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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 2296 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-38476

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there is a reported shortage in the number of consultants in the NHS to meet demands.

The number of consultants employed by NHS Scotland has increased by 71% since September 2006 and now stands at 6,217.5 whole time equivalents (31 March 2025).

Despite this increase, NHS Scotland’s medical workforce remains under pressure due to steady, long-term increases in demand. This increase in demand is strongly linked to Scotland’s aging population profile and increasing epidemiological rates for some health care conditions.

Question reference: S6W-38278

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any incentives exist in secondary care for urgent access to colonoscopy for patients with suspected inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who have not been referred on the cancer pathway, and what assessment it has made of introducing non-cancer specific local delivery plan (LDP) standards and incentives to improve access to colonoscopies for people with benign bowel conditions such as Crohn’s and colitis.

Patients continue to be seen based on their clinical urgency, and those referred with an urgent suspicion of cancer continue to be prioritised for scope-based diagnostic tests. The decision to appropriately prioritise patients based on their urgency is best placed with the clinicians responsible for their care.

Health boards across NHS Scotland have local strategies in place to ensure patients with a clinical urgency, as well as those that have waited the longest, are investigated within an appropriate time by the most appropriate person. Referrals are clinically triaged at local board level and directed to the most appropriate waiting list.

The Scottish Government expects Health Boards to ensure an investigation is undertaken, and the verified report is received by or made available to the requester, within a 6-week waiting times standard for key diagnostic tests and procedures. Health Boards must take all reasonable steps to ensure they comply with this standard.

We know many people are still waiting too long and this is not good enough. We are determined do more and our Budget will provide a record £21.7 billion for health and social care.

As part of planned care funding for 2025-26 we have provided over £10.5 million to territorial health boards across Scotland to support endoscopy activity and reduce waiting lists.

To specifically support scope based diagnostics we have published an Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan backed by £70 million. The plan focuses on key areas such as: Balancing Demand and Capacity; Workforce Training and Development; Infrastructure; and Innovation and Redesign.

Question reference: S6T-02583

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of claims by a whistleblower at Police Scotland that officers are being “coerced” into logging individuals in line with their gender identity, even in serious sexual assault cases.

Question reference: S6W-37705

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what systems were established to notify victims where perpetrators of crimes were part of early release schemes.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The SPS and the Scottish Government worked directly with Victim Support Organisations including Victim Support Scotland ahead of automatic early release under the Prisoners (early Release) (Scotland) Act 2025, to raise awareness and encourage those who were eligible to sign up to the Victim Notification Scheme (VNS).

Temporary expediated systems of registration were also introduced for both the Victim Information Scheme (VIS) and VNS, which were live throughout the tranche releases and ran to 30 April 2025. These systems meant the normal registration process was streamlined to enable victims who were not currently registered, to register quicker and find out the release date of an offender. These temporary expediated systems were agreed by SPS with the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

When victims were registered, they were notified by SPS if there was a change to the release date of the offender, ahead of the offender’s release from SPS custody.

Question reference: S6W-37709

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much in compensation payments for wrongful imprisonment has been paid in total in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-37610

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of plumbers in Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the vital importance of a skilled plumbing workforce and is actively supporting its growth. A key route is our continued investment in Modern Apprenticeships, backed by £185 million this year. We are also exploring how to maximise the impact of this investment.

We are engaging directly with industries and employers to shape a new skills planning approach that will aim to effectively address national and regional needs. including considering how Recognition of Prior Learning can help individuals with experience enter the sector.

While we take these actions, it's crucial to acknowledge that Brexit and current UK immigration policy exacerbate skills gaps and hinder Scotland's progress, which is why we advocate for a tailored migration approach for Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-37708

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many compensation payments for wrongful imprisonment have been made in each of the last 10 years.

The Scottish Government operates two schemes to pay compensation to people who have suffered a miscarriage of justice: the statutory scheme and the ex gratia scheme.

The statutory scheme applies where a person's conviction has been reversed on appeal made ‘out of time’ and the appeal was successful because a new fact shows beyond reasonable doubt that there has been a miscarriage of justice. The ex gratia scheme applies where a person has spent a period of time in custody following wrongful conviction or charge and the wrongful conviction or charge was either the result of serious default on the part of the police or another public authority, or there are other exceptional circumstances justifying the payment of compensation. As such, while it is a condition of eligibility for the ex gratia scheme that the applicant has spent a period of time in custody as a result of wrongful charge or conviction, it is not a condition of the statutory scheme that the applicant was imprisoned for the offence for which they were wrongfully convicted.

Because of the small number of people to whom compensation has been paid to over this time period, there is a risk that information about the amounts paid to individuals could be identified from information about the number of individuals who received compensation in a given year, together with the amount of compensation paid in that year. Within this context, information is provided split into two five year periods.

In the period 2015-16 to 2019-20, five people have been paid compensation under the statutory and ex gratia compensation schemes with the amount paid totalling £1,196,259.

In the period 2020-21 to 2024-25, two people have been paid compensation under the statutory and ex gratia compensation schemes with the amount paid totalling £1,995,468.

Question reference: S6O-04722

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the roadworks on the M8 in Glasgow will be completed by 2026.

Question reference: S6W-37407

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made any evaluation of the pre-arrest diversion from drugs programme trialled by the Drug Deaths Taskforce in Inverclyde and the Highland Council area.

The regular reporting in achieving progress and outcomes of both these programmes are collated through the Corra Foundation.

An evaluation of the Inverclyde Early Help in Police Custody Service found that there were practical challenges involved in covering such a vast geographical. However, the project demonstrated good progress towards an effective model of early intervention support for people who use drugs and alcohol that are caught up in the justice system.

A range of methods are being used to collate the learning and impact of the Pathfinder programme that originated in the Inverness area. Due to a lack of referrals in that area the project is now based in Dundee, Lanarkshire and Glasgow, and a full evaluation will be available when it concludes in 2026.

Question reference: S6O-04640

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of Scotland participating in a UK-wide fan-led review of the live music industry, in light of the recent UK-wide survey of the industry.