- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 17 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many foreign direct investment (FDI) projects have been undertaken in Scotland in the last 10 years, broken down by (a) new investment projects, (b) expansion investment projects, (c) retention investment projects, (d) mergers and acquisitions projects and (e) joint ventures.
Answer
Responsibility for measuring Scotland’s inward investment performance, which includes planned jobs and supply chain impacts for involved projects, rests with Scottish Enterprise. The independent EY Attractiveness Survey and the UK Government’s Department for Business and Trade’s (DBT) annual inward investment results provide an additional performance indicator for inward investment. Collectively, the results provide robust estimates of Scotland’s inward investment activity and performance.
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) is not a classification that the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise nor EY use when measuring the performance of inward investment projects into Scotland.
Scotland has a strong record in attracting foreign direct investment and our Inward Investment Plan (IIP) plays a central role in supporting our ambitions to be a destination of choice for global inward investors. Information on how Scotland has performed in terms of attracting inward investment projects is available via the EY attractiveness survey (the latest results can be found here: ey-uk-attractiveness-survey-scotland-06-2025.pdf) and the Department for Business and Trade Inward Investment Results (the latest results can be found here: DBT inward investment results 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK). Scottish Enterprise results will be published in the Autumn.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for patients who have been prescribed naloxegol and are affected by the reported widespread shortages of the drug.
Answer
The Scottish Government issued a Medicine Supply Alert Notice (MSAN) relating to supply disruption of the medicine naloxegol on 25 April 2024. The anticipated resupply date for the medicine has since been moved to 15 August 2025 and the medicine is unavailable throughout the UK. The Scottish Government appreciates the frustration and concern that this continued shortage will be having on patients prescribed this medication and while medicines supply continues to be reserved matter for the UK Government, we continue to press for a lasting solution in our engagement with the UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W- 32914 and S6W- 32915 by Jenni Minto on 16 January 2025, and following the issuing of a Medicines Supply Alert Notice on 25 April 2024, whether it will provide an update on what progress has been made with securing adequate supplies of naloxegol.
Answer
The supply of medicines and the associated legislation are a reserved matter for the UK Government and the Scottish Government continues to engage with them on all medicine supply issues. The UK Department of Health and Social Care have stated that while the medication is currently unavailable, the anticipated resupply date is mid-august 2025. An alternative medication named Naldemedine (Rizmoic) remains available in 200 microgram tablets and can support increased demand. Those affected by the shortage are encouraged to discuss alternative treatments with their clinical team.
Scottish Government officials continue to monitor the situation for any further developments and are maintaining a close dialogue with all Health Boards to help manage this medicine supply disruption.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 July 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 17 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what financial assessments have been undertaken regarding the proposed merger of NHS Education in Scotland and NHS National Services Scotland, as set out in the Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework.
Answer
Consultation on bringing NHS Education in Scotland and NHS National Services Scotland together will take place over 2025 and work is underway to establish the full range of functions of the new organisation. Financial assessment will be part of this. The aim throughout will be to optimise the delivery of national services, creating opportunities for further improvement, innovation and efficiency across NHS Scotland.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 July 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 17 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what preliminary scoping exercises have been undertaken regarding the proposed merger of NHS Education in Scotland and NHS National Services Scotland, as set out in the Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework.
Answer
Consultation on bringing NHS Education in Scotland and NHS National Services Scotland together will take place over 2025 and work is underway to establish the full range of functions of the new organisation.
The Scottish Government recognise that to meet the ambition of service renewal and address the health and care needs of our population we urgently need to work differently. We are therefore taking the opportunity to bring key enablers of national service delivery together to create opportunities for further improvement, innovation and efficiency across NHS Scotland.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what progress Social Security Scotland has made in making sure that frontline staff are trained in the particular needs of the veteran community, to ensure that veterans are not subjected to any unnecessary misunderstanding or distress when accessing financial support.
Answer
Social Security Scotland recognises and values a wide range of diverse groups beyond the nine protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010, including a strong commitment to the armed forces community – veterans and their families.
The organisation remains committed to reviewing and enhancing how it supports people accessing benefits. In particular, how to strengthen colleagues’ understanding of veterans, particularly in light of the report and recommendations published by the Scottish Veterans Commissioner’s June 2025 report on veterans’ experiences with the benefits system.
To promote internal awareness and understanding, Social Security Scotland has delivered sessions highlighting the lived experiences of the armed forces community featuring contributions from veterans now employed within the organisation.
In 2024, the organisation worked closely with Scottish Government colleagues to recruit veterans as Client Advisers on 12-month fixed-term contracts, with the option to extend. Hiring managers received training to help support these new colleagues, recognising the challenges they may have faced.
While there is no specific training tailored exclusively for individual groups like veterans, all colleagues involved in assessing applications receive comprehensive training. This training is developed in consultation with people with lived experience of health conditions and disabilities and is informed by the Scottish Government’s benefit take-up strategy and focuses on understanding each person’s unique circumstances.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether Social Security Scotland (SSS) will follow the example of Scotland's local authorities and NHS boards by creating a network of armed forces and veterans champions within SSS to (a) help raise awareness of issues faced by the armed forces community, veterans and their families and (b) protect veterans' rights when accessing services.
Answer
Social Security Scotland is committed to supporting the Armed Forces Community, including veterans and their families.
Following publication of the Scottish Veterans Commissioner’s report and recommendations on veterans’ experiences in accessing benefits in June 2025, the organisation is actively exploring ways to strengthen its support for veterans and service members.
Senior Social Security Scotland officials have met with the Minister for Veterans and held constructive discussions with key organisations, including BLESMA and the Scottish Veterans Commissioner, which aim to deepen understanding and gather insights and information on supporting veterans.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Scotland in each of the last 10 years have been mergers and acquisitions of Scottish-headquartered businesses.
Answer
The Scottish Government uses a variety of sources to measure Scotland’s inward investment performance, including data from Scottish Enterprise and independent analysis published annually in the EY UK Attractiveness Survey for Scotland. Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) is not a classification that the Scottish Government or Scottish Enterprise use when measuring the performance of inward investment projects into Scotland. Scottish Enterprise classifies projects as new, expansion and safeguarding projects and as such, does not collect information on M&A activity. The UK Government’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) provides estimates for M&A activity in Scotland based on their own internal definitions, classifications and methodology.
Scotland continues to attract new high quality investment projects, according to the latest EY survey published in June 2025. Scotland has maintained its position as the top performing region or nation of the UK for foreign direct investment (FDI) projects outside of London, for a record tenth year and is the sixth best performing region in Europe.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether there is any statutory impediment to Glasgow City Council or any of its network of wholly and partly owned arm's-length external organisations (ALEOs) becoming a registered social landlord.
Answer
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2010 sets out the legislative criteria for becoming a Registered Social Landlord (RSL) and the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) sets regulatory criteria under section 25 of the 2010 Act. A prospective RSL must meet both sets of criteria to be eligible for registration. The SHR have set out their registration criteria and constitutional requirements for social landlords in their Regulatory Framework. They will assess each application to determine whether the applicant body will be a viable organisation that can meet the demands of managing a social landlord’s business and providing services to tenants.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 14 July 2025
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 11 August 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what the expected timeline is for the conclusion of NatureScot's review of the Scotland's Great Trails brand and purpose.
Answer
Answer expected on 11 August 2025
