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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 185 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S7W-01544

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Alison Thewliss on 21 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that funding for hospices reaches the organisations delivering hospice care.

The Scottish Budget for 2026-27 includes £9.4 million of investment to support independent hospices to provide pay parity with NHS levels for staff who deliver essential palliative care services.

We are working with the Scottish Hospice Leadership Group (SHLG) to gather relevant information from hospices to help ensure our governance and approval procedures are correctly followed prior to any allocation of funding being agreed.

This funding will be provided to hospices via allocations to NHS boards, with the clear expectation set that this funding should be immediately paid onward to the hospices.

We will continue to engage with SHLG and NHS boards to ensure that all independent hospices receive the funding as intended.

Question reference: S7W-01288

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 21 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, ahead of summer 2026, how it is monitoring the effectiveness of the wildfire prevention by-laws of the Cairngorm National Park Authority, and how it will share with other bodies any best practice identified.

In April 2026, new wildfire prevention byelaws came into force in the Cairngorms National Park to help address the increasing risk of wildfires.

The Scottish Government meets regularly with the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) to discuss the implementation of the byelaws and the arrangements in place to monitor their effectiveness.

One of the principal ways in which the CNPA is assessing the effectiveness of the byelaws is through monitoring its communications and public awareness campaign, aimed at increasing awareness of wildfire risk and preventing fires from being lit in the first place.

The campaign includes a range of activities across digital channels, social media, printed materials, press coverage, and roadside and site-based signage. The use of digital channels allows the CNPA to monitor reach and engagement in real time and to target specific audiences and locations where appropriate.

To date, the campaign has reached approximately 1.8 million people, indicating strong public engagement with the messaging.

The CNPA is also undertaking pre- and post-byelaw surveys involving 400 visitors and 100 residents to assess awareness of the campaign and the extent to which it has influenced behaviour.

The CNPA also monitors the effectiveness of the byelaws through data collected by Park Authority rangers and partner ranger services on actual fire activity encountered within the National Park, including the number of live fires found.

As this data has been collected over several years, it can be used to assess trends and any changes following the introduction of the byelaws. The CNPA is reviewing this alongside Procurator Fiscal referral data to identify emerging trends.

As the byelaws were only recently introduced, it is too early to draw firm conclusions from ranger data. However, the CNPA is already sharing learning from its communications and public awareness activities through national networks, including the National Visitor Management Communications Group and the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Communications Group.

The CNPA is also working closely with Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority, whose review of camping byelaws coincides with the implementation of the Cairngorms wildfire prevention byelaws, providing valuable opportunities to share experience and learning.

Question reference: S7W-01286

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Alison Thewliss on 21 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has an agreed definition of relational care, if so, (a) whether it will set this out and (b) how it will promote and support its approach to the provision of such care.

Relational care, or relational continuity aims to ensure the same healthcare professional provides treatment and care for a person over time, allowing development of trust and understanding.

Relational continuity is discussed in more detail in the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland's 2024-25 Annual Report Realistic Medicine: Critical Connections.

The Chief Medical Officer has again promoted the need for greater relational continuity of care in his latest annual report Our Path Ahead.

We are exploring options to increase the focus on relational continuity of care as part of this year's Frailty Directed Enhanced Service in general practice.

Our record investment package of £310 million over 3 years to expand the general practice workforce is supported by guidance which recognises the importance of relational continuity of care and advises practices to consider how best to assure GP capacity in ways that actively provide relational continuity of care for patients where this is in their interests.

Question reference: S7W-01822

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale is for its planned review of the factoring system.

Question reference: S7W-01551

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 20 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how the spatial implications of its objective to deploy 20GW of onshore wind by 2030 were assessed, and what the environmental, social, and financial impacts on people, habitats, wildlife and infrastructure are.

The 20GW ambition was set out in the Onshore Wind Policy Statement in 2022. The Policy Statement was informed through extensive consultation with interested parties. The 20GW ambition is intended as a statement of Scotland’s potential rather than an allocation or mapping of specific sites.

All development proposals are individually assessed against our Fourth National Planning Framework which ensures that the impacts of proposals, including on communities and the natural environment are important considerations in the decision making process. All applications are subject to site specific assessments.

Question reference: S7W-01285

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 20 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has an agreed definition of collective advocacy and, if so, whether it will set this out.

Question reference: S7W-01111

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 13 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how work is progressing to identify potential amendments to the Healthcare Improvement Scotland (Requirements as to Independent Health Care Services) Regulations 2011 (the 2011 regulations) that would support businesses providing non-surgical procedures listed in the Non-surgical Procedures and Functions of Medical Reviewers (Scotland) Act 2026.

As set out during the passage of the Non-surgical Procedures and Functions of Medical Reviewers (Scotland) Act 2026, the Scottish Government is considering amendments to the Healthcare Improvement Scotland (Requirements as to Independent Health Care Services) Regulations 2011. Assessment of the options and engagement with affected businesses and Healthcare improvement Scotland will begin over the coming months.

Any amendments to the Regulations will be made in advance of the offences in the Non-Surgical Procedures and Functions of Medical Reviewers (Scotland) Act coming into force. We intend that those offences come into force on 6 September 2027.

Question reference: S7W-01287

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering how to (a) better promote and (b) ensure social responsibility in public contracts in care provision.

The Sustainable Procurement Duty of the Procurement Reform Scotland Act 2014 places a requirement on public bodies to consider how their procurements can be used to improve economic, social and environmental well-being, and reduce inequality.

Under the 2014 Act, Public Bodies with contractual expenditure over £5 million per annum, must publish a Procurement Strategy and annually report on the delivery of their strategy. Their strategy must include information on how they intend to ensure their regulated procurements will be carried out in compliance with the sustainable procurement duty. They are then required to report on this and provide a summary of any community benefits that were delivered that year through their procurement activities, within their public annual procurement reports.

The most recent Scottish Ministers' Annual Report on Procurement Activity in Scotland (2023-24) demonstrates that public procurement is delivering a wide range of economic, social and environmental benefits to communities across Scotland.

We promote socially responsible public procurement through guidance, tools, learning opportunities, and engagement with procurement professionals. For example through the use of the national Sustainable Procurement Tools, associated guidance and training and Fair Work First in procurement e-learning.

The Care Reform (Scotland) Act 2025 places a duty on Scottish Ministers to produce statutory guidance on ethical commissioning, supporting consistency of approach across Scotland. Before issuing any guidance Ministers must consult with a broad range of organisations, including local authorities, health boards, integration joint boards, and others. Once published this guidance will also support our efforts to promote social responsibility in public care contracts.

Question reference: S7W-01360

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much will be allocated to the Scottish Land Fund for 2027-28.

Question reference: S7W-01359

Asked by: Emma Roddick, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its current position is on supporting the Scottish Land Fund to enhance opportunities for community right to buy and ownership, in light of previous Scottish National Party manifesto commitments in this area.