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-43234

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what additional funding will be made available to (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) Argyll and Bute Council to fund the pledge to deliver free Learn to Swim sessions, which was set out in the draft Scottish Budget 2026-27.

Question reference: S6W-43207

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its draft Budget 2026-27 budget and level 4 tables that were published in conjunction with its draft Budget, whether the baseline used to calculate the total funds to implement the 2026-27 pay uplift in commissioned social care services was the current real Living Wage amount of £12.60ph.

Question reference: S6W-43206

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its draft Budget 2026-27, what its response is to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities' (COSLA) assessment that, despite calling for an additional £750 million for social care, there is no additional funding for social care after pay uplifts.

Question reference: S6W-43205

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its draft Budget 2026-27, what its response is to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities' (COSLA) assessment that there is a £15 million funding gap in meeting the estimated £175 million cost of delivering the real Living Wage to adult social care workers.

Question reference: S6W-43208

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its draft Budget 2026-27, what any projected funding gap for commissioned social care services will be to meet the obligated uplift to at least the real Living Wage in 2026-27 if this budget is passed.

Question reference: S6W-43085

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Scottish Spending Review 2026, what savings are expected in each year from each (a) territorial and (b) special NHS board to achieve the savings of £247 million in 2026-27, £290 million in 2027-28 and £220 million in 2028-29.

All NHS Boards are required to deliver at least 3% recurring savings against baseline funding each year to support long-term fiscal sustainability. It is for individual Boards to determine how best to deliver these efficiencies without impacting patient care.

The Scottish Government’s Finance Delivery Unit (FDU) carries out three-year financial planning with NHS Boards. Board financial plans are expected in March 2026 and will provide oversight of boards planned savings for 2026-27. Future year Boards’ savings plans will continue to develop and will be agreed on an annual basis.

The FDU provides Boards with the 15 Box Grid to identify priority areas for delivering savings and securing value for money across workforce, innovation, value-based healthcare and productivity.

Question reference: S6W-43041

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the people who were experiencing a delayed discharge at the November 2025 census point, had been delayed for more than four weeks.

Public Health Scotland publishes monthly Official Statistics on Delayed Discharge in NHS Scotland. The number of people delayed for more than four weeks at each monthly census point can be found in the detailed data tables for Standard delays and Code 9 (complex) delays.

Please note, the number of people delayed for Standard or Code 9 reasons at monthly census point reflects the main reason at the census point, and reasons for delay may change during a delay episode. The number of people delayed for four weeks or more for Standard reasons at monthly census point may therefore include some people who were delayed for complex (code 9) reasons during the same delay episode.

https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/delayed-discharges-in-nhsscotland-monthly/delayed-discharges-in-nhs-scotland-monthly-figures-for-november-2025

https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/media/36782/2026-01-13_delayed_discharges_standard_delays_tables_to_november_2025.xlsx

https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/media/36781/2026-01-13_delayed_discharges_code9_delays_tables_to_november_2025.xlsx

Question reference: S6W-42975

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the study budget for doctors undertaking postgraduate training or professional development must be used to pay for mandatory training.

In Scotland, £600 is the notional study leave allocation per resident doctor in training. This allocation is a guide for resident doctors and Training Programme Directors (TPDs) rather than a spending requirement.

Study leave funding is aligned to curricular requirements and specialty competence development, not general employment-related mandatory training. Resident doctors are required to achieve competencies as set out within the relevant specialty curriculum. There is no defined list of “mandatory training” within the study leave policy.

Study leave budgets are not utilised for Once for Scotland mandatory training or for training required by employing Boards as part of local employment obligations.

Question reference: S6W-42977

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will call on the Scottish Health Technologies Group to reassess the case for implementation of genomic testing for breast cancer patients, specifically for those patients with lymph node-positive disease, to help ensure the right treatments are given to the right patients and to potentially save money and free up chemotherapy capacity within the Scottish healthcare system.

The Scottish Cancer Network (SCN) is responsible for the development and review of the Clinical Management Pathway (CMP) for Breast Cancer. This provides clinical consensus to guide decision making consistently across Scotland on optimal treatment options at the various points in a patient’s pathway to support shared decision-making.

CMPs are developed through a process of collaboration and consensus, building on existing Regional Clinical Management Guidelines, reviewing and comparing current practice, and comparing existing documents and protocols in place. Evidence reviews are undertaken, with input from Health Improvement Scotland (HIS) where appropriate.

It would be for the SCN to regularly review this CMP against any updates including new evidence within the scientific literature and consider referral to the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG). The SHTG also have criteria in place to judge whether new evidence is sufficient to revise its existing recommendations.

Question reference: S6W-42978

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to align Scotland's access to innovative genomic breast cancer diagnostics with the rest of the UK and other northern European countries, which already routinely use genomic tests to more accurately target treatment for postmenopausal lymph node-positive breast cancer patients, with a view to ensuring that patients in Scotland benefit from the same advances in evidence-based treatments and innovations.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the diagnosis and targeted treatment of breast cancer through our continued investment in genomics.

We continue to work with NHS National Service Division (NSD), as the national commissioners of genomic testing in Scotland, and stakeholders across Scotland to transform the laboratory service and ensure it can support the expansion of genomic testing needed in Scotland for patients with all forms of cancer.

This is part of our long-term approach to deliver bold and ambitious action to reform and renew our health and care systems in Scotland.