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-04757

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2026
Current Status: Due to be taken in the Chamber on 19 March 2026

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6O-05680

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Due to be taken in the Chamber on 19 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether MSP staff and SPS staff will benefit from the new national bank holiday introduced to mark Scotland’s participation in the men's football World Cup.

Question reference: S6O-05656

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Current Status: Due to be taken in the Chamber on 18 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce a licensing system for local authorities to address the growing number of vaping shops.

Question reference: S6W-43861

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 2 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that bank nursing staff working with children and young people in psychiatric units have appropriate training.

The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring that all children and young people who require access to services are able to receive the best possible care and support wherever possible and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put the patient at the centre of their care.

Whilst the Scottish Government provides the policies, frameworks and resources for high quality health care in Scotland, it is for each NHS Board to decide how best to deliver those services to meet the needs of the population to ensure they can provide safe and effective care for their patients. Operational matters - including staffing - are in the first instance the responsibility of the relevant NHS Board. This will depend on the service needs of each Board taking account of national, regional and local priorities, and we expect NHS Boards to plan and provide safe, effective and high-quality care, in line with their statutory service provision and workforce planning responsibilities.

All UK undergraduate education and training programmes recognised as a route into registered practice as a nurse or midwife are approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which is the independent statutory regulator of these professions (and, in England, Nursing Associates). Nurses and midwives must comply with the NMC Code, which sets out the expected standards of professional practice in key areas such as prioritising people, practising effectively, preserving safety and promoting professionalism and trust. Registrants are also required to revalidate periodically, to demonstrate that they are keeping their skills and knowledge up to date and maintaining safe and effective practice. A key requirement of the NMC Code is that registrants must not undertake tasks for which they are not appropriately qualified and experienced.

The Scottish Government convened a Supplementary Staffing Task and Finish Group in late 2022 which, amongst other things, sought to strengthen arrangements for the recruitment and on-boarding of all bank staff. This resulted in the provision of additional guidance to Health Boards that highlighted the role of interviews, professional registration checks and induction shifts as mechanisms for ensuring bank staff demonstrated the necessary skills, knowledge and familiarity with services, systems and processes required to support the delivery of high-quality care. This aligns with the NMCCode (2018), which states that registrants are expected to ‘work within the limits of their competence’. Bank nursing staff, alongside others, have a professional responsibility to seek support, training and education as necessary to practise safely and to protect the public. This includes those working in psychiatric units. The Scottish Government recognises that demand for mental health support continues to grow along with a rise in complex support and services and ongoing staffing vacancies in some roles. This is why we are implementing the actions contained in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Action Plan that was published jointly with COSLA and the agreed actions from the Scottish Mental Health Nursing Review Report.

Question reference: S6W-43713

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 26 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to help GPs decarbonise their physical estates.

It is for individual NHS Boards to develop and implement plans to decarbonise their estates, including GP surgeries. The Scottish Government is contributing funding to support boards with this work.

The Scottish Government established the NHS Scotland Sustainability Action Programme to provide strategic oversight and support NHS Scotland to achieve their target of achieving net zero emissions by 2040 and aims for a net zero supply chain by 2045.

Question reference: S6W-43712

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 26 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support GP surgeries to (a) improve energy efficiency and (b) reduce their carbon footprint.

It is for individual NHS Boards to develop and implement plans to decarbonise their estates, including GP surgeries. The Scottish Government is contributing funding to support boards with this work.

Question reference: S6O-05607

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring that newly built housing is adaptable for future needs.

Question reference: S6F-04699

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 February 2026

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6O-05532

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how the population health framework will help to tackle the commercial determinants of health.

Question reference: S6F-04634

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2026

Question to be taken in Chamber.