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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 777 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-43223

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42932 by Neil Gray on 21 January 2026, what it expects the accelerated timeline of the national rollout of MyCare.scot to be.

Question reference: S6W-43227

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42980 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 January 2026, whether any training is provided to (a) benefits advisors, (b) benefits assessors and (c) any other staff at Social Security Scotland on the importance of disabled people remaining physically active.

Question reference: S6O-05421

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Current Status: Due to be taken in the Chamber on 28 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture has had with ministerial colleagues regarding how to ensure that Scotland maximises the cultural legacy benefits of the 2026 Summer of Sport.

Question reference: S6W-43197

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42935 by Neil Gray on 20 January 2026, what timeline it has given to the Collaborative Response and Assurance group to consider the recommendations and report back to it.

Question reference: S6W-43192

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42985 by Jenni Minto on 20 January 2026, what funding has been allocated in the 2026-27 draft Scottish Budget to allow a national respiratory audit to progress.

Question reference: S6W-43198

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42936 by Neil Gray on 20 January 2026, what form this work is taking, and what the timeline is for completion.

Question reference: S6W-42985

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42568 by Jenni Minto on 5 January 2026, by what date the scoping exercise for a national respiratory audit by Public Health Scotland will be completed.

The scoping exercise we commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS) to carry out for a national respiratory audit was completed in March 2024 but due to fiscal challenges PHS have been unable to progress the development of a national respiratory audit.

We continue to engage with the Scottish Respiratory Advisory Committee and stakeholders to improve standards of care and data collection for respiratory care across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-42935

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendation in the Audit Scotland report, Delayed discharges: A symptom of the challenges facing health and social care, which was published on 8 January 2026, that "the Scottish Government, NHS Scotland, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), Healthcare Improvement Scotland, integration authorities and their partner NHS boards and councils, should...over the next 12 months, provide guidance on, and better promote public awareness of the benefits of, establishing a power of attorney or a guardianship order".

The Scottish Government welcomes Audit Scotland’s report and has asked the Collaborative Response and Assurance group, which is co-chaired by the Scottish Government and CoSLA to come together to consider these recommendations as a whole and develop a partnership approach to addressing them. The Scottish Government remains committed to reforming the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) 2000 Act will which will play a critical role in embedding this recommendation in future.

Question reference: S6W-42936

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Audit Scotland report, Delayed discharges: A symptom of the challenges facing health and social care, which was published on 8 January 2026, what plans it has to carry out a workforce evaluation to understand the implications of the anticipated rise in demand for power of attorney or a guardianship orders associated with the recommendation in the report for "the Scottish Government, NHS Scotland, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), Healthcare Improvement Scotland, integration authorities and their partner NHS boards and councils [to] provide guidance on, and better promote public awareness of the benefits of, establishing a power of attorney or a guardianship order".

The Scottish Government welcomes Audit Scotland’s report and has asked the Collaborative Response and Assurance group, which is co-chaired by the Scottish Government and CoSLA to come together to consider these recommendations as a whole and develop a partnership approach to addressing them. The Scottish Government has begun this work and is engaged with key partners to discuss the delivery of Powers of Attorney and Guardianship processes.

Question reference: S6W-42986

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42576 by Jenni Minto on 29 December 2025, what the timescale is for the introduction of enhanced service practitioners.

As noted in response to question S6W-42576, as part of the strategic work to implement the Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework, the Scottish Government are considering how best to shift the balance of care by reducing referrals to hospital dental services and retain patients within their local community for a wider range of care and treatment. Officials are appraising various options as part of this work, including the potential further roll-out of enhanced skills dentists in primary care, therefore there is currently no timeline for further roll-out at this stage.

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.