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-04912

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK Government’s recently announced funding to test new ways to tackle obesity and the reported limited access to weight management treatments across Scotland, what steps it is taking to ensure that people in rural areas, such as Dumfries and Galloway, can access new weight loss treatments, including through innovative models such as pharmacist-led pilot schemes in GP practices.

Question reference: S6W-39991

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to address any unmet need in diagnosing cancer, including brain tumours.

Question reference: S6W-39988

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review current referral pathways to improve early detection of brain tumours.

Question reference: S6W-39990

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the long-term support needs of brain tumour survivors and their families.

Question reference: S6W-39987

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider providing match-funding for the Scottish Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence.

Question reference: S6W-39989

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring equitable access to specialist neuro-oncology services across all NHS boards.

Question reference: S6W-39986

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to reduce diagnostic delays for brain tumour patients.

Question reference: S6W-39370

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 12 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of a significant number of people in Dumfries and Galloway moving from NHS dental services to paying privately for dental services, whether any funding that was previously used for NHS dental services has been ring-fenced for future reinvestment in NHS dental provision in the region.

Question reference: S6W-39371

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much NHS Dumfries and Galloway has saved as a result of any reduction in publicly funded dental services, and how any such savings are being accounted for within the region’s financial recovery plans.

Question reference: S6W-39369

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of a significant number of people in Dumfries and Galloway moving from NHS dental services to paying privately for dental services, where any funding that was previously used for NHS dental services has been reallocated.

Payments to independent contractors providing NHS dental services, responsible for almost all primary care dental service provision, is funded through a national General Dental Services (GDS) budget. This is a non-cash limited budget where National Services Scotland make payments on behalf of NHS Boards directly to independent contractors. There is no separate budget for each NHS Board for these services. NHS Boards do have budget for the Public Dental Service (a specialist service provided by employees of the Board) as part of their general allocation. Information that is held at NHS Board level.

I can confirm that there has been no reduction in funding for NHS dental services. On the contrary, as part of the 2025-26 budget we have increased funding for primary care dental services by 15%. This takes total funding to over half a billion pounds for the first time and means that over the course of this Parliament, we will have increased investment in primary care dental services by 33%.

A breakdown of GDS spending for the 2024-25 financial year can be viewed at https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-dental-data-monitoring-report/nhs-dental-data-monitoring-report-quarter-ending-march-2025/