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-39963

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure consistent and accurate recording and reporting of audiology waiting times across all NHS boards, as recommended in the Independent Review of Audiology in Scotland report.

From 2014 data on Audiology waits formed part of the 18 weeks referral to treatment waiting time data Public Health Scotland (PHS) publication. In March this year, PHS communicated that as part of their ongoing work to ensure their suite of statistical publications meets user needs, they decided to pause the 18 weeks RTT national data collection, analysis and publication. The 18th March 2025 publication was the last planned publication. It is important to note that PHS will continue to publish comprehensive statistics on waiting times which will help demonstrate the impact of the additional funding to reduce waiting times. By pausing the 18 week RTT statistics, PHS will be able to shift resources towards developing statistics on the number of 8 key diagnostic tests carried out per quarter. This change in focus is needed for the public to understand how we are progressing with our commitment for 150,000 extra appointments, diagnostics and treatment in 2025-26.

Given the importance of audiology, as part of the Scottish Government’s implementation of the Service Renewal Framework consideration is being given as to how to strengthen visibility and accountability on audiology waiting times to ensure planning of services reflects actual need and supports equitable access. This has been prioritised as part of the first year work programme of SRF implementation.

Question reference: S6W-39987

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider providing match-funding for the Scottish Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence.

Scottish Government is aware that research is essential if we are to continue to develop new and effective approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours.

There are no plans for the Scottish Government to provide direct funding support to the Scottish Brain Tumour Centre of Excellence, however, Individual researchers or groups of researchers based at the Scottish Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence and who are employed by a Scottish University or NHS Board can apply for CSO research grant funding.

We look forward to working with the Centre co-leads and funders to facilitate awareness of and engagement with the NHS Research Scotland support infrastructure.

Question reference: S6W-39971

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in implementing recommendation 6 of the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland (IRASS) report regarding the development of a robust workforce plan for audiology services.

The Scottish Government has commissioned NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to undertake work which maps the skills and competencies required at each level of practice for all disciplines within the healthcare science profession, including audiology as a clinical priority area.

A Redefining our Workforce document is under development which sets out work on redefining of the scientific workforce in Scotland (including audiologists) and will support development of educational courses in the future. This is in its final stage of publication and will be published this Autumn.

This sits hand in hand with activity which will enable us to be able to map our scientific workforce in NHS Scotland more accurately, strengthening capacity, training and recruitment pipelines for audiologists, and supporting better workforce planning for the future.

Question reference: S6T-02665

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Royal College of Nursing’s reported concerns regarding the decline in the number of nursing students, in light of recent UCAS figures showing that the number of accepted places on nursing courses beginning this autumn in Scotland is 5% lower than last year.

Question reference: S6T-02667

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Nuclear Industry Association's reported view that Scotland will miss out on thousands of new jobs due to its stance on nuclear energy.

Question reference: S6F-04300

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to protect renters in the private sector from homelessness.

Question reference: S6F-04296

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government will support town and city centres as retail destinations.

Question reference: S6F-04294

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04295

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-04313

Asked by: Gordon MacDonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 September 2025

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the potential impact on households in Scotland of the forecasts from the Food and Drink Federation that food and drink inflation could reach 5.7% by December.