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-39382

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any fatal accident inquiries being undertaken in relation to any infant deaths due to whooping cough, and, if so, whether it will (a) publish details of these and (b) propose a ministerial statement on the matter.

Question reference: S6W-38970

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 22 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the ministerial statement on the 2024-25 provisional outturn on 24 June 2025, and the response by the Minister for Public Finance regarding whether he will report to the Parliament before making any awards under phase 2 of the Public Sector Heat Decarbonisation Fund, which closed for applications on 27 May 2025, whether it will publish details of all the applications received, including the address of the building, a brief description of the works to be undertaken, the value of the building, the amount of the grant sought and the amount of any grant being considered, and whether it will propose the scheduling of a ministerial statement on this matter prior to any decisions being taken on the awarding of grants.

This funding supports public bodies to lead by example and take early and sustained action to achieve the priorities of the forthcoming Heat in Buildings Bill and decarbonise the public sector estate to reach net zero by 2045. It is anticipated that funding awards will be issued in August 2025 and details of successful projects – including recipient organisation, building location(s), grant awarded, and project overview – will be published later in 2025.

The value of building(s) in scope will not be published. The rateable value of a building is not the only measure of value for money and there are other relevant factors to consider when assessing options for how best to achieve a decarbonised public sector estate. It is also imperative that public bodies have quality, efficient premises which reduce energy costs and that they reside in areas which meet the needs of the essential services they provide.

The Scottish Government does not publish details of unsuccessful projects; however, all applications undergo robust technical assessment, and funding is offered only to projects that clearly meet the objectives of the scheme and have the potential to progress to deployment, driving value for money from our investment.

Parliament will be informed of the outcome of Phase 2 of Scotland’s Public Sector Heat Decarbonisation Fund once the application assessment process has concluded.

Question reference: S6W-39381

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the most recent statistics are on the level of immunisation in the relevant population for (a) measles, (b) whooping cough, (c) mumps, (d) polio, (e) meningitis and (f) rubella, broken down by NHS board area; what its position is on whether these levels of immunisation are acceptable, and, if it does not consider any levels to be acceptable, what action it is taking to address this.

Question reference: S6W-39390

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any impact on its vaccination policies in Scotland, whether it has received any information from the UK Government regarding measles deaths in England, and, if so, what information, and whether it will make it publicly available.

Question reference: S6O-04785

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when GP vaccination services will be fully restored to GPs in NHS Highland, in light of reported concerns that the proposed hybrid model is less safe and more expensive.

Question reference: S6O-04604

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the net zero secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the potential impact on Scotland of the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas developments not proceeding, including on jobs, GDP, tax revenue and funding for public services from the UK Government.

Question reference: S6O-04560

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that gulls can cause serious human injury, whether it will direct NatureScot to issue licences to control the birds and help prevent such injuries.

Question reference: S6O-04503

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 1 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will direct NHS Highland to return vaccination services solely to GPs, in light of reported calls for this to happen on the basis that it could deliver a safer, more efficient and less expensive health provision delivered locally.

The model of Health Boards being responsible for delivering vaccinations is working well across Scotland, but I recognise the need for flexibility to account for specific circumstances that might negatively affect vaccine uptake.

That is why I have agreed to Highland HSCP putting in place a mixed model for vaccinations.

GP delivery will be key in some aspects of this model, however, the aim here is to take a collaborative approach to delivering vaccines.

The Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland continue to engage with Highland HSCP to support a flexible and responsive immunisation service.

Question reference: S6O-04523

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it was aware that, prior to NHS Highland taking over responsibility for vaccination services from GPs, there were reported concerns that the NHS board’s system did not allow GPs to know their patients’ vaccination status and that this could lead to a heightened patient risk.

Question reference: S6W-34350

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the reported comment of its former Permanent Secretary, Leslie Evans, at a recent Institute for Government conference, that, in the civil service, the "middle management is often quite weak".