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-38820

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many weapons have been seized and recorded as being carried by pupils in schools in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-38607

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on counsellors in schools in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government. Since 2021, we have continued to support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding to ensure that all school pupils aged 10 and above and all secondary schools in Scotland have access to school counselling services.

Funding for school counselling services was established in the 2019-20 financial year and therefore the table below outlines the distribution and allocation of funding since 2019-20. The funding for the years 2019–20 to 2022–23 was ring-fenced for the provision of counselling services. From 2023–24 onwards, this funding has been baselined in the overall local government settlement.

The following figures represent funding provided to local authorities for the provision of counselling services. The Scottish Government does not hold information on how much has been spent on counsellors in schools as local authorities are responsible for the delivery of education. Local authorities may hold this information.

Funding distribution and allocations - Scottish Government funding for delivering access to counsellors in schools

Local Authority	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26

Aberdeen City	350,000	466,000	466,000	466,000	466,000	466,000	466,000
Aberdeenshire	574,000	774,000	774,000	774,000	774,000	774,000	774,000
Angus	264,000	346,000	346,000	346,000	346,000	346,000	346,000
Argyll and Bute	286,000	377,000	377,000	377,000	377,000	377,000	377,000
Clackmannanshire	131,000	164,000	164,000	164,000	164,000	164,000	164,000
Dumfries and Galloway	385,000	514,000	514,000	514,000	514,000	514,000	514,000
Dundee City	299,000	395,000	395,000	395,000	395,000	395,000	395,000
East Ayrshire	287,000	378,000	378,000	378,000	378,000	378,000	378,000
East Dunbartonshire	308,000	407,000	407,000	407,000	407,000	407,000	407,000
East Lothian	242,000	317,000	317,000	317,000	317,000	317,000	317,000
East Renfrewshire	311,000	411,000	411,000	411,000	411,000	411,000	411,000
Edinburgh City	705,000	955,000	955,000	955,000	955,000	955,000	955,000
Eilean Siar (Western Isles)	140,000	177,000	177,000	177,000	177,000	177,000	177,000
Falkirk	352,000	468,000	468,000	468,000	468,000	468,000	468,000
Fife	738,000	1,000,000	1,000,000	1,000,000	1,000,000	1,000,000	1,000,000
Glasgow City	955,000	1,300,000	1,300,000	1,300,000	1,300,000	1,300,000	1,300,000
Highland	754,000	1,022,000	1,022,000	1,022,000	1,022,000	1,022,000	1,022,000
Inverclyde	195,000	251,000	251,000	251,000	251,000	251,000	251,000
Midlothian	220,000	286,000	286,000	286,000	286,000	286,000	286,000
Moray	208,000	270,000	270,000	270,000	270,000	270,000	270,000
North Ayrshire	329,000	437,000	437,000	437,000	437,000	437,000	437,000
North Lanarkshire	765,000	1,037,000	1,037,000	1,037,000	1,037,000	1,037,000	1,037,000
Orkney Islands	146,000	185,000	185,000	185,000	185,000	185,000	185,000
Perth and Kinross	328,000	436,000	436,000	436,000	436,000	436,000	436,000
Renfrewshire	389,000	519,000	519,000	519,000	519,000	519,000	519,000
Scottish Borders	263,000	345,000	345,000	345,000	345,000	345,000	345,000
Shetland Islands	197,000	255,000	255,000	255,000	255,000	255,000	255,000
South Ayrshire	253,000	332,000	332,000	332,000	332,000	332,000	332,000
South Lanarkshire	709,000	961,000	961,000	961,000	961,000	961,000	961,000
Stirling	262,000	344,000	344,000	344,000	344,000	344,000	344,000
West Dunbartonshire	226,000	294,000	294,000	294,000	294,000	294,000	294,000
West Lothian	429,000	574,000	574,000	574,000	574,000	574,000	574,000

SCOTLAND	£12,000,000	16,000,000	£16,000,000	£16,000,000	16,000,000	£16,000,000	£16,000,000

Question reference: S6W-38616

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that palliative care is considered and reflected in other relevant policy areas.

The development of our new palliative care strategy – Palliative Care Matters for All - has been informed throughout by ongoing collaboration with relevant policy areas across Scottish Government, such as health and social care, housing, equalities and social security.

This co-design approach across Scottish Government will help ensure that palliative care is considered and reflected in other relevant policies, delivery plans and standards, and supports their outcomes.

Question reference: S6W-38609

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much "clawback" has been returned to and received by the Scottish Government in each year since 1999, broken down by individual (a) college and (b) university.

In referring to "clawback", Scottish Government assumes the question relates to differences in funding provided by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) via its annual allocations process to institutions based on forecast uptake of places at colleges and universities, and any subsequent adjustment made by the SFC to that funding on the basis of reduced take up of college and university places. While there are regular funding reconciliation exercises between the Scottish Government and public bodies, no funds have been returned to the Scottish Government for that specific reason.

Question reference: S6W-38608

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many classroom assistants have been employed in schools in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Information on the number of classroom assistants for the years 2003-2020 was provided in answer to question S6W-01069 on 14 July 2021 which is available on the Scottish Parliament website at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers

Data on classroom assistants by sector and local authority is available from 2019 to 2023, here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-support-staff-management-information/

Question reference: S6W-38613

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that blood cancer patients from Scotland's most deprived areas have equal access to CAR T-cell therapies, following the findings in Public Health Scotland's recent report on CAR-T for haematological malignancies from 2020 to 2023.

The Scottish Government welcomes the finding that eligible patients are increasingly accessing CAR-T therapies.

NHS Board Chief Executives have endorsed a three-centre regional service model for delivering CAR-T therapies across Scotland, in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Grampian and NHS Lothian, to expand capacity and provide easier access for people requiring this treatment. This service delivery model fully commenced on 1 April 2025.

Question reference: S6W-38612

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings laid out in Public Health Scotland's recent report on CAR-T for haematological malignancies from 2020 to 2023.

The Scottish Government welcomes the findings from Public Health Scotland’s (PHS) report on chimeric antibody receptor therapies (CAR-T) for haematological malignancies. The report, which is a collaboration between PHS and the Cancer Medicines Outcomes Programme (CMOP), describes the impact and clinical outcomes of cancer medicines in the real world and can be used to both analyse the outcomes from CAR-T therapies across Scotland and assist with planning future treatment pathways.

The report demonstrates that by developing, and refining, a robust and reliable process cancer medicines intelligence may be routinely generated to support informed decision making at individual, local, and national levels. The data assists healthcare professionals to understand the real-life impact of cancer medicines, supports clinical decision making by enabling a more individualised approach to the provision of cancer care using CAR-T therapies and helps ensure the safe and effective use of these complex medicines.

Question reference: S6W-38610

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what value of financial penalties on colleges and universities for recruiting above their allocated funded places has been returned to and received by the Scottish Government in each year since 1999, broken down by individual (a) college and (b) university.

Question reference: S6W-38615

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that palliative care becomes a national priority.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone who needs it can access seamless, timely and high quality palliative care.

That is why later this summer we will publish our new palliative care strategy, Palliative Care Matters for All. The strategy will set out a series of aims and outcomes designed to help to improve palliative care services across Scotland.

The strategy will be accompanied by a delivery plan which will set out how the actions will be delivered through collaboration with a variety of service providers such as Integration Joint Boards, Health Boards, third sector organisations (including independent hospices) and other independent service providers such as care homes.

Question reference: S6W-38611

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many visits to schools for engagement events have been made by community police in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.