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: S6W-37877

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the Care Inspectorate’s impartiality, in light of reports of it promoting a charity linked to individuals convicted of child sexual abuse.

Question reference: S6W-37875

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has instructed the Care Inspectorate to suspend any guidance referencing LGBT Youth Scotland pending a formal review.

Question reference: S6W-37876

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what safeguards exist to prevent public bodies from associating with charities whose safeguarding records are in question.

Question reference: S6W-37848

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of waiting times reportedly exceeding 447 days, how it is tackling any backlogs in children's dental extractions.

The Scottish Government wants all children and young people to attain the highest standard of health and wellbeing possible, but we know some patients are waiting too long and we’re determined to do more and our Budget will provide a record £21.7 billion for health and social care.

We recognise that the current levels of paediatric tooth extractions in hospital are too high - our aim is to reduce the number of children requiring referral as much as possible.

We continue to invest in our flagship preventative programme Childsmile, which provides oral health interventions for all children in Scotland, as well as targeted measures for children from the most vulnerable backgrounds.

The Programme has supported significant improvements in child oral health in Scotland and a narrowing in child oral health inequality over the longer term.

The 2024 National Dental Inspection Programme results show the gap between P1 children with no obvious tooth decay, living in the most and least deprived areas, is at its lowest on record – decreasing from 32.2 percentage points in 2010 to 23.5 percentage points in 2024.

These figures also show three quarters of Primary 1 children have no obvious decay – this is up from 45% in 2003.

Question reference: S6W-37915

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35571 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 March 2025, whether it will provide an update on its engagement with the Scotland Office regarding the proposed order under section 104 of the Scotland Act 1998 relating to changing marriages to civil partnerships.

Question reference: S6W-37849

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered the emergency procurement of private sector dental capacity to ease any paediatric dental waiting lists.

Question reference: S6W-38018

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 5 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many children and young people have been reported to the Scottish Children's Reporter in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-37949

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 5 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider removing non-suspicious deaths from the remit of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

COPFS understands the impact that the loss of a loved one can have on bereaved families.

The Procurator Fiscal will investigate every death reported to us thoroughly and independently to establish what happened and consider whether criminal proceedings or a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) would be appropriate.

It is a strength of the Scottish system, which reflects a common European model, that death investigations are undertaken by a public prosecutor. That investigation may, depending on the circumstances, disclose a basis for criminal proceedings.

More than 13,000 deaths are reported to COPFS each year. In 2024-25, 98% of deaths where no investigation was required were closed within 6 weeks and 71% where further investigation was required were concluded within 12 weeks.

COPFS has significantly reformed its processes in recent years to improve the quality of death investigations and reduce the time taken to investigate deaths and bring FAIs to court. We are committed to identifying further improvements that can be made. A Death Investigations Improvement Board has been established to oversee all ongoing pieces of work and new proposals to achieve greater public confidence, improve the service delivered to bereaved relatives and reduce the journey time for concluding investigations.

Question reference: S6W-37964

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 5 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is a statutory requirement for local authorities to collaborate with (a) healthcare professionals and (b) independent mobility assessors in the administration of the Blue Badge scheme.

While there is no statutory requirement, the decision on whether an applicant should have further assessment is a decision for the local authority to make. Blue badge administrators may use desk-based screening tools to inform decisions and identify which applicants should be referred to regulated health care professionals.

Transport Scotland considers it good practice for local authorities to refer applicants for an independent mobility assessment, if that is required to make a clear and robust decision on eligibility.

Question reference: S6W-37950

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 5 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to expand the use of non-invasive post-mortem technologies, such as CT scanners, for non-suspicious deaths.

COPFS rely on pathology providers as the medical experts to determine the nature and extent of the examination required to establish a cause of death.

COPFS would support any proposals where evidence is provided that a particular approach would fully meet the requirements of our investigation in a timely and cost-effective manner, whilst reducing distress to families from the post mortem examination process.

The potential further use of CT scanners has formed part of regular discussions with the current pathology providers. From May 2025, Glasgow University Pathology and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board will undertake a service development pilot to investigate the potential benefits of incorporating CT scanning in Procurator Fiscal-instructed post mortem examinations taking place at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Mortuary in Glasgow. The findings of the pilot will be considered by COPFS as part of its future planning.