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-40683

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any recent discussions with the UK Government regarding the potential legalisation of the traditional herbal medicine Ayahuasca for medicinal purposes.

Question reference: S6W-40989

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how Social Security Scotland is embedding the Armed Forces Covenant throughout its work processes and delivery outcomes.

Question reference: S6W-40892

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is carrying out with Public Health Scotland to help promote healthy hearts and reduce the risk factors that might lead to cardiovascular disease.

Question reference: S6W-40960

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of the reported benefits of the Community Syringe Redemption Program (CSRP) pilot schemes delivered in New York City and the City of Boston in the US and, if so, whether it will consider promoting similar pilot schemes with local integration joint boards in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-40893

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is carrying out with NHS Scotland to optimise the use of evidence-supported technology to detect and manage the risk factors associated with heart attacks and strokes.

Question reference: S6W-40643

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the care of patients of private dental practices, what the formal responsibilities are of (a) the Scottish Government’s dentistry and oral health division, (b) Health Improvement Scotland, (c) NHS boards, (d) the General Dental Council’s Dental Complaints Service, (e) the Professional Standards Authority and (f) the Care Inspectorate.

The Scottish Government delivers NHS dental care through the NHS Board system via independent contractors. Wholly private practices are regulated by Health Care Improvement Scotland (HIS) and the General Dental Council (GDC). HIS is part of NHS Scotland and is responsible for service provision, quality improvement and investigate complaints prior to escalation to the GDC. The GDC is the UK-wide regulator for dentists, promoting best practice. The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) oversees the GDC. The Care Inspectorate has a role in Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) in some dental spaces and provides guidance on preventive practice for all oral health improvement programmes e.g. Childsmile.

Question reference: S6W-40645

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish an escalation pathway for patients of private dental practices.

The information requested is not held centrally. This is a matter for Healthcare Improvement Scotland. Information regarding making complaints about private dental practices can be accessed online at: Making a complaint about independent healthcare services – Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40644 on 1 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Question reference: S6W-40644

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what body currently provides practice-level oversight of private dental practices in Scotland, and if no such body exists, whether it has considered creating one.

Question reference: S6W-40610

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 1 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what studies have recently been carried out regarding the experiences of young people receiving person-centred child and adolescent mental health services (CAHMS).

Through implementation of the Supporting documents - Child And Adolescent Mental Health Services: national service specification - gov.scot. Health Boards are required to fully engage with children, young people and families, and to gather outcomes data against these standards including on the experiences of young people accessing support through CAMHS. Health Boards are also required to report on performance and governance as part of their responsibilities under the Specification.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with all Health Boards to support implementation of the CAMHS specification and to improve the service provided to children, young people and families, as well as improve performance across CAMHS. We remain committed to supporting all Boards to meet the standard that 90% of patients start treatment within 18 weeks of referral. We continue to provide enhanced support to those Boards not on track to meet the standard, providing access to professional advice, ensuring they have robust improvement plans in place and monitoring their implementation.

Question reference: S6W-40646

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the General Dentist Council (GDC) and Dental Complaints Service (DCS) regarding the possibility of the organisations (a) capturing relevant practice-level data, in particular practice name, full address and company number where relevant, and (b) publishing anonymised, practice-linked complaint aggregates, with small-number suppression, in order to enable patients to have access to more information when choosing a private dental practice in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has held no talks with the General Dental Council (GDC) regarding the provision and publication of statistics relating to private dental clinics. Regulation of dentists is reserved to the UK parliament and the GDC is the independent statutory regulator for the dental team. It does not however regulate dental premises, with Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) being the regulator of independent clinics in Scotland. Where available, HIS publishes inspection reports for independent clinics on its register.