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: S7W-03991

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether its review of maternity services will include the downgraded units in Elgin, Galloway and Caithness, including the potential for them to be fully reopened.

Question reference: S7W-04007

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it will engage with the COP31 climate summit.

Question reference: S7W-03998

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the correspondence from the Cabinet Sectary for Climate Action to the Climate Action Committee on 30 July 2026, what plans it has to engage with stakeholders across the housing, design and construction sectors regarding the commencement of the provision to install swift bricks in the Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026.

Question reference: S7W-03947

Asked by: Laura Mitchell, MSP for Moray, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 October 2026
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Angela Constance on 5 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Cabinet Secretary's announcement in June 2026 that an Independent Review of Maternity Services would commence in September 2026, whether it will provide an update, including when the review will commence, when its findings and recommendations are expected to be published, and what steps it plans to take thereafter.

I am pleased to confirm the Independent Review of Maternity Services is now underway. Professor Christine McCourt has published the review methodology on a dedicated website and has begun establishing two advisory groups who will provide support to her during the review.

The review will take nine months to complete. Once it concludes, Professor McCourt will submit her report and recommendations to Scottish Ministers one month later, in July 2027. Once the report is received, I will give careful consideration to Professor McCourt’s findings and recommendations and set out my response. I intend to update Parliament as soon as possible given the significant interest in improving maternity services across the Chamber.

This review represents an important opportunity to ensure that women, babies and families receive the highest quality maternity care possible.

This review is system-wide, and I will work with partners across the maternity system to take forward the changes identified.

In the meantime, Healthcare Improvement Scotland continue to conduct their unannounced inspections of all 18 of Scotland’s acute maternity units. I am clear that learnings from these inspections must inform ongoing improvement across our NHS and I will of course continue to engage with Members directly on any specific local issues identified.

Question reference: S7W-03652

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it requires recipients of public funding and public contracts in the agricultural sector to uphold Fair Work principles in all agricultural workplaces.

Since July 2023 all recipients of discretionary public sector grants have been required to demonstrate their commitment to our Fair Work First criteria, including mandatory real Living Wage and effective worker voice conditions. While public bodies are responsible for their own procurement decisions, Statutory Guidance asks contracting authorities to consider, before undertaking a procurement exercise, whether it is relevant and proportionate to include requirements for Fair Work First criteria.

In this context, the recipients of grants for the following agriculture-related funds awarded on or after 1 April 2024 have been required to meet this conditionality:

Agriculture Environment Climate Scheme (AECS)

Forestry Grant Scheme (FGS)

Food and Drink Processing Scheme Scotland (FDPSS)

Crofting Agricultural Grants Scheme (CAGS)

Croft House Grant

Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS)

Question reference: S7W-03531

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of all the meetings that took place between Professor Caroline Hiscox and Professor Jann Gardner and (a) the First Minister and/or (b) the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care since December 2024, including what items were discussed and whether minutes were taken.

The Scottish Government is currently processing a request for this information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. The response will set out any information held that can be disclosed, subject to the provisions and exemptions contained within the Act. To ensure consistency and compliance with statutory obligations, it would not be appropriate to provide a detailed response to this Parliamentary Question in advance of the FOI process being completed.

Question reference: S7W-03644

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the introduction of Christina's Card, which aims to support women's health by encouraging breast awareness, providing information on menopause and promoting participation in screening programmes, whether it will consider using the card, or similar public awareness materials, to provide information on the symptoms of ovarian cancer and other gynaecological cancers, and to use this as an opportunity to make clear that cervical screening does not detect ovarian cancer.

Christina’s Card will direct people to a website landing page where women will find a range of information about women’s health topics. This will provide a valuable opportunity to highlight that cervical screening does not detect ovarian cancers, as well as information on other gynaecological cancers.

In the interim, information available on NHS Inform and our Get Checked Early website explicitly advises that cervical screening does not detect ovarian cancer. The cervical screening information leaflets issued to women alongside their screening invitation are currently under review. It is intended that these materials will be updated to clearly state that cervical screening cannot detect other gynaecological cancers, including ovarian, womb, vulval and vaginal cancers.

In addition, work is ongoing to reinforce this message through a range of public communications to ensure women have a clear understanding of the purpose and limitations of cervical screening.

Separately, our ‘Be the Early Bird’ marketing campaign aims to reduce fear of cancer and empower those with possible symptoms to act early. The 2025-26 evaluation found that 71% of campaign recognisers reported taking action as a result of the campaign, while 61% of the target audience said they would be very likely to contact their GP practice if they experienced suspected cancer symptoms.

Question reference: S7W-03665

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 5 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with ScotRail regarding any review of train fares, in light of the potential reduced demand as a result of the proposed rollout of the £2 bus fare cap.

Transport Scotland officials, Scottish Rail Holdings and ScotRail meet regularly to discuss a range of matters, including rail fares and passenger demand.

The Scottish Government has already taken significant action to support affordable rail travel, including the permanent removal of ScotRail peak fares last year and fares freeze this year. These measures make rail travel simpler, more accessible and better value for passengers across Scotland.

We will continue to work closely with ScotRail to monitor travel demand as plans for a national £2 bus fare cap develops to ensure rail remains an accessible, sustainable and value-for-money transport option for people across Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-03667

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 5 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the Islands Business Resilience Fund were declined in (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S7W-03690

Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
Date lodged: Friday, 25 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 5 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it supports calls by the Owain's Law campaign to require the freezing and preservation of brain tumour tissue removed during surgery to enable the development of personalised vaccines.

The Scottish Government recognises the potential value of personalised cancer vaccine development and the challenges that this raises for our healthcare system.

As part of the Genomics in Scotland strategy, we are working to improve the tissue sample pathway necessary to support enhanced genomic testing for patients with brain cancer.

Further work is needed, in collaboration with NHS partners, to look at the wider capability and capacity needed to support the long-term storage of fresh-frozen tumour tissue samples suitable for personalised vaccine development.