Questions and answers

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.

The Scottish Government heard the concerns raised by local government and social care providers regarding the funding challenges in relation to the uplift to the Real Living Wage in commissioned care services.

In direct response to those concerns, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government confirmed to the Scottish Parliament our intention to amend the Budget Bill at Stage 2 to allocate a further £20 million of funding to the Local Government Settlement. In tandem with the original budget commitment, that funding is sufficient to meet the uplift to the Real Living Wage in full across adult social care, children social care and early learning and childcare and highlights the benefits of open and robust engagement.

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.

The Scottish Government heard the concerns raised by local government and social care providers regarding the funding challenges in relation to the uplift to the Real Living Wage in commissioned care services.

In direct response to those concerns, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government confirmed to the Scottish Parliament our intention to amend the Budget Bill at Stage 2 to allocate a further £20 million of funding to the Local Government Settlement. In tandem with the original budget commitment, that funding is sufficient to meet the uplift to the Real Living Wage in full across adult social care, children social care and early learning and childcare and highlights the benefits of open and robust engagement.

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.

The Scottish Government heard the concerns raised by local government and social care providers regarding the funding challenges in relation to the uplift to the Real Living Wage in commissioned care services.

In direct response to those concerns, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government confirmed to the Scottish Parliament our intention to amend the Budget Bill at Stage 2 to allocate a further £20 million of funding to the Local Government Settlement. In tandem with the original budget commitment, that funding is sufficient to meet the uplift to the Real Living Wage in full across adult social care, children social care and early learning and childcare and highlights the benefits of open and robust engagement.

Question reference: S6W-43207

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its draft Budget 2026-27 budget and level 4 tables that were published in conjunction with its draft Budget, whether the baseline used to calculate the total funds to implement the 2026-27 pay uplift in commissioned social care services was the current real Living Wage amount of £12.60ph.

The draft Budget 2026-27 set out a further £160 million investment to enable the payment of the Real Living Wage to adult social care workers in commissioned services in the next financial year. The baseline used to calculate the additional £160 million was the National Living Wage rate of £12.71 per hour.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government has subsequently announced that a further £20 million will be allocated to the Local Government Settlement for Social Care, which can be used towards funding the Real Living Wage for adult and childcare sectors.

This will take the total Scottish Government investment in adult social care pay to over £1.1 billion annually.

Question reference: S6W-43850

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 February 2026
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its commitment to invest £10 million to increase the number of Changing Places toilets across Scotland.

Access to toilet facilities is a fundamental human right. Changing Places Toilets (CPT) offer a vital facility for people with disabilities and their families and carers whose needs cannot be met through standard accessible toilet provision.

The Scottish Government committed £10 million over two years through its Changing Places Toilets Fund for the development of new facilities across Scotland.

In December 2025, I announced awards of £4.7 million from the first tranche of funding for 59 projects across Scotland. I am delighted to confirm that I have now approved funding for an additional 25 projects, bringing total confirmed awards to over £7 million for 84 projects.

I am very grateful to Mr Balfour for his continued commitment to and engagement on this issue. As Mr Balfour is aware, the Scottish Government has included in its draft budget an additional £10 million for Changing Places Toilets over the next three financial years, which would bring total investment to £20 million.

Question reference: S6W-43820

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what resources it estimates will be required to conduct a revised incinerator capacity analysis.

Question reference: S6W-43857

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of the (a) delays to and (b) cancellations of (i) ScotRail and (ii) Caledonian Sleeper services as a result of severe weather conditions since 1 November 2025 to date.

Question reference: S6W-43861

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that bank nursing staff working with children and young people in psychiatric units have appropriate training.

Question reference: S6W-43856

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to monitor the effect of recent severe weather conditions on the resilience of Scotland’s rail infrastructure, and when it last met officials from Network Rail Scotland to discuss these matters.

Question reference: S6W-43841

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what additional funding would require to be made available to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to implement the expansion of the firefighter role.

Chamber and committees