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-04419

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline its funding strategy for health and social care partnerships in the North East Scotland region.

Question reference: S6O-04421

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what additional focus areas it has identified, following the publication of the Women’s Health Plan 2021 to 2024: Final Report.

Question reference: S6O-04412

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether seagulls should continue to be protected in law.

Question reference: S6O-04411

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the new deal for agriculture and its agricultural support schemes will aim to support the dairy sector.

Question reference: S6O-04418

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of referrals to audiology services at NHS Grampian are seen within the 18-week target.

Question reference: S6O-04422

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on NHS pay negotiations for 2025-26.

Question reference: S6W-35080

Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether (a) in principle, Scottish port authorities should be publicly owned and (b) the privatisation of some port authorities under previous UK administrations was the correct decision.

Scottish Ministers recognise the crucial role the port sector plays in supporting the Scottish economy. Ports ownership in Scotland is a diverse mix of mainly private, local authority and trust operated. We recognise that a diverse and successful ports sector contributes significantly to the national, regional and local economies in which they operate.

Regardless of the ownership model, ports in Scotland are deemed commercial entities. Therefore, the Scottish Government has no say in the day-to-day running of their business, nor can it dictate business decisions made by a company on how to best to utilise its resources. This remains the responsibility of the statutory harbour authority.

Question reference: S6W-35095

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff are currently employed by Social Security Scotland to identify fraudulent applications.

It is the responsibility of all Social Security Scotland colleagues to identify and prevent fraudulent applications being awarded.

Social Security Scotland has a zero tolerance to fraud and use a combination of system controls, processes and colleague awareness to prevent it. Mandatory fraud prevention and identification training is provided to all colleagues when they join the organisation.

In support of this Social Security Scotland has a dedicated Counter Fraud branch to further support the organisation in mitigating fraud risk.

Social Security Scotland carefully considers the information on counter fraud activity that can be placed into the public domain to ensure that any information released does not undermine the ability of Social Security Scotland to prevent and detect crime and protect the public purse.

Question reference: S6W-35105

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider undertaking a review of any NHS buildings where the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) has been confirmed but where no immediate risks were identified, in order to ensure that this is still the case.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35102 on 5 March 2025:

The Scottish Government’s approach to dealing with RAAC is to follow the guidance set out by Institute of Structural Engineers.

The Scottish Government funded a survey of all NHS facilities suspected of RAAC and it is known where RAAC is present. These phase 1 surveys did not identify any immediate concerns that have not already been acted on.

We are funding a second more detailed phase of surveys of all sites with RAAC to ensure that the right approach is being taken to dealing with it. As a result of this type of detailed survey, necessary remedial works at Knoll Hospital have been identified and are being actioned – in line with the systematic approach to RAAC discovery and investigation across the NHS.

NHS Borders notified the Scottish Government on 27 January 2025 that there was an evolving situation regarding RAAC at Knoll Community Hospital. When a health facility is assessed as requiring maintenance work this does not automatically mean the facility is not safe, and the specialist Structural Engineers who conducted this survey on behalf of NHS Borders, and who are the survey partner for the NHS RAAC programme, have not reported that Knoll Hospital is unsafe.

Phase 2 surveys will be carried out across all NHS properties known to contain RAAC. Where any previously unidentified issues are found during phase 2 surveys, Health Boards are expected to assess, communicate and action with appropriate pace to ensure safety.

For all instances of RAAC identified as requiring an annual reinspection from the Phase 1, Discovery Survey programme, a programme of annual reinspection is currently underway and due to complete in March 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-35094

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many recipients of the Adult Disability Payment have been removed from the claimant count in 2024-25 due to (a) the claimant removing themselves, (b) a review identifying fraud, (c) a review identifying a change in health circumstances, (d) death and (e) the claimant moving out of Scotland.

Official statistics for Adult Disability Payment are routinely published by Social Security Scotland, including information on the number of recipients. Social Security Scotland does not publish statistics on clients leaving the Adult Disability Payment caseload.

Social Security Scotland will continue to review the value of the statistics produced and will take account of users’ needs when developing future publications, in line with Code of Practice for Statistics.

The latest Adult Disability Payment official statistics publication can be found at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications/statistics. The next release of Adult Disability Payment statistics, covering the period to the end of January 2025, is due to be published on 18 March 2025.