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-02266

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 August 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 20 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much was spent annually on the Strategic Research Programme 2016-22.

Question reference: S7W-01940

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 19 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions, correspondence or exchanges of information it has had in the last five years with (a) the UK Government, (b) the Met Office, (c) the Civil Aviation Authority, (d) academic institutions and (e) other organisations regarding cloud seeding, geoengineering, solar radiation management or the deliberate atmospheric release of substances from aircraft over Scotland.

Of the organisations mentioned, the Scottish Government has engaged with the UK Government’s Advanced Research and Innovation Agency (ARIA) on the issues noted. The engagement, in May 2025 and January 2026, focussed on geo-engineering practices following media coverage highlighting ARIA’s launch of outdoor geoengineering experiments as part of a UK government-funded programme. ARIA confirmed that no projects or outdoor experiments were planned to take place in Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-01387

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Dumfries and Galloway regarding any impact of the Vision 3 system rollout in GP practices in the region.

Public Services Delivery Scotland has maintained regular engagement and planning discussions with representatives from NHS Dumfries and Galloway throughout the implementation programme. Communication and coordination have been undertaken through established governance and project management arrangements to support rollout planning and delivery.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway has agreed and signed off implementation plans up to and including Quarter 4 2026.

Question reference: S7W-01377

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers the current Vision 3 system to be meeting the operational needs of GP practices, and what evidence it has used to reach that view.

Question reference: S7W-01383

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration was given to EMIS or EMIS Web as an alternative to the Vision 3 system during the procurement process for a GP clinical IT system.

Question reference: S7W-01378

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the rollout of the Vision 3 system on GP practices, including on appointment capacity, consultation times, administrative workload and the ability of practices to deliver safe and effective patient care.

The Scottish Government continues to monitor the impact of the Vision hosted system rollout through Public Service Delivery Scotland (PSDS)’engagement with health boards, GP practices and the supplier OneAdvanced.

While some practices have experienced performance issues following migration, particularly where users are adapting from EMIS to Vision, additional training and post-migration support have been put in place.

OneAdvanced is implementing system improvements to address issues affecting appointments, prescribing and task management, and recent infrastructure changes have improved system stability. PSDS continues to work with Boards and the supplier to minimise and mitigate any impacts reported as a result of the system changes.

Question reference: S7W-01389

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what escalation process is in place for GP practices that consider that the Vision 3 system is unworkable or having an adverse impact on patient care.

GP practices can escalate issues with the Vision system via their health board representatives, who in turn can raise these with the programme team. GP practice scan log any issues with the One Advanced(Vision) Service Desk.

The GP IT Re-provisioning Programme has a robust governance framework, governed by the GP IT Service Management Board, which meets regularly and features representation from Scottish Government, RCGP, SGPC and NHS Scotland stakeholders, including health board representation. Programme progress and status are assessed as part of each meeting.

Question reference: S7W-01385

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received representations from GP practices, NHS boards, primary care staff or professional bodies regarding the implementation or functionality of the Vision 3 system, and, if so, what action it has taken in response.

Question reference: S7W-01392

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider allowing GP practices to return to, or adopt, alternative clinical IT systems, including EMIS or EMIS Web, where practices consider that the Vision 3 system is adversely affecting their ability to provide safe and efficient care.

Question reference: S7W-01388

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what support is being provided to GP practices that are experiencing operational difficulties following the transition to the Vision 3 system.

2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
45,242,688	43,830,713	45,250,050	42,304,158	42,850,078	42,771,809