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

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 48968 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-34832

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many stroke patients have required mechanical thrombectomy in each of the last five years, and what proportion of these procedures took place outside daytime hours.

Question reference: S6W-35067

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the reported decision by the health secretary not to act in response to a letter warning about potential non-compliance by NHS Fife with its legal obligations is consistent with the Scottish Government’s duty to uphold the Equality Act 2010.

Question reference: S6W-35007

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Conflict Avoidance Process will be included in the construction contract for the replacement prison for HMP Barlinnie.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The contract for HMP Glasgow was awarded under a two-stage design and build contract using the “Scottish Building Contracts Committee (SBCC) Design and Build Contract for use in Scotland 2016 Edition” contract form.

Whilst this contract form does not include a formal Conflict Avoidance Process, it is designed to avoid unnecessary contractual disputes arising during contract delivery.

The standard clauses in the SBCC conditions contract already recognise that mediation should be utilised before resorting to Adjudication in the event of a dispute or disagreement arising. SPS has however also included a specific amendment which provides an explicit undertaking by directors or senior representatives of the parties to the contract to resolve any contractual differences within 5 business days of the matter arising before mediation is considered.

Question reference: S6W-35008

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it can provide that any Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) metro scheme, including a proposed rail link with Glasgow Airport, will have no detrimental impact on current rail services in the Greenock and Inverclyde constituency.

The Case for Investment for Clyde Metro is being led by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), supported by Glasgow City Council leading various workstreams alongside SPT, with Transport Scotland providing a project assurance role.

Clyde Metro aims to offer relief for the heavy rail network, freeing rail capacity for longer distance journeys, thus the Clyde Metro project team has been engaging with ScotRail and Network Rail to inform the on-going Case for Investment stage. I understand that the assessment of network options will consider opportunities to improve the integration of rail services in the Greenock and Inverclyde constituency with the wider Clyde Metro network.

The Case for Investment is a key stage of the development process, informing decisions around network selection, phasing and implementation. It is well underway and is currently anticipated to be complete by mid-2027.

Further details on the Case for Investment stage can be obtained by contacting SPT directly at [email protected].

Question reference: S6W-35010

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted an analysis of any potential efficiency savings in the judicial system from the establishment of a dedicated environmental court, and, if not, whether it has any plans to do so.

The Scottish Government made a written statement to Parliament on 19 November 2024 on the effectiveness of environmental governance arrangements, following an earlier report and consultation. As stated in those documents, the Scottish Government does not see any strong argument for a change in the balance of parliamentary, administrative and judicial roles in decision making on environmental matters, or for the creation of a specialist court. Therefore, there are no plans to conduct any additional analysis of any potential efficiency savings in the judicial system from the creation of an environment court.

Question reference: S6W-35009

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to mesh survivors in Scotland, when it last discussed the findings of The Hughes Report with the UK Government, and what information it has on when it anticipates that the UK Government will publish its response to the report, in light of it being a year since its publication.

The UK Government has stated its commitment to providing an update as soon as possible, and my officials continue to engage regularly with their UK Government counterparts regarding their plans. Additionally, I recently wrote to the UK Government to request a meeting to gain further insight into the options they are considering in relation to the report.

The Scottish Government remains dedicated to keeping the Scottish Parliament informed of any significant developments.

We also reaffirm our previous apology to all those who have been directly affected by pelvic mesh and sodium valproate, as well as to their caregivers.

Question reference: S6W-35026

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when Transport Scotland plans to publish the next version of its Disability and Transport report, which was last published in 2023, and whether it will commit to publishing updated versions of the publication each year, taking account of the annual data made available through the Scottish Household Survey and other transport statistics.

The next edition of the Disability and Transport publication will be published by Transport Scotland later in March this year.

It is intended that Transport Scotland will update the report on an annual basis in future. However, this is dependent on the availability of data supporting meaningful annual analysis.

Decisions on publication frequency will continue to be made in consultation with the Disability and Transport Monitoring and Evaluation Group: a steering group for Transport Scotland’s work in this area, which includes representatives from the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS), Disability Equality Scotland, and Transport Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-34972

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-33261 by Gillian Martin on 12 February 2025, whether it will provide the information requested regarding what (a) discussions and (b) meetings it has had with (i) expert organisations and (ii) the UK Government regarding the potential consequences for the UK’s future gas supply if the Jackdaw gas field was not to be developed for any reason, and whether it will publish the minutes of any such meetings, and, if no such discussions or meetings have taken place, whether it will confirm this.

Question reference: S6W-34974

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided to tackle marine litter in each of the last five years, and what funding is planned in the draft Budget 2025-26.

Since 2021 the Scottish Government has made funding available to projects relevant to the issue of marine litter through Marine Fund Scotland Marine and fisheries grants - gov.scot Information on the funding provided each year for such projects is publicly available via Marine Fund Scotland: grants awarded - gov.scot.

Funding to be available in the 2025-26 financial year through the fund has not yet been announced.

Question reference: S6W-34895

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 1 December 2017, 800 more GPs for Scotland, and the commitment set out in it that it would "aim to increase the number of GPs in Scotland by at least 800 over the next decade", how many GPs each NHS board will receive as a result of this.