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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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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 4 May 2021
  6. Current session: 13 May 2021 to 22 February 2026
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Displaying 798 questions Show Answers

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Question reference: S6W-43593

  • Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2026
  • Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding the calculations provided by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) that to uplift pay in commissioned services from the real Living Wage in 2025-26 to that for 2026-27 would cost more than has been allocated in the draft Budget and amounts to a shortfall of £15 million for adult social care and £4 million for children’s social care and early learning and childcare.

Question reference: S6W-43592

  • Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2026
  • Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what potential risks to supported people and jobs it considered before deciding to change the baseline calculation for the social care commissioned services pay uplift for 2026-27, and what mitigations it put in place to address any such risks.

Question reference: S6W-43594

  • Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2026
  • Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it undertook with (a) commissioned providers, (b) local government and (c) health and social care partnerships regarding proposals to change the social care commissioned services pay uplift baseline for 2026-27, in advance of the publication of the draft Budget 2026-27.

Question reference: S6W-43595

  • Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2026
  • Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its decision to not fully fund the social care pay uplift from the real Living Wage 2025-26 to the real Living Wage 2026-27 in its draft Budget 2026-27, who it has asked to fund the gap in pay for wholly commissioned public services. 

Question reference: S6W-43597

  • Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2026
  • Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what it expects the impact will be of its decision to not cover the full costs of paying the real Living Wage in commissioned public services on its commitments to deliver both Fair Work and ethical commissioning.

Question reference: S6W-43810

  • Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
  • Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 4 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, as part of efforts to reduce child poverty, whether it will consider widening the eligibility criteria of the Young Patients Family Fund to make it more accessible to the families who are most in need of financial support by (a) taking a "cash first" approach and (b) extending it to outpatients attending regular appointments.

Question reference: S6W-43836

  • Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
  • Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 4 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the decision in the case Raeshaw Farms Limited vs The Scottish Ministers and Energiekontor UK Ltd, whether any changes will be made to the processes followed by planning reporters.

Question reference: S6W-43798

  • Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
  • Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 4 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work to implement the recommendations from the Independent Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape by James Withers, particularly around engagement with business.

Question reference: S6W-43837

  • Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
  • Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2026
  • Current Status: Answer expected on 4 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Opinion of the Court delivered in the case Raeshaw Farms Limited vs The Scottish Ministers and Energiekontor UK Ltd on 17 February 2026.

Question reference: S6W-43571

  • Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
  • Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 February 2026
  • Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 18 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address diagnostic overshadowing impacting people with mental illness.