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: S6W-42107

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many care homes in each local authority area are currently subject to moratorium and large scale investigation, and how many care beds are affected by this.

Question reference: S6W-42141

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-40706 by Jim Fairlie on 3 October 2025, what weighting community benefits and social value in Scotland will have in the tender scoring for the construction of the two new freight flex vessels to serve the Aberdeen-Kirkwall/Lerwick route.

Question reference: S6W-42142

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the duration was of the advertisement on the Public Contracts Scotland website for expressions of interest in tendering for the construction of the two new freight flex vessels to serve the Aberdeen-Kirkwall/Lerwick route.

Question reference: S6W-42143

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how each of the responders to the Public Contracts Scotland notice for expressions of interest in tendering for the construction of the two new freight flex vessels to serve the Aberdeen-Kirkwall/Lerwick route became aware of the notice.

Question reference: S6W-42108

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the plans by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to develop a "virtual hospital", including by what date this will be introduced.

Question reference: S6W-41409

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is aiming to improve the transparency and accountability of mental health spending, in light of the report by Audit Scotland Adult Mental Health, published in September 2023, which identified a lack of transparency and comprehensive data on mental health spending in Scotland, making it challenging to assess progress against national objectives, and what its response is to the report findings that (a) there is an absence of a clear system to track expenditure across all sectors, including the third sector, (b) monitoring is largely limited to psychological therapy waiting times and (c) this fragmented data landscape and complex delivery system hinder effective evaluation of how mental health budgets are being used and their overall impact.

Through our delivery plan, which supports implementation of our Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, we have looked to ensure that the actions set out reflect and respond appropriately to those Audit Scotland recommendations.

We are currently developing a Monitoring Framework and Evaluation Framework, and both are scheduled for publication in early 2026. Both frameworks will identify key gaps in current data sources and set out evaluation questions which will support understanding of progress against the outcomes of the Strategy. The work is being led by the Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland (PHS) and was developed in collaboration with a range of stakeholders, including the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy Leadership Board. Both frameworks will be used to plan monitoring and evaluation activities over the lifespan of the Strategy.

We have made significant improvements to the collection of routine data on the demand for and access to mental health services. PHS have developed an interactive dashboard for the Mental Health Quality Indicators, which will continue to be developed into a “one-stop-shop” for data on mental health services.

NHS Scotland expenditure on mental health is published annually in arrears in the Scottish Health Service Costs book by Public Health Scotland. The Cost Book is publicly accessible and offers a consistent framework for financial data across all NHS Boards. The most recent data published in February 2025 covers 2023-2024.

The Cost Book data shows NHS Scotland expenditure by services where the primary purpose of the service is the care and/or treatment of individuals with mental health conditions. This details expenditure on adult psychiatry, older adult psychiatry, CAMHS and recently added information on clinical psychology as previously recommended by Audit Scotland. This data is used to track progress towards Boards allocating 10% of their budgets to mental health, including 1% on CAMHS.

The Scottish Government continuously monitors NHS Boards’ financial positions through routine finance reporting. This resource provides a standardised approach to collecting detailed financial information, including outturn, spend by specialty, and achievement of efficiency targets. We expect spending on Mental Health between the Scottish Government and NHS Boards, to be around £1.5 billion in 2025-26.

Scottish Government recognises the key role of the third sector in the provision of mental health support, including in enabling early intervention and prevention. We remain committed to delivering against our commitment to increase the stability and sustainability of the third sector by developing a Fairer Funding approach, including offering multi-year funding where possible. For example, the 2025-27 Fairer Funding pilot includes £15 million per annum to grassroots projects through the Communities Mental Health & Wellbeing Fund administered by Third Sector Interfaces.

Our Service Renewal Framework, published in June 2025 sets out wider proposals to develop updated performance metrics and clearly defined outcome measures for all parts of our system, including mental health.

Question reference: S6W-42096

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS) South project has been designed with passive provision measures for future integration of light rail, including by ensuring that underground utilities are designed accordingly.

Question reference: S6O-05223

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will consult MSP staff trade unions before deciding on uprating the Staff Cost Provision in the 2026-27 financial year.

Question reference: S6W-41718

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 20 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the launch of the procurement process for ScotRail's new suburban train fleet on 5 November 2025, whether this will include having Scotland-based social value requirements or other incentives to deliver local manufacturing and assembly work, similar to the plan announced by the Welsh Government to have a train production facility in Newport, and how it will prioritise supply chains and job creation in Scotland as part of the tender process.

The procurement of ScotRail’s new suburban fleet will comply with the Scottish Government’s Sustainable Procurement Duty, requiring bidders to demonstrate social, environmental and economic benefits, including community benefits and reducing inequality.

While legislation does not permit mandating Scottish-based manufacturing, bidders must engage with the Scottish Rail Cluster Builder and are encouraged to maximise local supply chain opportunities.

The inclusion of a Technical Support and Spares Supply Agreement will create high-quality engineering jobs in Scotland for at least 10 years.

Question reference: S6O-05219

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its previous answer on 12 November, whether it will take the lead in establishing a common housing register in Glasgow to simplify applications and address the city's long social housing waiting lists.