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-02391

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much NHS Scotland has spent on the recruitment and employment of internationally recruited staff in each year since 1999.

Prior to 2021, international recruitment was not widely utilised across NHS Scotland, and no direct funding was available to health boards to support these activities. Between 2021 and 2026, the Scottish Government invested more than £21.5 million to develop international recruitment capacity across NHS Scotland. This included funding for dedicated international recruitment leads and support for overseas recruitment costs, such as visa and sponsorship fees. This investment enabled the recruitment of more than 1,200 overseas professionals into roles across NHS Scotland.

Although no direct funding has been provided since 2024 to meet international recruitment costs, the infrastructure established through this investment remains in place. With the continued funding of an international recruitment lead in each health board, international recruitment can continue to be considered as a means of filling hard-to-recruit vacancies where appropriate.

Question reference: S7W-02392

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 27 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to extend kinship care support payments to eligible young people up to the age of 21.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to extend kinship care allowances to age 21.

We recognise, however, the importance of supporting young people in kinship care as they move into adulthood. Existing legislation allows local authorities, where they consider it appropriate, to provide an allowance to certain eligible young people in kinship care after they reach 16 and until age 18.

A range of other support is available to eligible care-experienced young people as they move into adulthood, including Continuing Care and Aftercare, depending on their individual circumstances and care history.

Question reference: S7W-02713

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered introducing a two-year suspension of the Additional Dwelling Supplement for purchases of residential properties intended for long-term private rental, particularly in areas experiencing housing shortages, such as Edinburgh.

Question reference: S7W-02712

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) on investment in the private rented sector in Edinburgh, and whether it has considered a temporary suspension of ADS to encourage the supply of rental homes.

Question reference: S7W-02710

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider wider reform of property taxation, including a review of Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, with a view to enhancing the benefits of the First Homes Fund.

Question reference: S7W-02711

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the extent to which current Land and Buildings Transaction Tax rates and thresholds may discourage homeowners in Edinburgh from moving home, including downsizing, and what measures it is considering to improve housing mobility.

Question reference: S7W-02390

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 21 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to establish a national NHS Scotland staff bank.

The Scottish Government has been working with NHS Boards to improve the consistency and effectiveness of staff banks across Scotland. This is supported through regular engagement with those tasked with management of staff banks within Boards. Guidance has been developed to support organisations in adopting a consistent approach to the recruitment of bank staff whilst steps have also been taken to standardise the statutory and mandatory training which staff are expected to undertake.

Whilst there are currently no plans to implement a national staff bank, we welcome the steps taken by Boards such as NHS Lothian and NHS Borders who work together on bank staff deployment. Moving forward, we will continue to consider how we can deliver services on an increasingly Once for Scotland basis in line with the Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework.

Question reference: S7W-02395

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) MRI scans and (b) CT scans were carried out at weekends in NHS Scotland in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

This information is not held. Public Health Scotland (PHS) holds data on MRI and CT activity through aggregated monthly returns submitted directly by NHS Boards. As this data is not collected or held at an individual week or weekend level, PHS is unable to report the number of MRI or CT scans carried out at weekends.

PHS statistics relating to the eight key diagnostic tests are published with data up to 31 March 2026 and can be found using the following link:

https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-waiting-times-diagnostics/diagnostic-waiting-times-waits-for-key-diagnostic-tests-26-may-2026/.

Question reference: S7W-02168

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what modelling has been carried out to assess the (a) demand and (b) capacity for hip and knee replacements over the next five yeare.

The Scottish Government has supported and used modelling to inform planning across the wider Trauma and Orthopaedic specialty.

This includes modelling undertaken through the Performance Management and Assessment Tool (PMAT), which considers demand and capacity across the full Trauma & Orthopaedic waiting list to support delivery planning and Scottish Government targets. However, this modelling is not undertaken specifically for hip and knee replacement services.

In addition, work has been undertaken with the University of Strathclyde through the Centre for Sustainable Delivery to model aspects of orthopaedic demand and capacity. This work was conducted at whole-specialty level rather than at the level of individual sub-specialties such as hip and knee replacement surgery.

Separately, the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, which is the largest hip and knee replacement centre in the UK, employs a Clinical Fellow who undertakes modelling relating to arthroplasty demand through the Scottish Arthroplasty Project.

Question reference: S7W-02166

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 27 July 2026, Extra Funding to reduce long waits for treatment, how many additional orthopaedic (a) outpatient and (b) inpatient/day case treatments appointments will be delivered as a result of the additional £90 million announced to deal with NHS waiting times, and what the timetable is for the delivery of this.