- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
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Current Status:
Holding Answer by Mairi McAllan on 11 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has held at a ministerial level with (a) Scottish Veterans Residences and (b) the Veterans Scotland Housing Group regarding (i) veterans' homelessness and (ii) the impact of the housing emergency on veterans wishing to settle in Scotland; on what dates any such meetings took place; what the outcomes were, and what future meetings are scheduled.
Answer
Holding Answer by Mairi McAllan on 11 November 2025
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2025
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Current Status:
Holding Answer by Mairi McAllan on 10 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the annual report of the Scottish Housing Regulator, which has stated that three local authorities are impacted by a systemic failure of their homelessness services, and a further eight are at heightened risk of such failure.
Answer
Holding Answer by Mairi McAllan on 10 November 2025
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 October 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has engaged with the Association of British Insurers, or other relevant industry bodies, to assess whether there are any insurance implications associated with its current approach to assessing buildings with potentially unsafe cladding as set out in the Single Building Assessment Specification Document.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware of the insurance implications associated with multi-residential buildings with potentially unsafe external wall cladding systems. As part of the development of the Cladding Remediation Programme and the associated Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024 the Scottish Government has engaged with a range of sector stakeholders, including building safety groups, the housing sector and financial risk specialists.
In particular:
- During the parliamentary scrutiny of the Bill accompanying the Act, the Policy Memorandum records that the Association of British Insurers (ABI) were listed as one of the organisations engaged through the Ministerial Working Group on Mortgage Lending and Cladding and the Cladding Remediation Stakeholder Group.
- The Scottish Government continues to monitor insurance market developments and acknowledges industry initiatives such as the Fire Safety Reinsurance Facility, launched in April 2024 and backed by the ABI, which aims to expand insurance capacity for higher-risk buildings.
- While the Scottish Government’s core focus remains on physical assessment and remediation (through instruments such as the Single Building Assessment (SBA) specification and the Cladding Assurance Register), officials remain in dialogue with industry bodies on residual risks including how insurance terms, premiums and availability may reflect remediation progress and risk reduction.
The Scottish Government is engaged with the ABI and other insurance industry stakeholders as part of its cladding remediation policy formulation.
However, the primary mechanism by which the Government addresses the risk in question is through the mandatory assessment and remediation pathway, rather than through direct regulation of insurance. The Government will continue to maintain engagement with the insurance sector to ensure that remediation and risk reduction outcomes are reflected in market capacity and premiums, but the SBA specification itself does not explicitly impose insurance requirements.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the compatibility of NHS boards operating so-called First In, First Out-only neurodevelopmental waiting lists with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, specifically articles 3, 23 and 24.
Answer
The Scottish Government is responsible for setting the overall policy direction for neurodevelopmental services, and for working with and funding NHS Health Boards and local authorities to ensure they plan and deliver appropriate local services. It is for local NHS Boards and local authorities to decide how they implement these policies to ensure that their local population have the highest quality of care, support and treatment at the right time and in the right place.
Individual health boards are responsible for the management of their waiting lists. Boards are expected to ensure that their approaches to service delivery are consistent with national guidance, including the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People. The Specification complements and sits within the Getting It Right for Every Child approach, and reflects the principles of UNCRC.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that children with additional support needs are not subject to indirect discrimination under section 19 of the Equality Act 2010, as a result of so-called First In, First Out-only waiting list policies for neurodevelopmental services.
Answer
The Scottish Government is clear that no child or young person should face any form of discrimination when seeking neurodevelopmental support.
NHS Boards are expected to ensure that their approaches to service delivery are consistent with national guidance and statutory frameworks, including the National Neurodevelopmental Specification and the Equality Act.
The National Neurodevelopmental Specification is clear that support should be available at the point of need through a multi-agency approach, encompassing all local children’s services. The Specification is also clear that support should not be dependent on – or wait for – a diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental condition.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether so-called First In, First Out-only waiting list management for children’s neurodevelopmental services is consistent with section 4 of the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011, which requires access to services within a reasonable time, taking account of patient need.
Answer
The Scottish Government is responsible for setting the overall policy direction for neurodevelopmental services, and for working with and funding NHS Health Boards and local authorities to ensure they plan and deliver appropriate local services. It is for local NHS Boards and local authorities to decide how they implement these policies to ensure that their local population have the highest quality of care, support and treatment at the right time and in the right place.
Individual health boards are responsible for the management of their waiting lists. They are expected to ensure that their approaches to service delivery are consistent with national guidance and statutory frameworks, including the National Neurodevelopmental Specification and the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act.
The National Neurodevelopmental Specification sets out the standards for all children’s services to follow in delivering neurodevelopmental support to children and young people. Support should be provided on the basis of need, and at the earliest opportunity, through a multi-agency approach.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what equality and human rights impact assessments have been carried out regarding the operation of so-called First In, First Out-only waiting lists for children’s neurodevelopmental services.
Answer
The Scottish Government is responsible for setting the overall policy direction for neurodevelopmental services, and for working with and funding NHS Health Boards and local authorities to ensure they plan and deliver appropriate local services. It is for local NHS Boards and local authorities to decide how they implement these policies to ensure that their local population have the highest quality of care, support and treatment at the right time and in the right place. This includes carrying out the required impact assessments.
Individual health boards are responsible for the management of their waiting lists. Boards are expected to ensure that their approaches to service delivery are consistent with national guidance, including the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People. The Specification complements and sits within the Getting It Right for Every Child approach, and reflects the principles of UNCRC.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that NHS boards’ neurodevelopmental pathways comply with the National Neurodevelopmental Specification, which was published in 2021 and requires needs-led, case-by-case assessment, rather than purely chronological waiting lists.
Answer
The National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People sets out the seven standards for all children’s services to support children and young people with neurodevelopmental support needs, including NHS boards and local authorities.
The Specification takes a needs-based approach to providing neurodevelopmental support. It is underpinned by principles of GIRFEC and intended to be delivered by all children’s services partners through a multi-agency approach.
The National Neurodevelopmental Specification should be used by all children’s services, including health boards, local authorities and community partners through a whole system, multi-agency approach. It is vital that the support provided by these children’s services are based on the Getting it Right for Every Child approach.
The Scottish Government is working to support children’s services partners to implement the Specification in full and, in partnership with COSLA, has undertaken a review of implementation. This was informed by engagement with local authorities, health boards and a range of stakeholders – including representatives of parents and lived experience.
The review identified a number of key challenges in implementing the Specification and set out a number of actions to support progress. The Scottish Government and COSLA are working with the newly established Children and Young People’s Neurodevelopment Taskforce to take forward these actions, which will support local authorities and NHS Boards to implement the Specification.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 November 2025
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 19 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how much money it has directly invested in its place-based investment programme (a) in each year since 2021 and (b) since April 2021, also broken down by how much has been attracted to the programme from private sources.
Answer
Answer expected on 19 November 2025
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 November 2025
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 18 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of (a) local authority and (b) registered social landlord homes meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard.
Answer
Answer expected on 18 November 2025
