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: S6O-05397

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of dental practices that are accepting new NHS patients, including how it will monitor the effectiveness of the November 2023 payment reforms in improving access for patients in rural and island communities.

Question reference: S6O-05373

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the independent review of maternity services in Caithness, including the remit and timescale of the review, and what detail has been shared with relevant duty bearers.

Question reference: S6W-42232

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how long the process for adoption from fostering should take, from beginning the process to the adoption being finalised.

The process of adoption is governed by the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 and The Adoption Agencies (Scotland) Regulations 2009, which set out the legal framework for adoption and the responsibilities of local authorities and adoption panels. The 2007 Act makes the child’s welfare paramount and requires decision-makers to consider any risk of prejudice caused by delay, but it does not set statutory time limits.

The 2011 Scottish Government Guidance on the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 and the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007emphasises that decisions should be made within timescales appropriate to the child’s developmental needs and that avoiding delay is essential, as prolonged uncertainty can harm a child’s welfare and stability.

The duration of the adoption process varies depending on the child’s circumstances, the complexity of the case, the time needed for assessments, matching, panel consideration, and legal procedures. This includes cases where a child is already placed with foster carers.

Question reference: S6W-42230

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what national overview is in place for the streamlining of co-ordination between local authorities during the process for adoption from fostering.

The Scottish Government provides national oversight to ensure adoption from fostering is coordinated effectively across local authorities. Guidance on the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, The Adoption Agencies (Scotland) Regulations 2009 and The Looked-After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 recommends permanence planning to begin promptly when a child becomes looked after to support timely and stable permanence arrangements.

Scotland’s Adoption Register also facilitates matching across local authorities by providing a national system to link approved adopters with children from any local authority in Scotland.

To promote consistent and effective practice in permanence, the Scottish Government has commissioned the Association for Fostering, Kinship and Adoption Scotland to develop three national good practice guides on permanence in kinship care, foster care and adoption, which will be available in early 2026.

Together, these measures provide a national framework intended to promote consistency and improve coordination for children moving from foster care to adoption.

Question reference: S6W-42231

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how long the process for granting a permanence order with power to adopt should take.

Permanence Orders with authority to adopt are governed by the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 and The Adoption Agencies (Scotland) Regulations 2009. The Act makes the child’s welfare paramount and requires decision-makers to consider any risk of prejudice caused by delay, but it does not set statutory time limits.

The 2011 Scottish Government Guidance on the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 and the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 emphasises that decisions should be made within timescales appropriate to the child’s developmental needs and that avoiding delay is essential, as prolonged uncertainty can harm a child’s welfare and stability.

The duration of the process varies according to the child’s circumstances, the complexity of the case, and the time taken to complete necessary legal and administrative procedures.

Question reference: S6O-05264

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of parents now being able to request Gaelic school provision in their areas, what financial and resource support it is providing to local authorities to ensure that such requests can be considered and implemented.

Question reference: S6W-41967

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any extra funding has been ringfenced and will be made available to aid NHS chronic pain specialist clinics, in light of chronic pain being a priority concern of the Scottish Government.

In 2025-26, we have provided a record £21.7 billion for health and social care and there is no additional ringfenced funding being made available for NHS chronic pain specialist clinics.

We are investing £200 million across the health and social care system to increase capacity and reduce backlogs. For chronic pain services, this investment will support Health Boards to create additional appointments and strengthen the flow of patients through the system, helping more people to be seen more quickly.

The Scottish Government provides the resources and sets out the overall strategic direction for NHS Scotland. It is the responsibility of NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally to best determine how they allocate the resources we have provided to meet the needs and priorities of their local populations.

Question reference: S6W-41969

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether a risk assessment has been undertaken on the effects on existing chronic pain patients of stopping (a) lidocaine infusions, (b) pain relief injections and (c) radio-frequency denervation treatments.

We are aware of the concerns that have been raised about access to specialist interventions, such as lidocaine infusions, pain relief injections and radio-frequency denervation treatments, and we are committed to ensuring that decisions about these treatments are made transparently and fairly.

To support this, the Scottish Health Technologies Group is conducting an independent review of the safety and effectiveness of a range of specialist interventions for chronic non-malignant pain in adults, including lidocaine infusions and radio-frequency denervation treatments.

The findings of this review, expected in January 2026, will ensure that decisions on access to these interventions are guided by the best available clinical evidence and shaped by the experiences of people living with chronic pain. This includes an assessment of the risks and benefits of each of those treatments.

We encourage anyone with chronic pain using any of these treatments to speak with a healthcare professional before stopping treatment. They will be best placed to provide specific advice, support and recommend any alternative treatments should this be deemed clinically necessary.

Question reference: S6W-41968

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) lidocaine infusions, (b) pain relief injections and (c) radio-frequency denervation treatments have been performed in outpatient departments or as day cases annually for chronic pain relief in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-41966

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the National Framework for Pain Management in Scotland’s Workforce Short-Life Working Group will report on service provision and staffing recommendations.

We are committed to rapidly improving care and services for people with chronic pain by delivering the actions in the Supporting documents - Pain management - service delivery framework: implementation plan - gov.scot at the pace that is required.

A dedicated short-life working group on workforce planning has been established to review current provision of chronic pain services and consider what future models and capacity are required to ensure services are sustainable. This group is due to present their recommendations in the new year.