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

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Question reference: S7W-04470

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of disparities in remuneration between judicial office holders in the Scottish Tribunals and their counterparts in equivalent tribunals elsewhere in the UK, including reported differences in daily fee rates of between £80 and £213 and holiday pay rates of 12.07% compared with approximately 15% elsewhere, particularly where judicial office holders serving in devolved and reserved tribunals work alongside one another in Scotland, and whether it will consider reviewing these arrangements to achieve parity.

Question reference: S7W-04461

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of NHS Scotland hospital bed days were occupied by patients aged (a) 65 and over, (b) 75 and over and (c) 85 and over, in the latest year for which information is available.

Question reference: S7W-04468

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the contractual arrangements for judicial office holders in the Scottish Tribunals, including the requirement to make themselves available for a minimum number of sitting days without any guarantee of work, and whether it will consider introducing guaranteed minimum sitting days and salaried appointments, particularly for chamber presidents and in-house legal members, in line with arrangements elsewhere in the UK.

Question reference: S7W-04467

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the current terms and conditions of judicial office holders in the Scottish Tribunals on morale, recruitment and retention, including how these compare with equivalent appointments in reserved tribunals and the courts, and whether it will commit to a comprehensive review of these arrangements and engage directly with GMB Scotland regarding potential improvements.

Question reference: S7W-04465

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available through Skills Development Scotland, colleges and apprenticeships to encourage people to train and work in garment alteration, tailoring and dressmaking, particularly in rural areas.

Question reference: S7W-04469

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of concerns raised by GMB Scotland that judicial office holders in the Scottish Tribunals do not have access to the same pension arrangements as their counterparts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, including retrospective entitlements dating to 2000 for legal members and 2012 for non-legal members, what action it is taking to address this disparity, and what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding achieving parity in judicial pension provision.

Question reference: S7W-04464

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS boards are required to notify it when additional beds are added to wards above their planned capacity and, if so, how many such notifications it has received from each NHS board in 2025.

Question reference: S7W-04459

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many consultant geriatrician vacancies there are currently across NHS Scotland, and what action it is taking to increase recruitment and retention in geriatric medicine.

Question reference: S7W-04462

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether workforce planning for geriatric medicine is sufficient to deliver the objectives set out in its policies for older people.

Question reference: S7W-04473

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-04191 by Ruth Charteris on 22 October 2026 regarding the Code of Practice on the investigative functions as set out in section 57 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, for what reason (a) this work was not completed before the coronavirus pandemic and (b) work on development of the Code was deemed an insufficient priority by the Lord Advocate's office at the time.