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-42386

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential for expanding marine jobs in Inverclyde in (a) shipbuilding, (b) vessel repair, (c) freight and (d) maritime tourism.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting a strong maritime sector, including Inchgreen Marine Park, which has been funded through the Glasgow City Region Deal. We are actively engaging with a range of businesses interested in the redevelopment of Inchgreen Dry Dock in Inverclyde, a project further supported by recently announced UK Government funding.

Our engagement spans the wider maritime and shipbuilding sector, including collaboration with the National Shipbuilding Office and the Scottish Maritime Cluster. This work covers key areas of the maritime economy such as shipbuilding, freight facilities, maritime tourism, and vessel repair.

Several maritime companies are currently in discussions to expand shipbuilding and repair facilities in the region, creating significant job opportunities. We are aware of early-stage conversations between interested parties that could lead to further employment growth and economic benefits.

Question reference: S6W-42380

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 15 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the current average waiting time is for audiology services in Inverclyde, and what proportion of patients are seen within target times.

Question reference: S6W-42379

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Inverclyde are currently on waiting lists to access NHS hospital dentistry services.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes statistics on the number of waits for patients on waiting lists for planned care in the Stage of Treatment (SoT) Waiting Times publication. Patients may appear more than once if they are waiting for multiple appointments or admissions, so the statistics shown do not reflect the actual number of individuals involved. Further information about SoT Waiting Times can be found on the PHS website.

Table 1 presents the number of ongoing waits at 31 October 2025. The figures reflect waits for residents within the Inverclyde council area awaiting a new outpatient appointment or an inpatient/day case admission in dentistry-related specialties at any hospital in Scotland.

More detailed information on the treatment or procedure(s) that is planned or undertaken for a patient will be held locally by NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde or the health board of treatment responsible for the patient’s wait.

Table 1: Number of ongoing waits for a new outpatient appointment or inpatient or day case admission at 31 October 2025, Inverclyde council area

Patient Type	Specialty	Number of Waits
New Outpatient	Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery	45
	Oral Medicine	59
	Oral Surgery	149
	Orthodontics	21
	Paediatric Dentistry	19
	Restorative Dentistry	63
Inpatient/Day case	Community Dental Practice	51
	Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery	12
	Oral Surgery	18
	Paediatric Dentistry	10

Source: PHS Waiting Times Datamart (11 November 2025 snapshot)

Question reference: S6W-42377

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average ambulance response time is in Inverclyde, and how this compares with the national average.

Question reference: S6W-42526

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people who were patients at Inverclyde Royal Hospital have been subject to delayed discharge despite being deemed clinically fit, in each of the last 12 months.

Question reference: S6W-42525

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Inverclyde have waited at least one hour for an ambulance in the most recent year for which data is available.

Question reference: S6W-42528

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what support it will provide to support local supply chain jobs linked to marine construction in Inverclyde.

Question reference: S6W-42381

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 11 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce delayed discharges in Inverclyde caused by pressures in the social care sector.

The 2025-26 Budget has allocated nearly £2.2 billion for social care and integration, representing an increase of over £1.2 billion since 2021-22. This goes almost £350 million beyond the Scottish Government’s original commitment to increase social care funding by 25% (£840 million) over the lifetime of the Parliament.

We have a clear plan to reduce delayed discharge and are investing more than £220 million to tackle waiting list backlogs, improve capacity and remove blockages that are keeping some patients in hospital longer than they need to be. This includes an initial allocation of over £20m to support Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS’s whole system plan to improve patient flow.

Alongside the record investment committed, we are also working with local system leaders to support their health and social care improvement reforms – rebalancing care towards community, rehabilitation and prevention based services like Hospital at Home that help improve patient outcomes and prevent further hospital care.

Question reference: S6W-42224

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has made available for workers to retrain and upskill in AI and information technology at any stage in their career.

The Scottish Government is committed to enabling individuals/workers at all stages of their careers to retrain and enhance their capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI) and information technology. This commitment is delivered through a comprehensive suite of interventions, including funding administered by Skills Development Scotland, strategic investment in colleges and universities, the expansion of digital apprenticeships, and targeted support for data and AI skills development through initiatives such as The Data Lab.

As set out in the Programme for Government 2025-26, the Scottish Government will establish AI Scotland — a national transformation programme underpinned by collaboration across businesses, academia, government, and public bodies. A central component of this programme is the development of a national AI adoption framework for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This will focus on building delivery capacity, assessing and addressing AI-related skills requirements, and strengthening Scotland’s AI talent pipeline to facilitate workforce reskilling and adaptation as AI technologies reshape employment and the wider economy.

Question reference: S6W-42382

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding access to mental health treatment services in Inverclyde, how many people (a) are currently waiting more than 18 weeks and (b) have waited more than 18 weeks in the last five years.

This information is not held centrally. Statistics on the number of people waiting for CAMHS and Psychological Therapies are available from Public Health Scotland as they have associated Standards that 90% of patients should start treatment within 18 weeks. These are not published at HSCP level but data at Health Board level are published. These can be found at the following links:

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times - Quarter ending September 2025 - Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

Psychological therapies waiting times - Quarter ending September 2025 - Psychological therapies waiting times - Publications - Public Health Scotland.