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-43049

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a full financial breakdown of how the £126 million in funding, which it saved in 2026-27 following the removal by the UK Government of the two-child benefit cap, will be spent on child poverty measures.

Eradicating child poverty in Scotland is a national mission and this Government’s top priority. That is why we have put tackling child poverty at the heart of the Scottish Budget for 2026-27, which outlines our plans to reinvest money previously committed to our Two Child Limit Payment.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission have forecast that, of the £141 million which would have been allocated to the Two Child Limit Payment in 2026-27, £14 million will be invested to meet the additional demand on devolved benefits as a result of the Two Child Limit being removed. This includes increased spending on Benefit Cap mitigation and for the Scottish Government’s Five Family Payments.

Of the £126 million made available in 2026-27 after meeting these costs, the Scottish Government will invest:

£50 million in a package of Whole Family support that will wrap around families and help break the cycle of poverty. This will further enhance existing support and will include support with skills and direct assistance via trusted third sector organisations.
£61.5 million in our Tackling Child Poverty Fund to supercharge action on child poverty across the life of the next Parliament, with details of investment set out in our forthcoming Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan.
a further £21 million to meet the cost of increased expenditure on the Scottish Child Payment in 2026-27. This includes uprating the payment to £28.20 per child per week from April.

Through the Scottish Spending Review, we have also committed to developing the systems and legislation needed to increase the value of our Scottish Child Payment to £40 per week for all children under the age of 1 commencing in 2027-28. Investment in this enhanced support will be met from the reallocation of Two Child Limit Payment funding.

These measures, alongside others announced in the Scottish Budget and Spending Review, will help to support the delivery of the Third Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan to be published by the end of March 2026, setting our ambitious path towards the 2030 statutory Child Poverty Targets.

Question reference: S6W-43045

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is currently undertaking with local authorities to ensure that adequate specialist provision is available for under-18s with addiction issues across Scotland.

The Scottish Government published Standards for Young People Accessing Treatment or Support for Drugs or Alcohol on 15 December 2025.

These Standards clearly set out:

What young people aged 25 and under should expect when seeking help for their own alcohol or drug use
Recommendations for delivery: action by local commissioners and local services to support the Standards

Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships (ADPs) were consulted in the development of the Standards and the Standards were endorsed by COSLA.

We are now developing a plan to implement these Standards and will work with our local partners, including ADPs on delivery of the Standards.

Question reference: S6W-43051

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what specialist residential provision is currently provided for under-18s experiencing addiction issues, broken down by local authority area.

There are currently no residential rehabilitation services in Scotland that are designed to support under-18s specifically through recovery from substance use.

Whilst most residential services provide support to adults over 18, there are some instances where this can be extended to 16-17-year-olds. However, these decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis, in conjunction with the chosen provider, referrer, social work and the Care Inspectorate.

As part of developing work in this area, the Scottish Government published Standards for Young People Accessing Treatment or Support for Drugs or Alcohol on 15 December 2025.

These Standards clearly set out:

What young people aged 25 and under should expect when seeking help for their own alcohol or drug use
Recommendations for delivery: action by local commissioners and local services to support the Standards

We are now developing a plan to implement these Standards and will work with our local partners, including local authorities and Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships, on their delivery.

Question reference: S6W-43050

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff have been transferred from its Social Security Directorate to Social Security Scotland, and for what purpose, in each year since 2018.

Transfer of staff from the Social Security Directorate to Social Security Scotland has not been a routine feature of delivering the Social Security Programme.

Since 2018, a total of 17 staff have formally transferred from the Directorate to Social Security Scotland. These transfers took place to support the safe transition of new benefits and services from programme development into operational delivery rather than into existing job roles.

For wider context, as part of Programme closure, we are forecasting that 187 staff will transfer on 27 March 2026 from the Directorate to the Digital, Delivery and Change Division within Social Security Scotland to provide ongoing support to the live running, maintenance, and continuous improvement of our digital ecosystem and benefit products.

2018-2027 Staff transfers from the Social Security Directorate to Social Security Scotland

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

2022-23

2023-24

2024-25

2025-26

2026-27

forecast

Staff transfers

187

forecast

Total inc. forecast figures

204

Question reference: S6W-43048

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the current criteria for GP referral for NHS surgery for varicose veins.

Question reference: S6W-43046

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have undergone surgery for varicose veins under the NHS, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) sex, in each of the last five years.

This information is not held at sub-specialty level. Public Health Scotland uses the national waiting times datamart to track inpatient, day-case and new outpatient waits. While the system identifies the treatment specialty, planned procedure data is often incomplete or unreliable, and the actual procedure performed isn’t recorded and as such PHS cannot report waiting times for specific procedures.

Question reference: S6W-43047

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the average time has been from referral to treatment for patients referred by their GP for surgery for varicose veins, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) sex, in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-42757

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many Pension Age Winter Heating Payments (a) had been and (b) were still to be paid, by 30 November 2025.

Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will support at least 880,000 pensioners with their heating bills this winter.

As of 14 December 2025, more than 568,000 Pension Age Winter Heating Payments had been made.

A release of Official Statistics on Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will be published on 19 May 2026 which will include payments made each month.

Further details are available on Social Security Scotland’s website at: Winter Benefits management information release to 14 December 2025.

Question reference: S6O-05372

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Mid Scotland and Fife who are eligible for the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment have not yet received their payment for winter 2025-26.

Question reference: S6W-42758

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many Pension Age Winter Heating Payments (a) had been and (b) were still to be paid, by 19 December 2025.

Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will support at least 880,000 pensioners with their heating bills this winter.

As of 14 December 2025, more than 568,000 Pension Age Winter Heating Payments had been made.

A release of Official Statistics on Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will be published on 19 May 2026 which will include payments made each month.

Further details are available on Social Security Scotland’s website at: Winter Benefits management information release to 14 December 2025.