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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S7W-02057

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to work with COSLA to ensure that the planned expansion of childcare across Scotland is informed by the lived experience of parent carers of disabled children, including those with complex additional support needs.

Question reference: S7W-02061

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve access to flexible childcare for parent carers of disabled children who work outside standard school and nursery hours.

Question reference: S7W-02055

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether the (a) Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care, (b) Minister for Community Care or (c) Minister for Mental Wellbeing, Public Health, Sport, Alcohol and Drugs, have met with the chief executive of NHS Highland regarding reports that cancer patients are experiencing delays to treatment or are required to travel to another NHS board for treatment.

Question reference: S7W-02058

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to take to ensure that families raising disabled children, including those with complex additional support needs, will fully benefit from the planned expansion of childcare provision across Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-02060

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S7W-02056

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S7W-01541

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to establishing a partnership between it, local government pension scheme funds, the Scottish National Investment Bank, local authorities, COSLA, Development Trusts Association Scotland and Scotland's economic development agencies to (a) deliver a public investment programme, (b) increase community ownership and (c) provide venture and growth capital for businesses in Scotland, with a view to reducing reliance on foreign investment.

To create a world-leading investment ecosystem, Scotland needs a continuum of capital able to meet the needs of companies and projects across all sectors and stages. The Scottish Government recognises the importance of strengthening domestic sources of investment and ownership alongside attracting high-quality inward investment.

The Scottish Government also recognises the value of collaboration between public sector investors, local government, economic development agencies and community organisations (including development trusts) and is continuing to consider how existing partnerships and investment mechanisms can best support these objectives. We continue to engage with the Scottish National Investment Bank, Scotland's economic development agencies, local authorities and the Scottish Local Government Pension Scheme to explore opportunities to increase investment in businesses, infrastructure and communities in Scotland.

Decisions on investment by Local Government Pension Scheme funds remain matters for the administering authorities, which must act in accordance with their fiduciary duties and the relevant statutory framework.

The Government remains committed to developing Scotland's investment ecosystem, including support for community ownership, patient capital and business growth finance.

Question reference: S7W-01587

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what additional funding is available to local authorities to enable them to increase their budget for community police officers.

The Local Government Settlement provided record funding of £15.7 billion for 2026-27, including a quarter of a billion pounds of unrestricted General Revenue Grant and full flexibility on council tax. The vast majority of that funding is provided by means of a block grant and 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 community policing, on the basis of local needs and priorities.

Community policing also remains a priority for Police Scotland, and police officers will continue to be embedded in communities across the country. Scotland’s national police service allows local divisions across the country to access specialist expertise and resources at regional and national level depending on demand. Police Scotland’s executive team and Scottish Police Authority board members engage directly with individual local authority members as part of the COSLA Police Scrutiny Convenors Forum.

The Scottish Government has a long history of working with our partners across the public sector to address any challenges and to ensure that communities feel safe and continue to receive the high quality public services that they expect and deserve.

Question reference: S7W-01588

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what further funding can be devolved to local authorities to enable an increase in the provision of funding towards the community policing fund.

Question reference: S7W-01457

Asked by: Helen McDade, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will request NHS Education for Scotland to publish information on the number of children's and young people's nursing graduates compared with the number of available children's and young people's nursing posts, broken down by NHS board, in each of the last three years.