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-38678

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ringfence any Barnett consequential funding relating to winter fuel spending in England and Wales for the support of pensioners in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-38677

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect households from any cold-call scams linked to green energy grants.

Question reference: S6W-38681

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many homes have been assessed as below the legal tolerable standard in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-38675

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost to the taxpayer has been of all special advisers since the appointment of the current First Minister.

Question reference: S6W-38418

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on its pledge to eliminate delayed discharge from hospitals.

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing delayed discharges and addressing the variation in delays across the country and this remains a priority for this Government. However, it is important to reflect that 97% of all discharges happen without delay.

The latest published delayed discharge figures show some progress in reducing the number of people delayed, and we continue to work to drive that number down further. Statistics show that during April 2025, on average 1,854 people were delayed in hospital each day, 3% fewer than in April 2024, the lowest level since October 2023, and a 9% reduction from the peak in October 2024.

The progress comes off the back off intensive work that is being done on a whole system basis, with Health and Social Care Partnerships, the National Health Service, Local Government and community and voluntary sector partners – to ensure that capacity is there to support them.

Furthermore, our budget for 2025-26 set out a clear plan to reduce waiting times, delayed discharges and improve hospital flow, supported by £200 million in targeted investment. Underpinning this is the NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan which was published on the 31st of March this year. This is a plan to improve access to treatment, shift the balance of care from acute services to the community, and improve access to health and social care services through digital and technological innovation and prevention.

I am confident that this improvement can continue, delivering better outcomes for patients so that they are cared for in the right setting and hospital beds are there for those who need them.

Question reference: S6W-38135

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure there is equitable access to givinostat across all NHS boards while the Scottish Medicines Consortium reviews the drug.

Question reference: S6W-38134

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS boards regarding the implementation of early access to givinostat for eligible patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

It is a matter for Health Boards to consider the implementation of any new medicine to meet the needs of their local population. However, in response to concerns raised regarding access to givinostat in Scotland, the Cabinet Secretary has met with the four health boards who provide regional services across Scotland for children and adults with neuromuscular disorders, including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). He has asked them to set out their timelines and approaches to the families who have children with DMD, and this is now underway. In addition, the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer (CPO) has been assured that the consultants have reviewed all those who eligible to ensure fair and equitable access across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-38133

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide additional funding or support to NHS boards to help administer early access programmes for (a) givinostat and (b) other treatments for rare diseases.

It is a matter for individual Health Boards to consider the implementation of any new medicine to meet the needs of their local population, and they are responsible for funding new medicines from their local medicines budgets. However, the Scottish Government has committed to investing rebates from the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines, Pricing Access and Growth (VPAG) to fund the New Medicines Fund (NMF), which provides additional top-up funding to territorial Health Boards to support the cost of introducing new medicines. Since 2014-15, £906 million has been made available to Health Boards through this fund. In addition, a national process is in place, administered by National Services Scotland National Procurement (NP), to review early access programmes on a ‘once for Scotland’ basis on behalf of Scottish Health Boards.

Question reference: S6W-37986

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the Accounts Commission's reported view that local authorities are facing unsustainable budget shortfalls, and what urgent action it will take on this matter.

We are not aware of any reports by the Accounts Commission that local authorities are facing unsustainable budget shortfalls.

Councils are statutorily required to set balanced budgets, and the Accounts Commission appropriately highlights that the use of one-off measures, such as the use of reserves, in place of established recurring measures and robust longer-term financial plans to bridge notional budget gaps is unsustainable.

The Scottish Government has a long history of working with COSLA and local authorities to make sure council finances are sustainable and that available resources can meet long-term commitments.

The record funding settlement for Local Government in 2025-26 provided a real terms increase in funding of 5.5 per cent, as confirmed by the Accounts Commission, and was the result of early and meaningful engagement between Scottish Government, COSLA and Councils. We remain committed to ensuring the sustainability of local services going forward and budget engagement ahead of the 2026-27 Scottish Budget has already commenced.

Question reference: S6W-38094

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what data it has on the number of diversion from prosecution decisions made in relation to violent youth offenders in each of the last five years.

The Scottish Government collects and publishes data on the total number of diversion from prosecution cases commenced for people aged under 18, this is published in the .

Over the past five years a total of 3,444 diversion from prosecution cases were started for individuals under 18. However, information on the specific alleged offence in each case is not available.

Year	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
Number of diversion cases commenced for under 18s	650	590	692	659	853