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-42622

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42077 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 December 2025, on what dates the Working Group on the Supreme Court Judgement has met.

Question reference: S6W-42618

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, following the Supreme Court judgment that sex, for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010, is biological, whether it considers that a woman needs to complain to her employer before action is taken to follow the law.

Question reference: S6W-42620

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42077 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 December 2025, whether there are minutes taken and papers considered by the Working Group on the Supreme Court Judgement and, if so, by what date these will be published.

Question reference: S6W-42621

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42077 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 December 2025, whether it will list the membership of the Working Group on the Supreme Court Judgement.

The Working Group was convened by the Permanent Secretary and is chaired by the Director General for Education and Justice. The membership of the Working Group includes representatives from every relevant portfolio area across the Scottish Government, including officials from the following Director Generals (DG):

DG Corporate
DG Communities
DG Education and Justice
DG Economy
DG Exchequer
DG Net Zero
DG Health and Social Care
DG Strategy and External Affairs

Question reference: S6W-42623

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42079 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 December 2025, and in light of reports that there is no restriction on the Scottish Ministers in relation to commenting on civil cases before the courts, for what reason the First Minister is not meeting For Women Scotland.

As stated previously, it is the Scottish Government’s long-held position that it is inappropriate for Scottish Ministers to comment on live litigation. In all cases, we have an obligation to uphold the independence of the judiciary. Therefore it would also be inappropriate to meet with For Women Scotland to discuss a live case. I met with For Women Scotland in May last year, and Scottish Government officials have also met with them to discuss the impact of the judgement and their priorities for the forthcoming Women’s Equality Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-42616

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42078 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 December 2025, by what date the review of facilities across its estate will be completed.

The review of facilities across the Scottish Government core estate is progressing at pace, though it is important that this work is completed thoroughly. While no fixed end date has been set, physical building surveys are complete and contractor reporting is expected to conclude by the end of March 2026. The next steps include will include reviewing outputs against EHRC guidance, undertaking an Equalities Impact Assessment, consulting with stakeholders, clarifying policy positions, and agreeing recommended actions with an implementation plan.

Question reference: S6W-42617

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42078 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 December 2025, what monitoring of NHS boards is being undertaken to ensure compliance with the law following the Supreme Court judgement.

Application of the law following the Supreme Court ruling remains a matter for Boards, in accordance with their own legal advice. As advised in response to your previous question answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 December 2025, we have written to Health Boards to reinforce the importance of ensuring that the law is followed, and the Supreme Court judgment implemented. We will continue to maintain dialogue with the Senior executives in the Boards to understand how they are progressing this work.

Question reference: S6W-42643

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42209 by Neil Gray on 5 December 2025, what action has been taken by Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) to mitigate any disruption to the supply chain in the medium to longer term, and whether there has there been any evaluation of lessons learned as a result of the collapse of NRS Healthcare Limited.

Scottish Government remain engaged with Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) following the insolvency of NRS Healthcare, however ultimately decision making around procurement is the responsibility of local services.

Through this engagement we know that HSCPs are taking immediate steps to mitigate any disruption and ensure continuity of service delivery, this includes continuing to work with the equipment providers included in their contractual framework and by entering new contractual arrangements with other suppliers.

The National Equipment and Adaptations Network provides HSCPs with a platform to discuss mitigations and share lessons learned at a national level.

Question reference: S6W-42645

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42212 by Neil Gray on 5 December 2025, whether performance frameworks are in place in all integration authorities to outline the key areas that require to be measured and monitored to evaluate service effectiveness, as covered by the revised Good Practice Guide on Providing Community Equipment that was published in August 2022.

Scottish Government Equipment and adaptations: guidance on provision - gov.scot in 2023 and expects all Integration Authorities to take steps to implement this guidance.

The revised Good Practice Guide on Providing Community Equipment was created to support and assist local community equipment services to effectively develop, deliver, manage, and monitor their services. Decisions on how the guide is utilised is the responsibility of Integration Authorities.

The Scottish Government uses its National Equipment and Adaptations Network to engage with local services and discuss service effectiveness.

Question reference: S6F-04559

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 January 2026

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking following reports that the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital released the wrong body for cremation.