Questions and answers

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 ��˿�� 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-42423

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) support and provisions are in place to enable pupils with additional support needs and disabilities, and their parents, to advocate for additional assessment arrangements, including extra time during exams, (b) mechanisms exist to escalate decisions when young people's needs are not being met, and (c) procedures exist across all local authorities to ensure schools comply with the Equality of Access to Qualifications policy and promote equality of provision.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), whose functions will be replaced by Qualifications Scotland early next year, rightly offers a wide range of assessment arrangements to enable learners with additional support needs to demonstrate their knowledge and skills without compromising the integrity of the assessment.

It works with centres (schools, colleges or training providers) to ensure that all learners have the appropriate support they need for their assessments and exams.

Assessment arrangements are based on the candidate’s specific individual needs and reflect their way of producing work in class such as extra time, modified assessment formats, or the use of assistive technology.

The SQA does not require pupils to have a confirmed diagnosis of a disability for assessment arrangements to be put in place. However, there must be an identified need, and they rely on centres to submit requests and to consider the needs of individual learners. The SQA and centres have quality assurance processes in place to ensure that assessment arrangements are appropriate; guidance for centres setting out more detail is available on the SQA website.

Local authorities oversee the delivery of education and have a range statutory duties to provide for and to review the support they provide pupils with additional support needs.

Enquire is funded by the Scottish Government to help parents and carers to understand their child’s rights to additional support for learning and how to work in partnership with their school to make sure their child gets the support they need.

There are a range of dispute resolution mechanisms available under the Additional Support for Learning 2004 Act. These offer more formal ways to resolve concerns, if an agreement with the education authority cannot be met. Information about these mechanisms and what resolution they can offer, is available on the Enquire website.

Question reference: S6W-42424

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding pupils with additional support needs and disabilities, what data is available to compare requests for, and provision of, additional assessment arrangements in and across local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-42098

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what immediate action it is taking to restrict youth access to (a) nicotine pouches and (b) other nicotine-related products, in light of the reported rise in the use of these among children and young people, and what further measures it plans to introduce to prevent these products being sold legally to under-18s in Scotland, while the Tobacco and Vapes Bill is being considered by the UK Parliament.

The UK-wide Tobacco and Vapes Bill (the Bill), if passed, will introduce new restrictions on age of sale for all nicotine products and the advertising, sponsorship, free distribution and nominal pricing of vaping products and nicotine products across the 4 nations.

New powers in the Bill will also empower the Secretary of State to regulate (amongst other things) product features, packaging, ingredients and flavourings in relation to vaping products and nicotine products across the UK, with the consent of Scottish Ministers. The Bill will extend the Tobacco and Vapes retailer register in Scotland to cover all nicotine products and it will give the Scottish Ministers the power to impose restrictions in relation to the display of nicotine products in shops.

In the interim we continue to work closely with the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) to support enforcement of existing legislation, including checks on sales of tobacco and vapes to under 18s, and advice to business. This is a key component in the Scottish Government’s Tobacco and Vaping Framework and helps ensure that young people’s access to harmful age-restricted products is minimised.

An update on implementation timescales for the Bill will be provided following Royal Assent.

Question reference: S6O-04993

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that Scotland is ready to recycle and repurpose textile waste when the landfill ban comes into force at the end of this year.

Question reference: S6W-40377

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to support and accelerate economic growth across Scotland’s circular fashion and sustainable textiles sector; what consideration it has given to establishing a national industrial cluster for circular fashion and sustainable textiles, and what steps it will take to engage with Scottish operators, such as ACS Clothing, in its design and delivery of policies to support Scotland’s circular economy and net zero commitments.

The Scottish Government recognises the value of a thriving circular fashion and sustainable textiles sector in Scotland and is committed to pursuing opportunities to strengthen support across the sector.

We have been working with stakeholders across the supply chain to develop further actions to accelerate sustainable economic growth. Recognising ACS’s commitment to innovation and circular fashion, Scottish Government officials met with ACS on Friday 5th September to discuss their ideas for further circularity innovations and collaboration between organisations across the sector.

We have confirmed that textile products will be a key focus of our product stewardship plan and we will consider the textiles sector in our forthcoming Circular Economy Strategy. We have also been working with Defra as they draw up their Circular Economy Strategy for England to understand where we can collaborate on measures, and where action must be taken by the UK Government.

Question reference: S6O-04867

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-04837

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its provision of funding for humanitarian aid, when it last engaged with the UK Government in relation to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Question reference: S6W-37392

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 20 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Lanarkshire regarding the administration of duvyzat for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, in light of reports that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is now administering the drug through the Early Access Programme, and what steps it has taken to identify and overcome any barriers faced by NHS boards, including NHS Lanarkshire, in administering the medication, in order to support safe, fair, and equitable access across Scotland.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) is the regional hub responsible for providing services to children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) on behalf of the West region which includes NHS Lanarkshire. In response to concerns raised regarding access to givinostat in Scotland, the Cabinet Secretary has met with the four health boards, including NHS GGC. He has asked them to set out their timelines and approaches to the families with children with DMD covered by the national Early Access Programme (EAP), in the next two weeks. NHS GGC are planning three treatment cohorts, beginning week commencing 26 May 2025, with the second and third cohorts starting week commencing 28 July 2025 and 29 September 2025. In addition, the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer has been assured that the consultants have reviewed all eligible children and applied the broadest definition possible to the eligibility criteria to ensure that all children described in the EAP can access the medicine.

Question reference: S6O-04666

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the provision of vocational skills training, whether it will provide an update on its response to the 2025 ClimateXChange report, Training provision in Scotland’s onshore wind and solar industries.

Question reference: S6O-04625

Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it last engaged with the UK Government, transmission operators and the National Energy System Operator, to explore the possibility of reviewing the Transmission Impact Assessment, in light of reports that this limits Scotland's solar energy development.