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-05229

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the culture secretary has had with the finance and local government secretary regarding providing support to Edinburgh in dealing with the pressures of holding major annual cultural events and royal visits, including reintroducing the capital city supplement.

Question reference: S6W-42019

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many controlled parking zones have been introduced by each local authority in each year since 1999, also broken down by how many parking permits have been sold for these each year, and how much has been raised by these sales.

Question reference: S6W-41750

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many school additional support needs professionals there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

All teachers are responsible for supporting pupils with additional support needs, not just those teachers whose role is specifically related to additional support for learning.

Statistics on teachers with a main subject relating to additional support needs are published in the teacher census supplementary statistics, available on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/publications/teacher-census-supplementary-statistics/

Statistics on school support staff in publicly funded schools in Scotland are published on the Scottish Government website at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-support-staff-statistics/

Question reference: S6W-41755

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding the evacuation of classrooms due to disruptive behaviour from pupils, and how many times classrooms have been evacuated due to such behaviour in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

The safety of young people and staff in school is of paramount importance.

The Scottish Government’s approach to relationships and behaviour in schools is focussed on prevention and de-escalation of concerns. There are a number of strategies schools can and do use to respond to disruptive behaviour. We are clear that the safety of a young person, their peers and staff should always be a priority for attention. To support schools, in June 2025 we published guidance on risk assessments for violent, aggressive and dangerous behaviour. This supports schools to manage situations where there is considered to be a foreseeable risk of harm occurring or a pattern of behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause harm to self or others. Evidence-based risk assessments support the understanding of the behaviour and inform planning of appropriate control measures and mitigations.

The Scottish Government does not centrally hold information on the number of times classrooms have been evacuated due to behaviour since 1999. Local authorities may hold this information.

Question reference: S6W-41749

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional support needs professionals have been registered in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-41753

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 21 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many children and young people have been placed in adult services in each year since 1999.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring Scotland’s system is one where children are first and foremost treated as children, with their rights and wellbeing at the heart of all decisions with, for, and about them. There are many reasons why children and their families might be in need of additional support, across a range of systems and contexts. The core of our Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) approach is that children and young people get the right help at the right time, from the right people.

We expect children and young people who need inpatient mental health care to be looked after in age-appropriate specialist facilities. On occasions where young people are placed within an adult ward this will be monitored and reviewed regularly to ensure that the young person is receiving the most appropriate treatment and care.

Data on mental health service provision is collated by Public Health Scotland. Currently, the percentage of under 18 psychiatric admissions admitted outwith NHS specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) wards (year ending June 2025) is published as part of the Mental Health Quality Indicators profile, although this is just a snapshot of the most recent data. Time series data and breakdowns by NHS Board and HSCP are planned for future iterations.

The Scottish Government’s Mental Health Inpatient Census records all patients in a mental health bed in NHS Scotland on one day in March or April. The census has run every year since 2014 (except 2015, 2020 and 2021). It provides a snapshot, not a yearly total. In 2014 there were 12 under 18s in adult wards (out of 50 under 18s in any mental health beds), 7 in 2016 (out of 55), 2 in 2017 (out of 36), 6 in 2018 (out of 57), 6 in 2019 (out of 52), 1 in 2022 (out of 46), 3 in 2023 (out of 46) and 4 in 2024 (out of 40). No under 18s were treated in forensic mental health wards in NHS Scotland at the time of the census in any year.

The Mental Welfare Commission (MWC) produces annual reports on admissions of young people under the age of 18 to non-specialist wards in Scotland. In the Children and young people monitoring report 2023-24, the number of children and young people under the age of 18 admitted to non-specialist hospital wards, including adult wards, for treatment of their mental health difficulties in Scotland was 67 admissions involving 59 children and young people, lower than the figures seen in 2022-23 (79 admissions, 66 children and young people).

Regarding criminal justice, the Scottish Government does not hold data specifically on young people placed in adult services, however does have data on the number of young people (under 21) by prison establishment from 2009/10 to 2023/24 which is provided in Table 1. This data is taken from the Scottish Prison Population Statistics.

In respect of under 18s in the criminal justice system, we take a strong focus on early and effective intervention, diversion and appropriate supports to address offending behaviour by children, through a whole system approach. This includes, where possible, keeping children out of the criminal justice system. In August 2024 we brought in provisions through the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act which saw an end to the detention of under 18s in Young Offenders Institutions. Anyone under the age of 18 requiring a period of detention will now be placed in smaller, child friendly settings such as secure accommodation.

Turning to homelessness, the most recent homelessness statistics show that 25 per cent of homeless households contain children. However, there is no distinction between adult homelessness services and children’s homelessness services. When fulfilling duties to homeless households, local authorities must have regard to the best interests of the applicant’s dependent children, and must ensure that accommodation provided for such a person is suitable for occupation by such children.

Table 1: Young people under 21 by prison establishment

Establishment	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
Aberdeen	160	168	132	84	52
Addiewell	288	237	215	189	155	11	16	3	11	2	7	2	1	5	2
Barlinnie	44	71	32	24	19	11	11	10	13	5	8	6	6	6	4
Cornton Vale	212	207	177	142	111	108	79	62	53	45	46	28	22	25
Dumfries	60	38	27	4	9	6	7	3	4	2			2	2	2
Edinburgh	421	389	40	18	14	14	8	10	8	8	7	1	2	1	4
Glenochil	22	5	7	8	1	2	3	1	5	2	1			1
Greenock	234	204	174	152	50	2	2	3	1					1
Inverness	140	119	100	80	82	56	47	42	34	41	28	11	11	13	3
Kilmarnock	275	200	140	59	8	10	2	6	3	1	3	4	2	1	2
Open Estate	6	1	3	1	1					1					1
Perth	386	213	220	163	39	12	4	9	8	6	4	2	3	2	3
Polmont	2026	2055	2073	1798	1627	1442	1344	1214	1001	944	849	545	507	460	438
Shotts	5	3	11	8	6	5	4	4		2		1			1
Low Moss			7	11	19	5	5	5	5	7	1	1	2	5	1
Peterhead			2	3
Grampian					50	86	47	51	54	42	43	20	22	13	11
Stirling															16
Total	300	2668	2409	1994	1733	1587	1444	1264	1035	974	877	569	528	476	456

Question reference: S6W-42023

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many school days have been lost due to industrial action in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S6W-42022

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what new funding will be given to the Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023–2033.

Question reference: S6O-05206

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of police officers in Edinburgh and the Lothians, in light of the growth in the population of south east Scotland and any additional policing duties in the capital.

Question reference: S6W-41751

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 19 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many buildings with cladding have had the Single Building Assessment completed.