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-41662

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average annual study budget available is for resident doctors, in each NHS board.

Study leave for resident doctors is managed centrally by NHS Education for Scotland. All resident doctors in training, irrespective of board location, have access to the study leave budget. This includes regional or nationally provided courses, and individual training programme budgets. For further information, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-41661 on 13 November 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-41661

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average annual study budget available is for resident doctors who are undertaking training or professional development within NHS boards.

The notional study leave allocation for each resident doctors in training is £600 annually but this is not a limit and, as requirements vary from year to year, where necessary doctors are provided additional study leave funding depending on curricular demands and availability. Resident doctors in training receive 30 days per year in study leave time, not including any study leave which is utilised to provide courses for all doctors including Leadership and Management training and simulation training. Foundation doctors have less access to study leave but are able to apply for taster experiences where they can shadow a resident doctor in a specific specialty. More information is available at https://www.scotlanddeanery.nhs.scot/resident-doctor-information/study-leave/.

Question reference: S6W-41672

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the GP Sustainability Loan Scheme have been made in each year since 2018, also broken down by how many have been accepted, and how much has been allocated.

GP Sustainability Loans are made by agreement between Health Boards and individual GP surgeries: the Scottish Government does not oversee an application process.

The following table shows how many loans have been agreed between Health Boards and individual GP surgeries in each year since 2018 and how much has been allocated to Health Boards by the Scottish Government for disbursement.

Financial Year	GP Loan Financial Transaction Allocation Amount	Cumulative GP Loan Financial Transaction Allocation Amount	Number of Loans Issued
2020-21	£594,000	£594,000	2
2021-22	£1,546,600	£2,140,600	8
2022-23	£4,815,917	£6,956,517	16
2023-24	£6,871,840	£13,828,357	29
2024-25	£2,657,000	£16,485,357	11
Total Issued All Years	16,485,357		66

Funding for loans agreed in 2025-26 will be allocated later this financial year

Question reference: S6W-41183

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the Breast Screening Modernisation Programme Board will publish its findings and recommendations.

I welcome the Breast Screening Modernisation Board’s report, which was submitted to the Scottish Government earlier this year, and which we expect to publish by the end of November.

The report includes a number of important recommendations to strengthen the breast screening programme, the most important of which is to move to a single management model, so that breast screening retains local delivery, but with a single point of oversight and leadership. Screening Oversight and Assurance Scotland have been commissioned to take forward work on this recommendation as a priority.

Question reference: S6W-41510

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 5 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has withdrawn funding for community safety advocates from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and, if so, for what reason.

Question reference: S6W-41509

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 5 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason community safety advocates, employed by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, are reportedly being made redundant.

Question reference: S6W-41512

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 5 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government who will provide any services that will no longer be provided by community safety advocates as a result of any reduction to their numbers, including preventative work in schools and home fire safety visits for vulnerable people.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) continues to employ permanent Community Safety Advocates across Scotland, who work alongside colleagues in local areas to undertake important community safety and prevention work.

SFRS continues to invest significantly in their prevention work, which is reflected in both the current Service Delivery Review and the recent publication of the SFRS Strategy 2025-2028 | Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Question reference: S6W-41511

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 5 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding is currently allocated for community safety advocates annually.

Question reference: S6T-02733

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take, in light of reports that some people are waiting 10 hours for an ambulance.

Question reference: S6W-41450

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 31 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported reduction in the Mental Health Services budget line in the 2025-26 Autumn Budget Revision to £133.9 million, to include a £120 million internal transfer to local government for the Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan, whether the subsequent £16 million shortfall from the original £270 million allocation constitutes a reduction to the mental health budget and, if so, (a) what its reasoning is for this and (b) which programmes, services or projects will be affected, and how this will aligns with the ambitions of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

The 2025-26 direct mental health programme budget remains as originally published at £270.5 million. There is no reduction to that budget. In keeping with normal practice, some of this budget is transferred to other portfolios for mental health projects and, for example, to NHS Boards to support improvement activity and local mental health provision. However, the reference to a £120 million internal transfer to Local Government is a transfer from another budget which supports a wide range of social care activity and bears no relation to the mental health services direct programme budget.