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-39659

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will implement and fund the devolved elements of the delivery plan on myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

There are no devolved elements of the UK Government’s delivery plan on ME/CFS. It covers the population of England only.

We are unable to formally endorse the Plan due to differing healthcare systems and statutory structures.

However, the UK Government shared anonymised responses to its public consultation on the draft Plan from stakeholders living in Scotland with the Scottish Government. We are taking these views into account as we progress our ongoing work on ME/CFS.

The 2025-26 Scottish Budget includes an additional £4.5 million to deliver new specialist support across the country for long COVID, ME/CFS and other similar conditions. We want this money to have maximum impact and we are working closely and carefully with health boards across Scotland to allocate it as quickly and effectively as possible.

Question reference: S6W-39776

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what types of support, including financial support, it provides to credit unions.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with the credit union sector in Scotland. At the most recent meeting of the Financial Services Growth and Development Board (FISGAD)in June, representatives of the sector confirmed they are working with Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE) to establish a Scottish specific group that will bring all of the credit unions and industry bodies in Scotland together for the first time. This will enable a more unified approach to engagement and support for the sector going forward.

Where financial support has been provided, it has generally been through broader third sector or financial inclusion programmes, such as those delivered via Social Investment Scotland, rather than as ongoing, dedicated funding. For example, in 2020-22, the Government supported the sector through the Credit Union Resilience Loan Fund and the Third Sector Resilience Fund.

Question reference: S6W-39777

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many credit unions there currently are in Scotland, and how this compares with five years ago.

The number of credit unions in Scotland is publicly available through the Bank of England’s annual statistics, which are published online.

For example, the latest figures (financial year 2024) can be found here: Credit union annual statistics - 2024 | Bank of England.

These show there were 73 annual returns from credit unions in Scotland in 2024, compared to 84 annual returns in 2020. This reduction is a result of transfers and mergers. This figure reflects the number of credit unions that submitted annual returns to the Bank of England for that year and is the closest available measure of the current number in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-39585

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have received mechanical thrombectomy treatment in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-39591

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients in each of the last five years were assessed as eligible for thrombolysis within the recommended four and a half hour window but did not receive the treatment due to the unavailability of staff or services outside of standard operating hours.

Question reference: S6W-39588

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted a workforce assessment to identify the staff that would be required to deliver thrombectomy services on a 24/7 basis.

The Scottish Government has not conducted a national workforce assessment for the staffing requirements of a 24/7 thrombectomy service, although regional planning groups have previously assessed the staff in various roles required to deliver a 24/7 thrombectomy service.

Scottish Government officials and NHS planners have been asked to work at pace on developing a plan for the next steps for thrombectomy service expansion, and this will include assessment of workforce requirements.

Work is also progressing with a review of how the stroke specialist decision-making workforce works nationally, using telemedicine and cross board working, to improve resilience in rotas and increase capacity to be able to support hyperacute stroke care, such as thrombectomy, out of hours.

Question reference: S6W-39593

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of stroke patients who have experienced worsened clinical outcomes due to delays in receiving thrombectomy or thrombolysis treatment arising from limited service hours.

The Scottish Government does not hold information regarding clinical outcomes in relation to delays in receiving hyperacute stroke care. We remain committed to implementing a high quality and clinically safe thrombectomy service that is available across Scotland whenever people need it.

Scottish Government officials and NHS planners are working at pace on developing a plan for the next steps for service expansion.

Question reference: S6W-39592

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it collects data on stroke patients who were clinically eligible for thrombectomy or thrombolysis but did not receive treatment due to the lack of 24/7 service availability, and if so, whether it will publish this data.

Question reference: S6W-39590

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients in each of the last five years have been unable to receive mechanical thrombectomy within the clinically recommended time window due to the lack of 24/7 provision.

Question reference: S6W-39586

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many interventional neuroradiologists are currently employed by NHS Scotland, and how many are required to deliver a 24/7 thrombectomy service.

The Scottish Government is responsible for setting the strategic policy direction for NHS Scotland and its workforce, including interventional neuroradiologists.

Operational matters, including the staffing of individual services, are the responsibility of each NHS Scotland Health Board. At a local level, the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 places duties on Health Boards to ensure that suitably qualified and competent individuals are working in such numbers as are appropriate for the health, wellbeing and safety of patients, the provision of high-quality care and the wellbeing of staff.

It should be noted that the North of Scotland thrombectomy service utilises Interventional Radiologists, whereas the West and East of Scotland services utilise Interventional Neuroradiologists.

Workforce statistics across NHS Scotland, can be found at: NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence