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: S7W-01203

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish data on response rates for firefighter call-outs involving personnel on on-call duty at (a) evenings and (b) weekends, and on any resulting delays in incident response times.

SFRS publishes Fire Safety and Organisational statistics and Incident statistics on their website https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/about/statistics/, the next edition of Incident statistics is expected on 30 October 2026. There are currently no official statistics on response times or station demand in Scotland.

SFRS continues to respond to every emergency incident with the appropriate level of resources. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service's (SFRS) Operations Control rooms dynamically mobilise fire appliances based on their real-time location and availability, rather than fixed station response areas. This approach ensures that the nearest available resource is always deployed to achieve the quickest possible response time.

According to the latest Fire Safety and Organisational Statistics 2024-25, published in August 2025, the Service has 356 stations and two thirds of these stations, 240, are primarily crewed by on-call duty firefighters, and a further 42 are volunteer stations.

Question reference: S7W-01194

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the conclusion of the case, For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers regarding the accommodation of transgender prisoners, whether the First Minister will meet For Women Scotland.

The judgement has been issued in the litigation brought by For Women Scotland in relation to the Scottish Prison Service’s policy on the management of transgender people in custody. The Scottish Government has carefully considered the judgment and has decided not to appeal.

The Scottish Prison Service is considering the implications of the judgement and has withdrawn the previous policy while that work is undertaken.

During the course of the litigation, it was appropriate that matters relating to the case were addressed through the court process. The proceedings are still live pending the final procedural steps being taken and the Scottish Government will focus on implementing the judgment in accordance with the law.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with a wide range of organisations and stakeholders on issues relating to equality, justice and human rights. As with any stakeholder, any request for a meeting, made after the court proceedings are fully concluded, would be considered in the usual way.

Question reference: S7W-01200

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings have taken place between the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and/or the Minister for Victims and Community Safety with senior personnel in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service since the start of this parliamentary session, broken down by (a) date and (b) the officers who attended.

Question reference: S7W-01201

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ensure that all consultation responses to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Service Delivery Review are published in full before any decisions are taken on proposals to downgrade services.

Question reference: S7W-01199

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings have taken place between the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and/or the Minister for Victims and Community Safety with the Chair of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Board since the start of this parliamentary session, broken down by date.

Question reference: S7W-01204

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much in savings might be generated if the proposals in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Service Delivery Review were implemented.

The Service Delivery Review (SDR) is not a cost-saving exercise; it is a safety focussed modernisation programme designed to ensure Scotland has a fire and rescue service fit for the future and new risks.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) Board approved the recommendation to create two new fire stations at Tranent in East Lothian and Cowcaddens in Glasgow, requiring a £20.074 million capital investment. Any financial savings resulting from the review, for example from removing the running costs of maintaining long-term dormant stations, will be re-invested in the service. 69 wholetime firefighters will be redirected to the essential training and prevention functions in SFRS.

The SDR consolidates the £7.8 million resources budget savings that were delivered through the temporary appliance withdrawals introduced in 2023. In addition, the appraisal identifies £42.650 million in potential future capital investment that may be avoided. This reflects a reduction in future estate investment pressures rather than a budget saving. Details of this can be found on the Board paper (link: https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/publications/document/?id=9704).

Question reference: S7W-01202

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether an equality impact assessment has been made of the proposal to downgrade fire services by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Service Delivery Review.

All of the Service Delivery Review options were subject to an equality impact assessment and an assessment of their impact on island communities by SFRS. The Equality and Human Rights Impact Assessments (EHRIA) for each proposed option for change were published on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service website: SFRS Board, 20260622, Papers | Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (link: https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/publications/document/?id=9704).

Question reference: S7W-01198

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 22 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings have taken place with (a) Cabinet Secretary for Justice and (b) Minister for Victims and Community Safety and the Fire Brigades Union since the start of this parliamentary session.

Question reference: S7W-01725

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce will consider the provision of miscarriage services as part of its work.

Question reference: S7W-01722

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list the membership of the Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce.