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-36765

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 7 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its apology for historical adoption practices, what assessment it has made of the findings of the Truth Recovery Design Panel report for the Northern Ireland Executive, Truth, Acknowledgement and Accountability.

In developing the national apology, the Scottish Government engaged with individuals and families affected by historic forced adoption, drawing on personal testimonies and findings from relevant inquiries across the UK and internationally. This included findings from the Truth Recovery Design Panel report for the Northern Ireland Executive and recommendations from campaigning groups such as the Movement for Adoption Apology Scotland on what would constitute a meaningful apology.

Question reference: S6W-37203

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 7 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) knee and (b) hip replacement operations have taken place out-of-area for patients at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in each year since 1999, broken down by in-area NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-36758

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when waiting lists for i-Sgoil will reopen; what the current average waiting time is for a place; whether it has had discussions with local authorities about the availability of the programme for pupils who cannot attend school, and whether any financial resources have been allocated to expand the programme.

At a national level, the Scottish Government funds the National e-Learning Offer (NeLO) to provide a range of resources to support learning across the curriculum. This includes the piloting of the i-Sgoil service to provide online support for young people who have disengaged from their school learning.

The Scottish Government has confirmed funding for e-Sgoil for the 2025-26 financial year, which includes confirmation that support for the i-Sgoil service is considered a priority and enables the service to continue.

Decisions around eligibility and waiting lists for i-Sgoil are a matter for e-Sgoil who deliver the service. The Scottish Government does not hold information on the current waiting times.

While the i-Sgoil service clearly supports education authorities in the fulfilment of their statutory functions in relation to delivery of education and support for learning, it cannot fully replace localised arrangements.

The Scottish Government is committed to working together with local authorities and other partners to implement a range of support for local authorities and schools to support them to respond to issues related to school attendance and absence.

Question reference: S6W-36790

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 7 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting NHS Grampian to implement placental growth factor (PlGF) testing for pre-eclampsia, and when it expects the test to be available.

The Scottish Government has provided funding for implementation and ongoing delivery of placental growth factor- (PLGF-) based testing and we have confirmed that this will be allocated to NHS Boards on a recurring basis to ensure that all women who require access to the test during pregnancy in Scotland are able to do so.

NHS Grampian has confirmed that it is taking forward the necessary work to procure a suitable testing platform and equipment. Officials continue to engage with NHS Grampian to ensure that implementation remains on track for July 2025.

Question reference: S6W-36792

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 7 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to provide additional financial support for NHS boards to allow more adults with type 1 diabetes access to closed-loop systems.

The Scottish Government is committed to expanding access to diabetes technology. Since 2016, we have invested almost £30 million to support expansion. Last year, we established a national programme aiming to provide over 2000 more people with access to hybrid closed loop technology.

We are pleased to confirm that further funding has been secured for this year and we will continue to expand access to a significant number of people.

Progress made last year means that most children and young people will now have access to Closed Loop Systems(CLS). Funding this year will support a significant number of adults, plus any under 18s that have recently been diagnosed and wish to use a CLS.

Question reference: S6W-37167

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish comparative data on senior pay levels across all publicly funded Scottish universities annually.

The Scottish Government does not hold comparative data on senior pay levels across publicly funded Scottish Universities and therefore has no plans to publish this information.

Universities are autonomous institutions with responsibility for their own pay and remuneration decisions.

However, the Scottish Government expects universities to exercise restraint in setting senior pay, including that senior pay packages are in step with the salary, terms and conditions offered to other university staff.

Universities are also required to comply with the terms of the Scottish Funding Council's Financial Memorandum as a condition of grant funding. This includes compliance with the principles of The Scottish Code of Good HE Governance which includes the expectation that universities' remuneration committees seek the views of student and staff representatives in relation to the remuneration packages of Principals and senior executive teams, as well as that they represent the public interest and avoid any inappropriate use of funds.

Question reference: S6W-36576

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many primary school pupils in each local authority area are currently not entitled to free school meals as a result of its decision not to roll out free school meal provision to all primary school pupils.

This information is not held centrally.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to promote school meals and to take all reasonable steps to ensure that all children and young people entitled to receive free school meals are given full support to access them.

As I confirmed to the Education, Children and Young People Committee on 2 April, we remain committed to the roll-out of universal free school meals in the longer term.

Question reference: S6W-36925

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 7 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with (a) airlines and (b) industry stakeholders about retaining routes at Glasgow International Airport after the expansion of high-speed rail services.

Question reference: S6T-02508

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the number of new rape cases being reported to police has increased by more than a third since 2020-21.

Question reference: S6T-02503

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what immediate action it will take to address the reported failure by NHS boards to publish significant adverse event reviews related to mother and baby deaths in hospitals.