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-40914

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the projected cost is of the Musselburgh Flood Defence Scheme.

Local authorities are responsible for developing and delivering flood protection schemes, and the Scottish Government provides funding to support them to do so.

Local authorities provide Scottish Government with annual updates to projected spend profiles for flood protection schemes. The most recent update on the estimated cost of the Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme was provided to Scottish Government by East Lothian Council was £106 million and provided in October 2024.

Question reference: S6W-40913

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been committed to flood defence schemes in each year since 1999.

Since 2008, the Scottish Government has funded local authorities through the general capital grant to invest in flood protection and resilience measures. That funding is outlined in the following table.

The majority of funding available to councils is provided by means of a block grant from the Scottish Government. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on flooding protection, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Financial Year	Funding Amount (M)
2007-08	42
2008-09	42
2009-10	42
2010-11	42
2011-12	42
2012-13	42
2013-14	42
2014-15	42
2015-16	42
2016-17	36
2017-18	47
2018-19	42
2019-20	42
2020-21	42
2021-22	52
2022-23	63
2023-24	61
2024-25	88*
2025-26	121*

*In 2024-25 and 2025-26 Scottish Government worked with COSLA to reprioritise some existing spend and emerging underspends, to allow that funding to be used to improve the pay offer for local government in 2024-25 and 2025-26. This included some funding initially allocated for flood protection that could not have been used by local authorities for flood protection in those years due to slippage and unforeseen complexities on several complex flood protection projects. The funding was and will be returned in full to local government for flood protection in the following financial year.

Question reference: S6W-40912

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 21 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many prescriptions have been issued by weekend pharmacy services in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

It is not possible to determine the number of prescription items dispensed by community pharmacies at weekends, since 1999, using existing data.

The annual Dispenser Payments and Prescription Cost Analysis publication, managed by Public Health Scotland, provides information on the total number and cost of NHS prescriptions items dispensed in the community in Scotland. The most recent publication shows that 117 million items were dispensed in primary care settings for the financial year 2024-25. The most recent publication can be found online at Dispenser Payments and Prescription Cost Analysis - Prescribing data - System monitoring, accountability and quality of care - Healthcare system - Public Health Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-40908

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 21 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the rate of support in foster carers allowances is in each local authority area.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Local authorities are responsible for paying foster carers’ allowances and may choose to pay above the Scottish Recommended Allowance (SRA).

Local authorities are expected to publish their allowances rates on their websites. As a minimum, from April 2025 the SRA rates are:

0 to 4 year-olds: £171.17

5 to 10 year-olds: £199.14

11 to 15 year-olds: £199.14

16-years-old and over: £272.97

Question reference: S6W-41091

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is measuring the impact of opt-out testing in A&E departments on the prevalence of (a) blood borne viruses and (b) the hepatitis C virus, and the subsequent uptake of treatment.

Question reference: S6W-41092

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what targeted approaches it is using to identify undiagnosed people living with the hepatitis C virus.

Question reference: S6W-41093

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its paper, Sexual health and blood borne virus action plan: 2023 to 2026, to achieve "the elimination of HCV [the hepatitis C virus] as a public health concern in Scotland by the end of the 2024/25 financial year", what progress was made toward meeting that target, and, in light of the date having passed, what revised target date it has set.

Question reference: S6W-40915

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many modern language teachers, broken down by language taught, each local authority has employed in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S6W-40909

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been delivered in foster carers allowances in each local authority area since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-40910

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve access to pharmacies at weekends.