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-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: 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: 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.

Question reference: S6W-42644

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 23 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42212 by Neil Gray on 5 December 2025, what data is currently captured by integration authorities that “evidences the value that effective and efficient community equipment and adaptation provision makes to the delivery of key service goals”; where this is published, and how it is communicated to all stakeholders, including service users, carers and equipment providers.

Scottish Government published Guidance on the Provision of Equipment and Adaptations in 2023, and key actions were identified for each section of the guidance, with the expectation that all partnerships will review these. One of these actions is that “Integration Authorities (IAs) should work with relevant partners to capture data which evidences the value, effective and efficient community equipment and adaptation provision makes to the delivery of key service goals.”

Scottish Government expects that all local authorities collect data to monitor their performance, however, which data is collected is the decision of local authorities.

Through engagement with our Equipment and Adaptations Network, we know that some local authorities collect and monitor data via their community equipment stores. Some of this data is used to report on KPIs and influence service goals and delivery, specific to the needs of the local authority.

Question reference: S6W-42646

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 23 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42209 by Neil Gray on 5 December 2025, who the current members of the National Equipment and Adaptations Network are, and whether membership includes representatives of service users and equipment providers.

The National Equipment and Adaptations Network is made up of representatives from territorial boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) across Scotland, as well as key stakeholders from across the sector who have direct responsibility for providing equipment, adaptations and wheelchairs. CoSLA also represent the views of local authorities.

All territorial boards and HSCPs were invited to join the Network. Current members represent the following; Aberdeenshire; Aberdeen City; Angus; Argyll and Bute; City of Edinburgh; Dumfries and Galloway; East Ayrshire; East Dunbartonshire; East Lothian; East Renfrewshire; EquipU; Falkirk; Fife; Glasgow City; Hanover Housing; Horizon Housing, Highland; Moray; North Lanarkshire; Orkney; Perth and Kinross; Renfrewshire; Royal College of Occupational Therapists; Stirling and Clackmannanshire, SMART; Scottish Borders; Scottish Federation of Housing Associations; Shetland; South Ayrshire; Western Isles; WestMarc and West Lothian.

Question reference: S6W-42213

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to any impacts of the changes to the UK Drug Tariff Part IX's medical device listing process in England and Wales on patients and NHS services across Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not envisage that there will be any discernible impact on patients resulting from changes to Part IX of the UK Drug Tariff. The Scottish Government uses the UK Drug Tariff to populate medical device listings and pricing, which are then organised into different parts of the Scottish Drug Tariff. There will be no change to availability of existing medical devices available to be prescribed to patients in NHS Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-42208

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the theme of Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week 2025, "How it feels", and how it plans to better incorporate lived experience in the formulation of government policy on invisible illnesses such as inflammatory bowel disease.

The Scottish Government welcomes the theme of Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week 2025, How it feels, and values the work of charities like Crohn’s and Colitis UK in highlighting the challenges of managing often invisible symptoms.

We are committed to a person-centred approach across all health and care services, including those supporting people with inflammatory bowel disease. Our policy focuses on understanding individual needs and enabling outcomes that matter to people, helping them live well on their terms. We are currently developing a new Long Term Conditions Framework, shaped by lived experience engagement.

Question reference: S6W-42207

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any psychosocial impact of living with long-term fluctuating conditions such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, including any impact on mental health and quality of life.

While we have not specifically assessed the psychosocial impact of living with fluctuating conditions such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring people with long-term conditions receive safe, effective, person-centred care, including appropriate psychosocial support. NHS Boards are expected to follow best practice in delivering this care.

We are currently developing a Long Term Conditions Framework to inform future approaches to prevention, diagnosis and care, including mental health and wellbeing support.

We are also considering the message of Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week 2025 and will reflect this in future planning.

Question reference: S6W-42082

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out a value-for-money assessment of defending the case brought by For Women Scotland in relation to its policy on the housing of biological male prisoners in female prisons.

Question reference: S6W-42080

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 24 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many biologically male prisoners are currently in female prisons, and what assessment it has made of any impact on female prisoners of this.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The SPS Policy for the Management of Transgender People in Custody protects the rights and welfare of transgender people living in Scotland’s prisons in a way which promotes the safety of all people in custody.

When placing a transgender person within our estate, we adopt an individualised approach to ensure the safety of everyone in our care by assessing and managing identified known risk.

There is a total of 21 transgender people in custody representing 0.3% of the total prison population. As a public body we must uphold our statutory obligation to ensure everyone in our care has their personal information protected. Given these small numbers, we are unable to provide any further disaggregation of this data due to potential risk of identification of individuals.

SPS also aim to publish prison numbers and relevant data on a quarterly basis, the last of which can be found here.