachers are essential to raising educational attainment and closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

Question reference: S6F-03412

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6F-03409

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-03410

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-03420

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2024

To ask the First Minister, in light of the recent reports of an increase in alcohol-related deaths in Scotland, what steps the Scottish Government is taking to reduce excessive drinking.