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-39373

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 31 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how much it spent on Microsoft 365 licences in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Question reference: S6W-39517

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the annual cost to the Scottish economy was as a result of lost productivity caused by smoking-related early deaths or illness in (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25.

Question reference: S6W-39516

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 August 2025

Question reference: S6W-39515

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 August 2025

Question reference: S6W-39339

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how much was spent by (a) the NHS, (b) local authorities and (c) the entire Scottish public sector on Microsoft 365 licences in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Question reference: S6W-38730

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Kate Forbes on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the commitment to the Finance and Public Administration Committee on the publication of reports on longer-term insights.

Today, we are publishing the . The Future Trends for Scotland report and the accompanying Trend pack describe the 60 trends likely to be important to Scotland over the next 10 to 20 years. This publication does not cover potential policy or strategy implications and is not a statement of government policy or intention, rather it is about providing open analysis to spark reflection and guide decisions in a complex interconnected world.

Publishing the findings from the project fulfils the commitment made to the Finance and Public Administration Committee, will contribute to a wider debate about trends affecting Scotland in the future and will support other organisations and our partners in their own work in planning for the opportunities and plausible future risks.

Question reference: S6W-38268

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to invest in infrastructure to support a greater uptake of home dialysis as part of the forthcoming long-term conditions framework.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with long term conditions including Chronic Kidney Disease are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

We are running our public consultation on the Long Term Conditions Framework from 23 April to 20 July 2025. This is available at .

We will take the results of the consultation into account when developing the framework which will include identifying areas where targeted condition-specific action will still be needed. In the development of the framework we will identify what funding is available for implementation.

Question reference: S6W-38266

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reviewed the impact of the national guidance on reimbursement for home dialysis costs to include utility costs, including water and electricity, following its introduction in March 2024.

In January 2024, we implemented a Scotland-wide policy reimbursing home dialysis patients for their extra electricity costs incurred in their treatment. At the time of implementation, there was a commitment to undertake a review 6-12 months later to ensure that the Policy had been fully applied across all NHS Boards. This Review has been completed and concluded that all Boards had reimbursement policies for eligible patients. This removes the financial disincentive to making a choice for home dialysis over in-centre treatments, allowing personal choice in where and how to receive treatment.

Question reference: S6W-38267

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the adequacy of current financial incentives for home dialysis and whether there has been any variation in adoption across NHS boards.

The primary driver for introducing a national policy was to achieve a level of consistency and resolve the situation where some NHS Boards were already reimbursing the electricity costs associated with home dialysis, some partially reimbursing and others making no reimbursement at all. The Scotland-wide policy allows for Boards to determine reimbursement rates for home dialysis whilst recommending the standard UK Kidney Association (UKKA) calculator as a basis.

A review of implementation of the national policy found that all Boards had reimbursement policies for eligible patients. The policy requests that Boards proactively identify patients eligible for reimbursement but does not mandate how Boards may manage the reimbursement process; this is a local decision for each Board.

Question reference: S6W-37968

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what requirements exist for GPs under the General Medical Services contract to provide phlebotomy services and collect blood samples to support secondary care management of chronic conditions.

Under the General Medical Services contract GP practices are responsible for providing the services required for the management of their registered patients and temporary residents who are, or believe themselves to be ill, with conditions from which recovery is generally expected, terminally ill, or suffering from chronic disease. This can include taking bloods as necessary.

GP practices’ contracts must include terms which require the Health Board to provide the contractor with support by providing community treatment and care services which include phlebotomy.

GP practices may also contract with their Health Boards to collect blood samples to support the secondary care management of chronic conditions. These would be considered enhanced services which are additional to the GP contract and cannot be required.