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-02231

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 31 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to establishing a local news fund to provide financial support for local, independent and hyperlocal news publishers.

Question reference: S7W-02244

Asked by: Amanda Lindsay, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Reform UK
Date lodged: Monday, 03 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 31 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, whether it will reconsider its proposal to centralise Level 3 neonatal intensive care services, in light of the impact such a proposal could have on families living across West Lothian who currently rely on these services.

Question reference: S7W-02222

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 31 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the finalisation of regulations on the display of vaping and nicotine products, how it will assess the potential impact of any proposed restrictions on (a) the appeal and accessibility of such products to children and young people, (b) adults using regulated vaping products as a means to move away from smoking and (c) compliant businesses, including specialist vape retailers, and whether it will publish the results of any such assessment as part of the final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment.

Question reference: S7W-02220

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 31 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the findings from SEPA’s expanded per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) monitoring programme, the EU’s increased protections and the UK Government’s plans to consult in 2026 on the introduction of a statutory limit covering a wider list of PFAS compounds in England’s public supply regulations, whether it will review the current drinking water standard, which is based on the sum of 20 named PFAS compounds.

Question reference: S7W-02235

Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 31 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what involvement Transport Scotland has had to date in the decision-making process regarding the termination of the proposed Neilston to Uplawmoor link.

Question reference: S7W-02225

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 31 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that there is consistent access to gambling harm treatment and support services across all parts of Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-01866

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that victims and survivors of rape and other serious sexual offences can have confidence that their cases will be investigated promptly, thoroughly and with appropriate specialist support, particularly in light of reported increasing numbers of such crimes.

The safety and welfare of survivors is absolutely paramount, and we are committed to ensuring survivors and their families get the support they need.

We recognise the key role that advocacy services play in helping victims come forward and engage with the justice process, like those co-ordinated by Rape Crisis Scotland, which is why we fully fund the National Advocacy Project. We have provided £2.17 Million per annum for this service for the period 2025-207 through the Victim Centred Approach Fund.

Our NHS is another critical part of providing that support, providing care and forensic examinations in the days following an assault. There is a Sexual Assault Response Co-ordination Service (SARCS) in every health board area, including in each of the island health boards.

The Scottish Government wants victims and survivors to report sexual crimes, including those that may have happened some time ago. This is against a backdrop of sexual crimes remaining heavily under-reported. Multiple factors will therefore lie behind the long-term increase in recorded sexual crime, including a greater willingness of victims to come forward, more historical reporting, more online offending and the impact of new legislation.

We continue to take robust action to tackle sexual offending through the Equally Safe Strategy – focusing on prevention, improving our laws, and encouraging more victims to come forward.

However, we know that sexual crime remains under-reported and that more needs to be done to support victims to report these terrible crimes and to improve their experience within the criminal justice system.

Investigating rape and sexual offences remain one of the top priorities for Police Scotland, and specialist sexual offence liaison officers are available to support victims.

The Scottish Government recognises the vital roles that police officers play in keeping communities safe. This year, we have increased police funding to over £1.7 billion, an increase of £81.5 million on the 2025-26 Autumn Budget Revision (ABR) budget, to deliver on its priorities including frontline service delivery.

Operational policing decisions are for the Chief Constable who is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority - not to Scottish Ministers. However, violence against women and girls is a key strand and tenet of Police Scotland’s 2030 vision and three-year business plan.

Question reference: S7W-01824

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 3 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, since May 2024, how many clinical breast cancer patients are estimated to have undergone chemotherapy from which they derived no clinical benefit, and what steps it is taking to prevent such treatment that would be determined to be of no clinical benefit and to protect resources through the immediate expansion of genomic testing.

The Scottish Government does not hold an estimate of how many clinical breast cancer patients have undergone chemotherapy from which they derived no clinical benefit.

We are committed to ensuring that people with cancer receive the treatment most appropriate to their individual circumstances. The Scottish Government has commissioned the NHS Scotland Cancer Collaborative (NSCC) to develop National Clinical Management Pathways (CMPs). CMPs outline the patient with cancer journey from diagnosis onwards and support consistent decision-making across Scotland on optimal treatment options at the various points in a patient’s pathway. They help clinicians and patients to work in partnership to consider the likely benefits and risks of treatment options and allow people to make an informed choice about their care, as well as reducing waste, potential harm and regret about treatment decisions, in line with the principles of Realistic Medicine.

The process for the development and review of CMPs has been previously described in S6W-42977 on 20 January 2026.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering equitable access to genomic testing and precision medicines and continue to work with NHS Scotland partners to explore opportunities to expand our genomic testing provision in Scotland, in line with our strategy and resources.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Question reference: S7W-01913

Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that Scottish Water's real-time monitoring covers no more than around 30% of overflows, what plans it has to require Scottish Water to deliver 100% real-time event duration monitoring coverage across all combined sewer overflows; what timescale has been set for achieving this, and how it ensures that the public has access to comprehensive information on sewage pollution risks before entering waters.

As set out in our recent consultation, Water services: investing in and paying from 2027, the Objectives for Scottish Water for 2027-33 require it to provide public-facing access to data on overflows from all intermittent discharges in its network, taken from monitors and supplemented by hydraulic modelling, by 2033.

Scottish Water has co-created a monitoring prioritisation methodology with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) which can be found at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/-/media/scottishwater/document-hub/key-publications/improving-urban-waters/edmmethodology.pdf.

Scottish Water currently has over 2,000 overflow monitors in place (some 50% of overflows). It publishes near real-time spill data online and has provided monitors on all its sewer overflows within 2km of a designated bathing water. During the bathing season SEPA makes daily bathing water quality predictions at selected bathing waters across Scotland. These are available online and from electronic information signs at certain bathing waters. There is also advice on How to Swim Safely in Scotland’s Outdoor Waters on NHS inform.

Question reference: S7W-01869

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that Police Scotland officers investigating rape and serious sexual offences have sufficient time and resources to deliver trauma-informed investigations and maintain meaningful communication with victims throughout the investigative process, and what measures are in place to ensure that victims and survivors of rape receive appropriate support where investigations are delayed because of investigative capacity or workload pressures.

Operational policing decisions and workload considerations are for the Chief Constable who is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority - not to Scottish Ministers.

Investigating rape and sexual offences remain one of the top priorities for Police Scotland. Specialist sexual offence liaison officers (SOLOs )are available to support victims. SOLOs ensure that victims are kept informed of progress and understand the reasons for any significant delays. Police Scotland also work closely with specialist support organisations and partners to ensure victims continue to have access to appropriate support and advocacy.

The Scottish Government provides funding for trauma specialists at Public Services Delivery Scotland to support the criminal justice organisations to embed the Trauma Informed Justice Knowledge and Skill Framework. They have been working with Police Scotland to develop and deliver training at the trauma enhanced practice level of the framework, across evidence gathering, interpretation and presentation roles.