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-35418

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it first began including assumed council tax revenues in its calculation of average per person funding for local authorities as part of the policy, as stated in the Scottish Public Finance Manual, that each local authority receives at least 85% of the Scottish average revenue funding per head.

Assumed council tax revenues are a key element of the needs-based distribution formula that is discussed and agreed with COSLA on behalf of all 32 local authorities each year.

An Assumed Council Tax of £911 at Band D has been included in the calculation of the 85% funding floor since the 85% Floor was introduced in the 2012-13 Settlement (see Annex I of Local Government Finance Circular 11/2011).

Local Government Finance officials would be happy to meet with you to discuss the assumed council tax calculation in more detail, if required.

Question reference: S6W-35414

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding what proportion of an agricultural officer’s time is dedicated to (a) agricultural wages inspection and (b) rural payments.

Agricultural Officers do not all carry out the same duties and the type of work is not evenly distributed across Scotland. This means a single reply applicable to every Agricultural Officer is not possible.

Resource planning information shows that agricultural wages inspections currently take between 5% to 20% of time for those officers who carry out this duty. Rural payments take between 5% to 60% of an Agricultural Officers time for those officers who carry out this duty.

Question reference: S6W-35402

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Housing (Scotland) Bill, what contact it has had with (a) individual landlords and (b) representative landlord bodies.

Question reference: S6W-35398

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022, what legal consideration it gave when setting the permitted rate of rent increase to 3% for private rented sector tenancies.

Question reference: S6W-35354

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government with regard to Walls, Hillswick and Bressay fire stations in Shetland, which were served with improvement notices by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), what discusssions it has had with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) regarding how this situation arose, and how it will support SFRS in making the necessary changes to meet the deadline of 22 August 2025 set by the HSE.

I discussed the subject of the HSE improvement notice at a meeting with the SFRS Chair and Chief Officer on 6 March. I received and welcome the reassurances provided that SFRS is committed to addressing the concerns raised through the formation of a working group to ensure robust management of actions planned to meet the requirements of the improvement notice. SFRS is engaging with HSE, local councillors, staff and unions on this subject.

The recently passed Scottish Budget for 2025-26 includes £412.2 million for SFRS, £47m of which is capital funding. In terms of capital funding this is a £4 million increase over 2025-26 which will allow SFRS to continue to invest in better facilities, property, fleet and equipment. Operational decisions on the allocation of resources are a matter for the SFRS board and Chief Officer.

Question reference: S6W-35408

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the new iteration of the Women’s Health Plan will include a focus on the gender pain gap and the gender arthritis gap.

Women’s Health is a priority for this government which is why Scotland was the first country in the UK to publish a Women’s Health Plan in August 2021.

Women’s health encompasses a wide range of topics and conditions and the areas of focus for the next phase of the Women’s Health Plan are still to be determined.

Timely access to gynaecology services will be a priority, and early discussions indicate pelvic health and optimising future health as potential areas of focus.

We have also started work to bring together an updated evidence base and gather views from women and girls, and from our stakeholders. Future aims and priorities are being developed in collaboration with them and alongside the most up-to-date evidence base.

Question reference: S6W-35388

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government under what circumstances an application can be made to prescribe a medicine under the Peer Approved Clinical System (PACS) Tier (a) One and (b) Two process.

The Peer Approved Clinical System (PACS) Tier One process is designed to provide an opportunity for clinicians, on a case by case basis for individual patients, to request the use of a licensed ultra-orphan medicine that is not recommended by the Scottish Medicine Consortium (SMC).

The PACS Tier Two process is designed to provide an opportunity for clinicians, on a case by case basis for individual patients, to request the use of a licensed medicine (other than an ultra-orphan medicine) that:

is a medicine for an indication that has been considered and not recommended by the SMC for routine use in NHS Scotland; or
is a medicine accepted for restricted use by the SMC but the intended use is out with the SMC restrictions; or
is a medicine which has been submitted to the SMC and is awaiting/undergoing evaluation.

Question reference: S6W-35406

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the gender pain gap, where chronic pain is reportedly 10% more prevalent in women than in men.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that anyone living with pain is able to access the best possible care and support. Through our commitment to deliver the actions outlined in our Pain Management Service Delivery Framework implementation plan we are seeking to amplify the voices of people who may face inequality on the basis of their sex. We will work collaboratively with other partners to ensure there are appropriate pathways for women with pain and painful conditions.

Question reference: S6W-35389

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) oversight is exercised and (b) data collection is undertaken by ministers regarding the Peer Approved Clinical System (PACS).

The Peer Approved Clinical System (PACS) decisions are clinical decisions taken independently of Ministers and Parliament and remain a matter for Health Boards.

There is a requirement for Health Boards to maintain accurate and up to date information on PACS Tier Two requests and their outcomes. Health Boards are required to capture and share data as retrospective in confidence summary reports with the Scottish Government on a quarterly basis. The data is retained for internal management purposes only and is not formally validated.

Question reference: S6W-35401

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 17 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Rent Adjudication (Temporary Modifications) (Scotland) Regulations 2024, what legal consideration it gave in relation to the determination of rent payable for private residential tenancies expiring on 31 March 2025.