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-00888

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the procurement of AI in stroke diagnosis will be finalised, and what the timetable is for delivery.

Question reference: S7W-00710

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking, following the withdrawal of hydrocortisone sodium phosphate 100mg/1ml solution, to ensure that people with adrenal insufficiency have access to safe, rapid-use emergency hydrocortisone options, including alternative liquid products, the ACT-O-VIAL system and future prefilled or autoinjector delivery methods.

The supply of medicines, and the associated legislation, is a matter reserved to the UK Government. The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland is a member of the UK Medicines Shortage Response Group (MSRG). Following the discontinuation of hydrocortisone sodium phosphate 100mg/1ml solution, MSRG issued advice to prescribers to switch people to hydrocortisone sodium succinate 100mg powder for injection, where appropriate. People concerned about the additional steps required to prepare an emergency injection when using the above-noted powder formulation may wish to discuss with their clinician whether an alternative unlicensed hydrocortisone product would be appropriate for them. Work with the pharmaceutical industry to identify a longer-term solution continues.

Question reference: S7W-00742

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Graham Simpson (on behalf of the SPCB) on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will ensure that there is a basic late lunch hot food option available to purchase between 2.30 pm and 5.00 pm on sitting days.

Catering service provision across the Parliament provides a robust offer around parliamentary business. Service timings for lunch in the Garden Level Restaurant are based on levels of demand, ensuring efficient use of resources in line with parliamentary requirements. Alternative options are available after 2.30pm at the Coffee Bar where a hot sandwich option can be ordered and in the Public Café where hot food options including soup, baked potatoes and a range of sandwiches (including hot) are on offer until 5pm. Hot food is also available from 4pm in Queensberry House Lounge.

Question reference: S7W-00822

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to extend smoke-free zones around schools and playgrounds, taking similar measures to those applied to hospitals.

The Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 provides us with powers to expand existing smoke free spaces, as well as create vape free spaces and heated tobacco free spaces.

These powers support the implementation of our Tobacco and Vaping Framework Place based actions, and we are considering how we will use the powers, ensuring action is both evidence based and proportionate.

Any action will be subject to consultation and I will update Parliament with the next steps in due course.

Question reference: S7W-00815

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the current status of prostate cancer screening, in light of the UK National Screening Committee’s recent decision to not offer universal screening.

Scotland’s screening policy, as is the case in the other nations of the UK, is guided by the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). Before making any recommendations, the UK NSC considers the best available evidence to establish whether the harms of screening outweigh the benefits.

On 28 May, the UK NSC recommended that prostate screening should be offered to men aged 45 to 61 with both a confirmed BRCA2 gene variant and a family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic or prostate cancer.

The Minister for Mental Wellbeing, Public Health, Sport, Alcohol and Drugs, Maree Todd, welcomes and accepts this recommendation. As an immediate priority we are working to consider how the current system for cancer surveillance across our Health Boards can be strengthened to bring us in line with the UK NSC Recommendation. In parallel, work will explore what might be needed to formalise the existing system as a national screening programme.

The UK NSC will continue to gather evidence on the impact of screening on other groups, particularly through the TRANSFORM trial. The Scottish Government will support this evidence gathering in any way it can.

Question reference: S7W-00558

Asked by: Amanda Lindsay, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Reform UK
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Kerr (on behalf of the SPCB) on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide an explanation for the removal of the “female” category from the Scottish Parliament’s search function, despite the UK Supreme Court ruling in April 2025 that confirmed “woman” and “sex” under the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex.

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body recently discussed and agreed to continue to collate and publish data about the diversity of MSPs. We recognise the importance of biographical data about MSPs on the website so that the public can understand and decide who they wish to contact on an issue. This data is also important for understanding and monitoring the diversity and representative make up of Parliament in the longer term.

The Gender Sensitive Audit (GSA) report in session 6 had cross party support. Its recommendations included enhancing the collation, monitoring, and reporting of diversity data at Holyrood.

It is SPCB’s intention that a web filter enabling the public to filter members by sex and trans status will be provided on the website, reflecting the diversity of parliament from session 7. This takes account of various considerations, including equalities, data protection and privacy requirements. This work is being carried out respectfully by officials recognising the sensitivities involved.

Turning to the explanation for the temporary removal of the filter following the election, some diversity information was mistakenly made available online before it had been confirmed directly by individual MSPs. Once identified, it was removed from the Parliament’s website.

That information was not sourced from, or verified by, current MSPs and was not collected in line with the terms of recommendations set out in our GSA report of March 2023. As noted, this is being remedied as a matter of urgency, and we are sorry for the confusion and upset this has caused for many people.

Accordingly, on Monday 1 June 2026, all MSPs were invited to complete a short survey on sex and trans status. This process ensures that relevant diversity information is confirmed directly with individual MSPs before use. This is in line with the recommendations of the GSA report.

The short survey should only take MSPs a few minutes to complete and seeks their consent to publication of their personal data on the Parliament’s website. It will be used in relation to the search filter regarding individual MSP website profiles and for use for internal and external reporting on aggregate data and other relevant purposes such as SPICe enquiries.

It is the SPCB’s aim to have the survey responses returned, the technical work completed and the filter reintroduced as soon as possible.

Question reference: S7W-01043

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many pupils have been excluded from school for possession of a knife or offensive weapon in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S7W-01030

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of armed policing capacity in Greater Glasgow.

Question reference: S7W-01042

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents involving possession of a knife or bladed article have been recorded in schools in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S7W-01070

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to improve the oversight and regulation for construction projects delivered using the design and build procurement route, to ensure that build quality is not compromised should the initial requirements not adequately ensure that the anticipated specifications are adhered to.