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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 9097 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-38146

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that everyone diagnosed with ovarian cancer is able to access ovarian cancer surgery regardless of where they live.

NHS Boards continue to undertake improvement work to ensure that women diagnosed with ovarian cancer can access surgery. The Scottish Government continues to seek regular updates on progress and to work with them to improve overall care for patients with ovarian cancer regardless of where they live.

Further to this, Scottish Government has provided £106 million planned care funding in 2025/26 across NHS Scotland, with £14.23 million of this directed towards Cancer Waiting Times.

This is all part of our programme to drive up productivity and tackle waiting lists, supported by the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD). Together, our actions will further enable NHS Scotland to maximise capacity, build greater resilience and deliver year-on-year reductions in the number of patients who have waited too long for treatment.

Question reference: S6W-38383

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential cost of implementing the provisions in the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, and when it will report on its assessment of the potential (a) cost of, (b) practicality of and (c) legal issues arising from implementing the provisions in the Bill.

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 27 March 2024 by Liam McArthur MSP (Liberal Democrats). As such, this is a Member's Bill, not a Scottish Government Bill.

Alongside the Bill, Mr McArthur submitted a Financial Memorandum, setting out an assessment of the projected costs of implementing the Bill. He also wrote to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee on 17 June 2024, and again on 14 October 2024, to provide updates to the figures in the Financial Memorandum.

A Scottish Government memorandum was provided to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee on 30 September 2024. This advised that the Scottish Government considered that the costs provided by the member responsible for the Bill were likely to be underestimates. This same memorandum also set out the Scottish Government’s view that the Bill, as introduced, is outside of the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament, and that the Scottish Government would be taking a neutral position on the Bill.

A further letter was sent to the Committee on 27 February 2025, following the Scottish Government’s oral evidence session, to provide estimates of the costs associated with providing initial and refresher training to NHS staff. This noted that all cost estimates provided at this stage are purely indicative, and that this is something that will need to be kept under careful review as the Bill moves through the Parliamentary process.

Significant issues were raised about various aspects of the Bill in the Committee’s Stage 1 report, and during the Stage 1 debate. As highlighted in the Stage 1 report, the Committee made a number of recommendations in relation to the detail of the Bill including about areas for further debate and potential amendment. As such, we are considering our own position moving forward, in light of Parliament's decision to support the general principles of the Bill, and we will be paying close attention to any amendments put forward by non-Government MSPs to consider the practical, financial and legal implications of these.

Question reference: S6W-38118

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 9 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it currently funds any research into topical steroid withdrawal, and, if this is not the case, whether it plans to do so.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office (CSO) supports open competitive grant and fellowship schemes for applied health research in Scotland across a wide remit that is inclusive of consideration of applications for funding for research relating to skin conditions such as topical steroid withdrawal. Applications submitted to these schemes are assessed through independent expert peer-review with funding recommendations made by independent expert committees. No projects for topical steroid withdrawal are currently being funded. CSO also invests in NHS Research Scotland to support NHS Boards host and participate in public, charity, and industry sector funded clinical studies and trials. This includes a Dermatology Research Network to support the delivery of clinical research on skin conditions. While a number of clinical studies of treatments for skin conditions are being supported, none relate specifically to topical steroid withdrawal.

Question reference: S6W-37919

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many GP practices are not currently participating in the national digital dermatology pathway.

Question reference: S6O-04791

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the reasons for there being more private hospital admissions in 2024 than in any previous year on record, according to recent Private Healthcare Information Network data.

Question reference: S6W-37918

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will recommence the GP sustainability loan scheme.

Question reference: S6W-37793

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how the £4.5 million of funding for specialist support for long-term conditions announced in the Programme for Government 2025-26 will be allocated, broken down by (a) conditions it will cover, (b) services it will prioritise and (c) geographical focus.

Work is ongoing to determine how the additional £4.5 million announced in the 2025-26 budget to deliver new specialist support will be allocated to NHS boards, what conditions it will cover and the services it will prioritise. It is expected that NHS boards will develop support based on their understanding of local population need and synergies with existing local service provision.

We want this money to have maximum impact and are working closely and carefully with boards across Scotland to allocate it as quickly and effectively as possible.

Question reference: S6T-02556

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Scottish Enterprise has reportedly refused funding to Rolls-Royce Submarines, resulting in the potential loss of jobs.

Question reference: S6W-37653

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many supported accommodation places are available for mental health patients being discharged from hospital, and how this compares with each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-37579

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to palliative care in each of the last 10 financial years.