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-00677

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 11 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment outlined in the Scottish National Party's 2026 manifesto, when it will commence work on a public health campaign on the safe use of social media for young people.

Question reference: S7O-00086

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 June 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason people on the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde waiting list for ADHD assessments are reportedly being informed that their expected waiting times have been extended beyond those previously communicated.

Question reference: S7W-00679

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 10 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it measures the effectiveness of Bairns' Hoose models across Scotland and whether all iterations are achieving the same results.

Question reference: S7W-00676

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 10 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many bleed kits it has distributed across Scotland to date, and how many more it plans to distribute over the next 12 months.

The Scottish Government’s public health approach to violence has prevention at its core and our focus is aimed at preventing and reducing harm for people in Scotland’s communities.

My heartfelt condolences go to Lisa Petrie for the heartbreaking loss of her son, John McNab. I commend Lisa on the work she has been doing to educate young people on the dangers of carrying knives as well as her campaign to roll out bleed kits which helped inform our commitment.

Scottish Government will engage with partners to inform how bleed kits are rolled out to community settings and what quantities would be appropriate and effective.

Question reference: S7W-00678

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 9 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many children have (a) accessed Bairns' Hoose programmes and (b) been through the court system without accessing support from a Bairns' Hoose, since 2021 to date.

Data on the number of children accessing Bairns’ Hoose services is not currently collected by the Scottish Government. This reflects the current phase of the Bairns’ Hoose programme and the different stages that partnerships are at in their journey towards developing Bairns’ Hoose services. Work is underway with partnerships to develop a standardised approach to data collection to support future monitoring.

Bairns’ Hoose is specifically for those children who have experienced abuse, neglect or exploitation which has caused, or is likely to cause, significant harm and is not intended to support all children who have been through the court system. The first Bairns’ Hoose open its doors in 2023 with national rollout planned from 2027.

Question reference: S7W-00680

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 9 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take in 2026 to reduce the number of hours that police officers spend in court.

Justice partners including Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS) will continue to build on the significant progress made in reducing officer time spent in court.

The introduction of the judicially led Summary Case Management (SCM) approach, supported by the implementation of Digital Evidence Sharing Capability (DESC) has led to quicker resolutions on a number of cases and it is estimated that over 100,000 fewer police officers were cited to give evidence during the period of the national rollout of SCM.

This was highlighted in the joint report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland (HMICS) and His Majesty's Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland (IPS) on court citations published in March of this year. The report also made a number of recommendations around how the system of court citations could be made more user friendly for all court users, including police officers. It is for Police Scotland and COPFS to consider and implement these recommendations.

These reforms will continue to improve efficiency across the system by reducing unnecessary trials, minimising witness citations, and helping to address court backlogs. We also expect to see further reductions in court time for officers with the rollout of Body Worn Video (BWV), as video evidence is processed.

Question reference: S7W-00649

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 29 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 8 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to implement any of the remaining recommendations listed in the report by ASLEF, A Vision for Scotland’s Railways, and, if so, which ones.

The continued public investment in Scotland’s Railway, more than £1.6 billion this financial year alone, has enabled our industry partners to continue to deliver many of the aspirations shared with the rail unions. This includes the successful move to public ownership of ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper; investment in stations and infrastructure; ScotRail driver recruitment at an all-time high; and new trains on the way.

The Scottish Government recognises that constructive engagement with trade unions and industry partners is fundamental to a flourishing Scotland’s Railway.

Question reference: S7W-00648

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 29 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 8 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the 2024 report by ASLEF, Dignity for Drivers, how it plans to improve access to toilet facilities for train drivers.

Question reference: S7W-00090

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 2 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of planners serving local authorities.

It is vital that planning authorities have sufficient capacity to support economic growth. We have already invested £850,000 to reverse the decline of planners and boost public sector capacity. This has secured a path into planning for 48 new student planners through our award winning Future Planners Programme, and our Planning Bursary Scheme which is supporting students as they undertake professionally accredited planning degrees. Our National Planning Hub is directly supporting planning authorities in the short term to increase capacity. It is providing surge support, expert brokerage and sharing learning and knowledge to bridge any skills gaps.

Alongside increasing capacity we are also working to streamline, simplify and accelerate the planning system.

We will continue to work in partnership with planning authorities and other stakeholders to deliver innovative solutions to increase our resilience.

Question reference: S7W-00089

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce waiting times for ADHD assessments in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

We are continuing to work with NHS Boards, local authorities, COSLA, the third sector and other delivery partners to improve access to neurodevelopmental support for children, young people and adults.

For children and young people, this includes continuing our work with COSLA and the Children and Young People’s Neurodevelopment Taskforce to deliver on the actions set out in the implementation review of the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People. Additional investment in 2025/26 is funding an ongoing project to supplement health board diagnostic assessment capacity throughout Scotland, particularly for young people approaching transition to adult services.

For adults, we will also ensure we work with partners across Scotland to take forward the proposals from the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland’s 4-tier national pathway for neurodevelopmental conditions; ensuring anyone with or without a formal neurodevelopmental diagnosis can access the support they need when and where they need it. A timetable and route map for this work will be published in the first 100 days of this Government.