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-40760

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 September 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its recent discussions with key stakeholders regarding the phasing out of the use of farrowing crates, when it will fulfil the commitment in its 2021-22 Programme for Government to consult on this issue; what financial support will be offered to pig farmers to transition to free farrowing systems; whether it will work towards no routine crating for sows, and, if so, what the timeline is for this.

Question reference: S6O-05006

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what provisions are in place to support people in hospitals and care settings who have serious spinal injuries resulting in paralysis from the neck down.

Question reference: S6W-39338

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 29 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the supplementary to question S6O-04376 by Jenny Gilruth on 27 February 2025, following the issuing of a joint letter to all education authorities on best practice for supporting children and young people, which local authorities have adopted such best practice, including "adopting the agreed Scottish working definition of dyslexia, the dyslexia identification pathway within the toolkit, the free professional learning modules that are available for teachers to enhance their knowledge and skills and the professional recognition programme on dyslexia and inclusive practice".

Delivery of ASN continues to be a joint endeavour with Local Authorities, who retain the statutory responsibility for the delivery of education and responsibility to identify, provide for and review the needs of their pupils, including those with dyslexia.

I can confirm that the joint letter with COSLA, outlining key polices, best practice and available resources on support for dyslexia in Scottish schools is due to be issued shortly to all Education Authorities.

It will issue in the context of record investment in ASL - over £1bn was spent by local authorities in 2023-24. We have continued to invest £15m each year since 2020 to help schools respond to the individual needs of children and young people and the 2025-26 budget sets out a further £29m of additional investment for ASN.

Question reference: S6O-04975

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the finance secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding different funding models that may be available to finance the building of social housing, in light of the approach adopted by Falkirk Council which awarded Hearthstone Investments £30 million through its Local Government Pension Scheme Fund to invest in social and affordable housing in 2015.

Question reference: S6O-04894

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the 10th anniversary of the Borders Railway, whether it will provide an update on the progress of the feasibility study to extend the line beyond Tweedbank to Carlisle, via Hawick.

Question reference: S6W-39658

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 19 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its timeline is for translating the guidance for the slaughter of farmed salmon into legislation, as recommended by the Animal Welfare Committee and the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission.

Question reference: S6W-38600

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress is being made to ensure that independent prescriber community pharmacists have appropriate read and write access to GP patient records in order to support safe and effective prescribing, and whether it will provide a timeline for when full access is expected to be in place.

The Scottish Government is committed to collaborate with key partners across the NHS in Scotland to ensure that relevant information, with the appropriate safeguards in place, is available to all healthcare professionals, including community pharmacists, when and where they need it.

As community pharmacists expand their clinical role, there is an increasing need for them to have read/write access to clinical records to ensure that they can safely assess and agree a clinical management plan for a person and any associated actions or treatments can be viewed by other healthcare professionals involved in a person’s care, without any unnecessary delay.

Community pharmacists currently have access to the Emergency Care Summary (ECS) which provides information on recent acute and repeat prescriptions and allergies and the Key Information Summary (KIS) where available, which provides information about a person’s health issues, a carer’s name and contact details, preferences on how a person would like to be cared for, the treatment they would like and where they would like to be cared for.

In addition, several health boards are providing community pharmacists access to their clinical portal which provides additional clinical information, although the level of access varies from Health Board to Health Board. Clinical portals support Health Boards to allow healthcare professionals to access information about an individual, including in some cases those from other Health Boards when required, with their permission.

There are several barriers that currently make full access to clinical records difficult including the interoperability of the different IT systems used across the NHS and providing assurances on data protection and information governance requirements.

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer is exploring how read/write access to clinical records can be delivered incrementally.

Question reference: S6W-38466

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA), last reviewed in 2020, to ensure that they provide sufficient consideration of proximity to children’s spaces and safeguards in family-dense areas, with particular reference to the impact on small rural communities.

Multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) are subject to continuous improvement rather than there being a specific review cycle. In 2022, MAPPA national guidance had an extensive update while MAPPA responsible authorities work individually and collectively at a local level to improve processes, information sharing and best practice.

In additional to individual risk assessment, which is an embedded feature of the justice system, every new offender on initial registration under MAPPA is subject to an Environmental Risk Assessment which includes a review of their housing and its suitability. This risk assessment is part of the wider National Accommodation Strategy for Sex Offenders in Scotland (NASSO) which seeks to provide housing for sex offenders while managing any potential risk to the wider community. The placement of sex offenders in stable accommodation can support ongoing risk management and address risk with further offending.

Question reference: S6O-04773

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to businesses to redevelop and use former mills and other disused buildings, in order to support regeneration and economic development.

Question reference: S6W-37794

Asked by: Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 29 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects sections 1 to 5 of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 to be implemented.

The Scottish Government requires an exemption from the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2000 (IMA) from the UK Government (UKG) before we can effectively implement sections 1 to 5 of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024.

The UKG have agreed to providing this exemption and we are awaiting for them to make the necessary changes to the IMA before we can effectively implement sections 1 to 5 of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024. Scottish Government officials are engaged with counterparts in UKG regarding this change and we expect it to be made soon.

It is our intention to bring a ban on the use, supply and possession of glue traps once the UKG have made the required changes.