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-42731

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce mandatory finger prick or urine tests for children presenting with symptoms associated with type 1 diabetes.

Question reference: S6W-42708

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have waited on trolleys for more than 12 hours in A&E departments in the last three months.

Question reference: S6W-42444

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 08 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of healthcare visits, including GP visits, children and young people under the age of 25 are making before they receive a cancer diagnosis compared to older adults, and what action is being taken to reduce diagnostic delays for this age group.

The Scottish Government does not hold data for the number of healthcare visits, including GP visits, children and young people under the age of 25 are making before they receive a cancer diagnosis compared to older adults.

, is a dedicated cancer strategy for children and young people, in Scotland.

The strategy sets out our ambitions and actions to provide the best possible treatment and care, as early as possible, to children and young people with cancer. There are several actions that specifically relate to an early, precise diagnosis of cancer.

The Managed Clinical Network for Children and Young People with Cancer (MCN CYPC) are responsible for the implementation and evaluation of the Children and Young People’s cancer strategy.

We published the Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer in August 2025, which includes a specific Cancer in Children & Young People Guideline, encompassing multiple distinct types of cancers more commonly diagnosed in those aged 0-24 years.

A suite of assets have been created for Gateway C, Scotland’s free primary care cancer education platform. These include bespoke assets focusing on children and young people to support early identification of possible symptoms of cancer and prompt referral.

Question reference: S6W-42440

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 08 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will implement the recommendation of the independent review of Adult Disability Payment to give consideration to granting automatic entitlement to Adult Disability Payment when a person satisfies certain conditions or is in receipt of other forms of assistance without having to satisfy the qualifying period.

The Scottish Government commissioned the Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment to ensure the benefit continues to meet the needs of disabled people in Scotland. We appreciate the comprehensive recommendations this report provides for how we may improve Adult Disability Payment.

We are considering the feasibility of the recommendations, including the potential impact on fairness, sustainability and delivery. An initial response to the review will be published in January 2026.

Question reference: S6W-42448

Asked by: Keith Brown, MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in the (a) Clackmannanshire and (b) Stirling local authority area received the December 2025 payment of the Carers Allowance Supplement.

Social Security Scotland regularly publishes information on the number of people who receive Carers Allowance Supplement as part of its official statistics releases, which happen twice a year.

These publications include Excel tables showing how many people were paid in each local authority area.

The most recent statistics were published on 12 August 2025, covering payments made in June 2025. These statistics can be found at: .

Figures for the December 2025 payment, broken down by local authority will be published on 10 February 2026.

Question reference: S6W-42441

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 08 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will use any learnings from the independent review of Adult Disability Payment and apply them, as appropriate, to Child Disability Payment.

The Scottish Government commissioned the Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment (ADP) to ensure the benefit continues to meet the needs of disabled people in Scotland. We appreciate the comprehensive recommendations it provides on how Adult Disability Payment may be improved.

The review focused specifically on Adult Disability Payment and many of the review’s recommendations would be neither relevant nor appropriate beyond that. However, as part of our ongoing commitment to continuous improvement, we will consider whether there are any insights and learning which may be relevant more broadly across our new disability benefits.

Question reference: S6W-42684

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support Scotland’s pelagic processing factories, following significant mackerel and herring quota cuts and the reduced volume of product available to them next year.

I recognise the serious challenges that quota reductions pose for Scotland’s pelagic sector in 2026.

Following a period of intensive engagement and consultation with key stakeholders across the pelagic supply chain, I have, after careful consideration, decided it is necessary for the Scottish Government to introduce an emergency measure for 2026 to help maintain jobs and investment in Scotland’s processing sector and support the wider supply chain.

I am, therefore, announcing today that the current Economic Link arrangements will be amended. Effective from 1 January 2026, the Economic Link licence condition will require species-specific landings of 70% for mackerel and 70% for herring into Scotland in 2026, up from the current combined requirement of 55%.

These measures will apply for 2026 and be kept under review.

Question reference: S6W-42384

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports on road condition in Inverclyde, whether it will increase the level of funding it provides to local authorities specifically for road maintenance.

The vast majority of funding allocated to councils is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on road maintenance, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The 2025-26 budget delivered record funding of over £15.1 billion for Local Government, a real terms increase of 5.5 per cent.

In 2025-26, Inverclyde Council will receive £227 million to support day to day services, which equates to an extra £13.1 million or an additional 6.1% compared to 2024-25.

As is normal, decisions on future local government finance settlements will be the subject of negotiations with COSLA on behalf of all 32 local authorities and announced as part of the outcome of the Scottish Budget on 13 January.

Question reference: S6W-42353

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it routinely cancels meetings with UK ministers at short notice, and, if so, what analysis it has undertaken of the impact on inter-governmental relations.

Question reference: S6W-42355

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) UK and (b) Scottish Budget-related meetings have taken place between Scottish and UK ministers since September 2025.