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: S6O-04848

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the Scottish Prison Service will conclude any work required to ensure that it fully complies with the judgment of the UK Supreme Court handed down on 16 April 2025 in the case, For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers.

Question reference: S6O-04860

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it plans to do to ensure that children in care are not excluded from school, as set out in The Promise.

Question reference: S6O-04863

Asked by: Ben Macpherson, MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of holiday hub provision for children with disabilities and ASN in the City of Edinburgh and elsewhere in Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-04845

Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with North Lanarkshire Council on addressing antisocial behaviour involving the use of off-road vehicles in Motherwell and Wishaw.

Question reference: S6O-04841

Asked by: Humza Yousaf, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what support it is providing for humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

Question reference: S6W-38442

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what initiatives are in place to support unpaid carers, in light of findings from the Health and Care Experience Survey 2023-24 that 14% of carers did not receive support despite needing help, and that only 6% had received an assessment or written plan for their caring role.

Local authorities have duties under the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 to provide adult carer support plans or young carer statements for any carer that wants one and to provide support to carers according to their eligible needs. These responsibilities and carers’ associated rights are set out in the Carers’ Charter.

We are working to extend these rights by establishing a right to breaks from caring by amending the 2016 Act through the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill, to support people to protect their wellbeing and sustain caring relationships. The Bill also gives Ministers a new duty to make regulations setting timescales for local authorities to prepare adult carer support plans and young carer statements to help ensure carers can access support in a timely fashion and reduce differences between areas.

Our National Carers Strategy sets out our intentions regarding carers’ rights and support which takes a cross-government approach to carers’ issues including through social care policies, social security and supporting carers in employment and education. It recognises that carers come from all walks of life and many of their needs overlap with those of other groups.

There is a wide range of support available to unpaid carers, as summarised at Help if you're a carer - mygov.scot,

Question reference: S6W-38477

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the accuracy of figures published by the Royal College of Radiologists showing that there is a shortage of radiologists, and what assessment it has made of the level of any shortage in relation to demand.

As set out in answer S6W-38475 on 17 June 2025, over the last ten years the Consultant Radiologist workforce has increased by 27.7% (from 304.5 WTE as at March 2015 to 388.9 WTE as at March 2025). Consultant Radiologist vacancies have decreased by 3.4% over the last year to 22.4 WTE as at March 2025, which is a vacancy rate of 5.5%.

The Scottish Government continues to invest heavily in radiology training. We are currently funding around 190 specialty training places in clinical radiology, including 78 extra places which have been added since 2014, based on modelling and future workforce need. This enable doctors to train and enter the workforce following completion of training - which takes a minimum of 5 years. Clinical radiology specialty training programmes have been filled at 100% in Scotland from 2014 to 2024, with 230 resident doctors successfully completing the training in this period.

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

Question reference: S6W-38426

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring transparency in rail procurement projects, in light of reports that it will not disclose the cost of the procurement process for the new Intercity rail fleet.

The Scottish Government and its subsidiaries apply the policies and principles set out in the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) to any procurement, as well as adhering to Scottish Procurement legislation.

I refer the Member to the answer to the question S6W-38424 on 18 June 2025. 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

Question reference: S6W-38391

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the total projected cost is of the M8 Woodside viaducts project, and how this compares with the original estimate.

The cost estimate for the propping works is £126 million to £152 million, as previously announced in May 2024. A cost range was used due to the complexities associated with a project of this scale in a constrained urban environment, with varying ground conditions and site constraints, including the presence of a plethora of public utilities as well as the Glasgow subway underground tunnels.

The original estimate of £33.4 million in April 2021 for the propping works, was calculated without the benefit of any design or investigations having yet been undertaken due to the emergency nature of the works, and was based on the limited information available at the time.

Question reference: S6W-38390

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the reasons are for the reported continued delays to the M8 viaduct works in Glasgow, and what the revised completion date is.

The M8 Woodside Viaduct is a complex project, which involves constructing temporary propping in a constrained urban environment to enable repairs to the half-joints which support the motorway. Transport Scotland and their contractor, Amey, have been examining each and every activity required to progress the works to ensure completion as soon as possible.

However, there have been unforeseen issues resulting in delays to the extensive piling work around the subway tunnels, which has to be carried out very carefully. Officials are assessing these issues to determine if they might impact on the current estimated completion dates and the public will be updated in due course. Updates can be found here: https://www.transport.gov.scot/projects/m8-woodside-viaducts-project/