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: S6O-05225

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, 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 commit to structured engagement with MSP staff trade unions on an ongoing basis.

Question reference: S6T-02757

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the University of Edinburgh plans to reduce jobs by up to 1,800 as part of £140 million in budget reductions by 2026-27, including what action it will take to protect staff and students from the impact of any such redundancies.

Question reference: S6W-41260

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 10 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of kinship carers have reported that the financial allowance they receive does not cover the full cost of care since May 2021.

According to the most recent Children’s Social Work Statistics, there are around 4,000 children in kinship care in Scotland. In a recent review of the Scottish Recommended Allowance for Foster and Kinship carers (SRA), of the 131 kinship carers who responded, 41% agreed that the financial support given to carers was fairer since the SRA was introduced, 37% said it had improved their finances, and 22% said it was sufficient to meet the full costs of looking after children in their care.

Since the review, we have committed an additional £1.9 million to uprate the SRA, with increased weekly rates backdated to 1 April 2025. We plan to publish a national vision for kinship care by the end of the year, and it will set out what further action we are taking to support kinship carers.

Question reference: S6W-41252

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 10 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many families have lodged complaints regarding flexibility of hours in the early learning and childcare system since May 2021.

Question reference: S6W-41244

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 7 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many parents involved in child protection cases have not been offered advocacy support since May 2021.

The requested information is not held by the Scottish Government.

We want to ensure families can get the help they need, where and when they need it. That is why we are transforming holistic family support through the Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF) Programme.

Since 2022, we have invested over £148m in a programme of activity to transform family support. This includes a multi-year commitment to funding Children's Services Planning Partnerships (CSPPs) to drive this work at the local level.

Funding for CSPPs will increase from £32m to £38.1m in 2025-26 and 2026-27.

WFWF is a critical part of how we will keep the Promise – by shifting investment towards early intervention and prevention activities to prevent Scotland’s families reaching crisis.

It is also an essential part of our mission to eradicate child poverty. By ensuring we provide holistic support that meets the needs of the whole family. This is the smarter, more compassionate way to help Scotland’s families, by putting their needs at the centre of our approach.

Question reference: S6W-41219

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 7 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the proportion of kinship carers who have reported relying on food banks or emergency grants to support the child in their care since May 2021.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the proportion of kinship carers who have reported relying on food banks or emergency grants to support the child in their care since May 2021.

However, we recognise the financial pressures faced by kinship carers and in August 2023 we introduced the Scottish Recommended Allowance (SRA), with £16 million additional funding, to provide a standard national allowance for kinship and foster carers. The SRA is intended to help meet the costs of caring for a child and reduce reliance on emergency assistance. The Scottish Government uprated the SRA earlier this year, providing an extra £1.9m which is expected to benefit more than 9,000 children.

Eligible kinship carers are also able to access Scottish social security family benefits and payments, such as the Scottish Child Payment and may get financial help with childcare and education. More information is available at: Children and families - Cost of Living Support Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-41266

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 7 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many Disclosure Scotland employees have left their job, including through resignation, within their first year of employment since 2022.

Question reference: S6W-41269

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 7 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact that any delays in the processing of Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) certificates by Disclosure Scotland have had on recruitment in the (a) social care and (b) teaching sector in the last year.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

Disclosure Scotland have undertaken priority work to ensure future planning for high application volume periods is informed by internal reviews and stakeholder feedback from managing summer 2025's increased volumes. This work did not include assessment of the impact of delays on recruitment in social care, teaching or any specific sectors.

Question reference: S6W-41211

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 7 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of complaints that have been received regarding dampness, mould or ventilation issues in council-run nurseries since 2021.

Question reference: S6W-41245

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 7 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many referrals to social work have been made due to parental poverty or housing conditions since May 2021.