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-39916

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that, when the Scottish Ministers make decisions to allow development under the Electricity Act 1989, they are meeting the requirements of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 for all public bodies to further the conservation of biodiversity when carrying out their responsibilities.

The Scottish Ministers make decisions on applications in accordance with legislative requirements and relevant policy. Energy consent applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis, with all relevant information considered to ensure balanced decision-making. This includes environmental information, consultee responses from public bodies and representations from the public.

All information related to determinations made by the Scottish Ministers in respect of onshore wind farm developments, including any conditions to mitigate biodiversity impacts, is publicly available on our Energy Consents portal: https://www.energyconsents.scot/ApplicationSearch.aspx

Question reference: S6W-40164

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 4 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-39896 by Angus Robertson on 27 August 2025, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether the topic of Scottish independence was discussed in the meeting between the First Minister and the President of the European Commission on 26 July 2025.

Question reference: S6W-40098

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Monday, 25 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 4 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many organisations that applied for funding from the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund were (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful in securing funding in each year since 2021.

Question reference: S6W-39988

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review current referral pathways to improve early detection of brain tumours.

Question reference: S6W-39962

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how NHS Lanarkshire is addressing the recommendations of the Independent Review of Audiology in Scotland report, and whether it will publish a detailed delivery plan for audiology services.

A programme of work to address recommendations of the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland has now concluded and each of the 55 recommendations updated.

In line with agreed governance structures processes, all NHS Territorial Health Boards have established Local Improvement Plans for 2023-24 and were instructed by Scottish Government to outline their governance, reporting and management processes through a Local Assurance Framework in 2024, as well as, requiring the inclusion of audiology in their 2025-26 Annual Delivery Plans.

It would be for NHS Lanarkshire to make the decision to publish these plans.

Question reference: S6W-39964

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support is being provided to NHS Lanarkshire to improve its patient-to-staff ratio for audiology services.

The Scottish Government has commissioned NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to undertake work which maps the skills and competencies required at each level of practice for all disciplines within the healthcare science profession, including audiology as a clinical priority area.

This sits hand in hand with activity which will enable us to be able to map our scientific workforce in across all NHS Territorial Health Boards, including NHS Lanarkshire, more accurately, strengthening capacity, training and recruitment pipelines for audiologists, and supporting better workforce planning for the future.

Question reference: S6W-39938

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the General Medical Council’s finding that Scotland performed worse than the UK average in 2024 on patient safety, and what it is doing to reverse this trend.

The Scottish Government welcomes the findings from the General Medical Council Report, and we will ensure any concerns raised are fully considered and addressed.

The Scottish Government meets regularly with Boards and Healthcare Improvement Scotland to discuss what actions can be taken to continue to build on the programmes of work already in place to improve the quality and safety of care delivered to patients in Scotland and to ensure a co-ordinated and holistic approach. These programmes and legislation include;

The Scottish Patient Safety Programme, underpinned by the Essentials of Safe Care, which is currently being refreshed for re-launch in October 2025.
Safe Delivery of Care Inspections, which were expanded in January 2025 to include inspection of maternity services.
A National Framework for Reviewing and Learning from Adverse Events in NHS Scotland, updated in February 2025, which provides a system-wide approach for identifying, reviewing, and learning from events.
The Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland), which came into force on 1 April 2024, puts systems and processes in place to enable real-time assessment of staffing.
The Scottish National Audit Programme recently commissioned new audits which aim to improve service provision and patient outcomes

In addition, the Scottish Government introduced legislation for a Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland. Scotland’s first Patient Safety Commissioner, Karen Titchener, took up her post on 1 September.

A Quality and Safety Sub-group of the NHS Scotland Executive Group, chaired by Dr John Harden, Scottish Government National Clinical Lead for Quality and Safety, meets regularly to review data and reports from across the system, including the above programmes, to support improvement in the quality, safety and outcomes of care provided by NHS Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-39573

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 18 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 4 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38187 by Jim Fairlie on 17 June 2025 and in relation to the Air Discount Scheme, which is due to expire on 31 March 2026, whether it will consider including business travel in the Air Discount Scheme when it is renewed by a new notification under the UK subsidy control scheme, in light of reports that the subsidy control scheme would not prohibit the inclusion of business travel.

Question reference: S6W-39937

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have died or suffered serious harm in the past five years in circumstances linked to delays in emergency or corridor care.

Question reference: S6O-04921

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its discussions with the University of Dundee and the Scottish Funding Council regarding the university’s financial situation.

Year	Applications received	Successful	Unsuccessful
2021	15	5	10
2022	21	7	14
2023	15	4	11
2024	23	7	16
Total for period	74	23	51