- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Alison Thewliss on 23 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many funded dentistry intake places at the University of Glasgow and the University of Dundee were assumed to be for Scottish-domiciled students by the Scottish Funding Council, and how many for students domiciled in the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland, in each of the last three academic years.
Answer
As a controlled entry subject, Scottish Ministers make a recommendation each year on the overall undergraduate intake for domestic and international students at Scottish dental schools. The domestic student intake recommendations for the University of Dundee and University of Glasgow for the last three academic years are as follows:
| | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
University of Dundee | 48 | 48 | 51 |
University of Glasgow | 67 | 67 | 72 |
Recommendations do not break down places between Scottish-domiciled students and students domiciled in the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland, however it is anticipated the majority of places are for Scottish-domiciled students. The 7% increase in domestic dental student numbers made as part of the 2025 NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan was explicitly directed to Scots-domiciled students. The member may wish to contact the Scottish Funding Council for further detail on the assumed domicile of students.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2026
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding widening access policies for Scottish-funded students applying to university, what its position is on whether disability, neurodivergence and long-term health conditions should be considered.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2026
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 August 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has met its commitment to support 2,000 households through the First Homes Fund within the first 100 days of the current parliamentary session and, if so, how many households have been supported at the 100-day point.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02456 on 1 September 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 August 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its commitment to support 2,000 households through the First Homes Fund within the first 100 days of the current parliamentary session, how many households had, as of the 100-day point, (a) made an enquiry, (b) submitted an application, (c) received approval in principle, (d) received an offer of support, (e) entered into a shared-equity agreement and (f) completed the purchase of a property using support from the scheme.
Answer
Between April to 28 August 2026
A) 604 calls were received and supported by the administering agent on the First Homes Fund
As of COP 7 September 2026:
B) 444 applications have been submitted
C) 372 have had their applications approved
D) 372 received an offer of support
E) 53 have entered into a shared equity agreement
F) 53 have completed a purchase of a property using support from the Fund.
The First Homes Fund is a demand led scheme and the Scottish Government is committed to delivering this fund alongside our other wider package of home ownership support to help first-time buyers including our popular Open Market Shared Equity (OMSE) Scheme which reopened last month.
Ahead of phase two of the First Homes Fund roll-out, we are committed to learning lessons and making the Fund as accessible as possible including planned additional marketing and working closely with key stakeholders in the finance and housing sectors.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 August 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what costs may be incurred by applicants to the First Homes Fund, including any application, administration, legal, valuation or other fees, and at what stage in the process any such costs become payable.
Answer
There is an administration fee of £650 charged to all buyers. This is collected after the Award Letter has been issued and no later than three weeks before the expected settlement date. If the transaction falls after payment of the fee, the fee is to be refunded to the buyer in full.
Any other costs incurred during the home buying process are not set by the Scottish Government.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 August 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has estimated the total unmet need for housing adaptations among disabled tenants in Scotland and, if so, what that estimate is.
Answer
Since the integration of health and social care, overall responsibility for the planning and delivery of adaptations, and for developing services to improve outcomes for people who require adaptations, lies with Integration Joint Boards through powers and budgets delegated from Local Authorities.
Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) are responsible for assessing the needs of their tenants including older tenants and disabled tenants, and RSLs will submit funding requests accordingly. The Scottish Government does not independently assess the funding requirements of individual RSLs. Instead, it seeks to distribute available funding in a fair and equitable manner across RSLs, with the aim of ensuring tenants can access necessary adaptations as promptly as possible.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 August 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how much of the funding allocated to the Registered Social Landlord Adaptations Programme in its Budget for 2026-27 has, so far, been (i) committed and (ii) spent, and (b) how much of this funding remains unallocated.
Answer
As of 5 August 2026:
(i) 100% of the RSL adaptations budget has been committed
(ii) £1.358m of the RSL adaptations budget has been spent
(iii) 0% of the RSL adaptations budget remains unallocated
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 August 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Alison Thewliss on 1 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of additional audiologists and hearing care professionals that will be required to reduce audiology waiting lists to pre-pandemic levels, and what action it is taking to recruit and train that workforce.
Answer
Workforce planning is undertaken collaboratively with NHS boards and relevant stakeholders, and officials continue to assess workforce capacity, recruitment and training requirements to ensure services can meet demand.
While no formal assessment has been made of the number of hearing care professionals required to reduce waiting lists, the Scottish Government remains committed to supporting the healthcare science workforce and has set out strategic direction for the profession, focused on education, workforce development, and the quality and safety of services. This is further supported by work being taken forward by Public Services Delivery Scotland, focused on mapping the skills and competencies required across healthcare science specialisms to inform future workforce planning.
The Scottish Government recognises the importance of ensuring audiology services have sufficient workforce capacity required to meet service demand, both now and into the future. We continue to work closely with NHS boards and other partners to improve audiology services across Scotland and determine how best to move the provision of audiology care into community settings, aligned to strategic ambitions. On 27 August 2026, I wrote to the Health, Care and Sport Committee to provide an update on my meeting with NHS Heads of Service, community audiology providers and other key stakeholders as part of this government’s 100 days prospectus. This meeting centred on a draft proposal for development of a Target Operating Model for audiology, and my letter sets out more detail on the Scottish Government’s immediate priorities for audiology services. It can be read in full here: 20260827 Minister for Community Care to Convener | Scottish Parliament Website
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 August 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Alison Thewliss on 1 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its pledge to expand community audiology services and hearing tests on the high street, how many NHS boards currently provide these services through community providers, and what funding has been allocated in 2026-27 to support expansion of this model.
Answer
The information requested on the number of NHS Boards that currently provide audiology services through community providers is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Audiology services are operated by NHS Health Boards, which hold information on their own service delivery arrangements.
For 2026-27, the Scottish Government has allocated an additional £1 million in funding for community audiology policy, increasing total funding to £1.2 million. This additional funding underlines our commitment to support community audiology policy development and the Service Renewal Framework vision to shift the balance of care to the community. This funding will also continue to fund the “Near You” service run by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID). The service is operating in five Scottish health board areas and provides hearing checks and after-care support to hearing aid users, including maintenance, battery replacement, sign-posting and peer support, and we have signalled our intention to go further in our manifesto.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 August 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Alison Thewliss on 1 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what reduction in NHS audiology waiting times it expects to achieve through the introduction of community-based hearing services, and what the current median waiting time is for (a) a first audiology appointment and (b) hearing aid fitting in each NHS board area.
Answer
The information requested on audiology waiting times is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Information on waiting times within individual NHS Health Board areas is held by, and is therefore a matter for, the respective NHS Health Boards.
The Scottish Government remains committed to improving audiology services across Scotland and we continue to work closely with partners to determine how best to move the provision of audiology care into community settings. On 27 August 2026, I wrote to the Health, Care and Sport Committee to provide an update on my meeting with NHS Heads of Service, community audiology providers and other key stakeholders as part of this government’s 100 days prospectus. This meeting centred on a draft proposal for development of a Target Operating Model for audiology, and my letter sets out more detail on the Scottish Government’s immediate priorities for audiology services. It can be read in full here: 20260827 Minister for Community Care to Convener | Scottish Parliament Website
