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-41523

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether so-called First In, First Out-only waiting list management for children’s neurodevelopmental services is consistent with section 4 of the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011, which requires access to services within a reasonable time, taking account of patient need.

The Scottish Government is responsible for setting the overall policy direction for neurodevelopmental services, and for working with and funding NHS Health Boards and local authorities to ensure they plan and deliver appropriate local services. It is for local NHS Boards and local authorities to decide how they implement these policies to ensure that their local population have the highest quality of care, support and treatment at the right time and in the right place.

Individual health boards are responsible for the management of their waiting lists. They are expected to ensure that their approaches to service delivery are consistent with national guidance and statutory frameworks, including the National Neurodevelopmental Specification and the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act.

The National Neurodevelopmental Specification sets out the standards for all children’s services to follow in delivering neurodevelopmental support to children and young people. Support should be provided on the basis of need, and at the earliest opportunity, through a multi-agency approach.

Question reference: S6W-41522

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that children with additional support needs are not subject to indirect discrimination under section 19 of the Equality Act 2010, as a result of so-called First In, First Out-only waiting list policies for neurodevelopmental services.

The Scottish Government is clear that no child or young person should face any form of discrimination when seeking neurodevelopmental support.

NHS Boards are expected to ensure that their approaches to service delivery are consistent with national guidance and statutory frameworks, including the National Neurodevelopmental Specification and the Equality Act.

The National Neurodevelopmental Specification is clear that support should be available at the point of need through a multi-agency approach, encompassing all local children’s services. The Specification is also clear that support should not be dependent on – or wait for – a diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental condition.

Question reference: S6W-41182

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a date for the commencement of its proposed review of possession grounds within the private rented sector, and whether third sector organisations will have an opportunity to feed into the review.

The Housing (Scotland) Bill introduces a requirement on the Scottish Ministers to carry out a review of the repossession grounds under the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 within 2 years of the day after Royal Assent and lay a report before Parliament.

This provision will be commenced in the current parliamentary term.

The views and experiences of landlords and tenants will be considered as part of the review.

Question reference: S6W-41393

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with NHS boards regarding the use of combustible façade material on hospital buildings, in light of the remediation efforts currently underway at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

In June 2017, following the tragic events at Grenfell Tower in London, the Scottish Government requested information regarding the NHSScotland estate, owned or otherwise, in respect of external cladding systems. Health Facilities Scotland issued an email to all Boards. There were two buildings identified as having combustible cladding. Of these two buildings one has had the cladding removed and the other has been confirmed that it does not present a hazard.

Any new hospitals must comply with current building standards, which include a requirement for non-combustible cladding material at a storey height of over 11m. High risk MAC-PE cladding material is banned on buildings of all height. It is the statutory responsibility of Health Boards to manage their estate, and we expect them to provide safe environments for all hospital users.

NHS Scotland Firecode, Scottish Health Technical Memorandum (SHTM 81) Fire Safety in the design of healthcare premises stipulates that external wall systems, including cladding and insulation, on all hospitals with a total floor area of more than 200m2, should be constructed of products achieving European Classification A1 (non-combustible) or A2 (will not significantly contribute to fire load and fire growth). Combustible façade material is not permissible on new hospital buildings.

Question reference: S6W-41390

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether all hospitals, including those with a storey at a height above and below the 11m threshold, have been assessed to ascertain whether combustible façade material is present in their external walls, and if so, how many are affected.

In June 2017, following the tragic events at Grenfell Tower in London, the Scottish Government requested information regarding the NHSScotland estate, owned or otherwise, in respect of external cladding systems. Health Facilities Scotland issued an email to all Boards that stated - Provide a list of all buildings within your Board area that have external cladding fitted to the original structure other than concrete, render, brick or blockwork

Two hospitals were identified as having combustible cladding:

The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow
The Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh

Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding was subsequently removed from areas of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital as a precautionary measure and replaced with non-combustible cladding and insulation.

The Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh was constructed with sandwich panels that contain insulation treated with fire retardancy. Health Facilities Scotland commissioned Glasgow Caledonian University to carry out an assessment of the cladding including fire engineering computer modelling. The report concluded that the cladding would be very difficult to ignite, the cladding would not continue to burn unless there was an external and sustained heat source, therefore it was considered that the cladding system does not present a hazard in terms of life safety.

Question reference: S6O-05121

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it anticipates to be the baseline figure for its ambition towards all-tenure housing delivery of a 10% increase in housebuilding each year over the next three years.

Question reference: S6W-41394

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 29 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated in each of the last five years to support construction skills training, broken down by how much of this has (a) been directed through (i) colleges and (ii) training providers, and (b) reached small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the construction sector, and what mechanisms are in place to ensure that SMEs can directly access such funding for workforce development.

Question reference: S6W-41181

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to use the powers granted under the Legislative Consent Motion on the UK Government’s Pension Schemes Bill to create pooled investment schemes or “megafunds” similar to the ones allowed in England and Wales, and what assessment it has made of any potential benefits and risks of such funds.

Question reference: S6W-41179

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with stakeholders regarding the use of powers granted under the Legislative Consent Motion on the UK Government’s Pension Schemes Bill, specifically in relation to any potential consolidation or merger of Scottish Local Government Pension Scheme funds.

Question reference: S6W-41178

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 10 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 28 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of contributions held by the Scottish Local Government Pension Scheme funds are invested in Scotland, and how this compares to the rest of the UK and internationally.