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: S6O-05293

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made to update national guidance for local authorities on their responsibilities to uphold public access rights.

Question reference: S6W-42204

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the most recent statistics on the level of uptake of the influenza vaccination, when NHS Highland received them; whether there has been a delay in making them public, and, if so, for what reason.

Publicly available influenza vaccine uptake data is published every Thursday, by Public Health Scotland (PHS), via . Publication of influenza uptake data by eligible cohort group began on Thursday 23 October. Publication of uptake for each of the 14 Health Boards began on Thursday 27 November.

NHS Highland, along with the other territorial Health Boards, have access to a range of management information data that is updated each Tuesday by PHS. This has been available to the Health Boards since Tuesday 23 September.

Question reference: S6W-42208

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the theme of Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week 2025, "How it feels", and how it plans to better incorporate lived experience in the formulation of government policy on invisible illnesses such as inflammatory bowel disease.

The Scottish Government welcomes the theme of Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week 2025, How it feels, and values the work of charities like Crohn’s and Colitis UK in highlighting the challenges of managing often invisible symptoms.

We are committed to a person-centred approach across all health and care services, including those supporting people with inflammatory bowel disease. Our policy focuses on understanding individual needs and enabling outcomes that matter to people, helping them live well on their terms. We are currently developing a new Long Term Conditions Framework, shaped by lived experience engagement.

Question reference: S6W-42224

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has made available for workers to retrain and upskill in AI and information technology at any stage in their career.

The Scottish Government is committed to enabling individuals/workers at all stages of their careers to retrain and enhance their capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI) and information technology. This commitment is delivered through a comprehensive suite of interventions, including funding administered by Skills Development Scotland, strategic investment in colleges and universities, the expansion of digital apprenticeships, and targeted support for data and AI skills development through initiatives such as The Data Lab.

As set out in the Programme for Government 2025-26, the Scottish Government will establish AI Scotland — a national transformation programme underpinned by collaboration across businesses, academia, government, and public bodies. A central component of this programme is the development of a national AI adoption framework for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This will focus on building delivery capacity, assessing and addressing AI-related skills requirements, and strengthening Scotland’s AI talent pipeline to facilitate workforce reskilling and adaptation as AI technologies reshape employment and the wider economy.

Question reference: S6W-42206

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ask NHS Highland to commit to provide to the public all data regarding the levels of uptake of influenza vaccination and to do so immediately upon that data becoming available.

Public Health Scotland is responsible for preparing influenza vaccination uptake statistics.

Adult influenza vaccine uptake data is publicly available via and is updated every Thursday. This includes uptake data for each of the 14 Health Boards, including NHS Highland, which has been publicly available since 27 November.

Child influenza uptake data is also available via for each cohort but is not broken down by Health Board.

Question reference: S6W-42205

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government who prepares the influenza vaccination uptake statistics for NHS Highland, and whether it will publish all correspondence with the authors thereof.

Question reference: S6W-42203

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the level of uptake of the influenza vaccination has been in the NHS Highland area in (a) the current year to date, and (b) each of the last five years.

As of 30 November 2025, uptake of the adult flu vaccine in NHS Highland is 45.2% (69,285 vaccinations administered).

For winter 2024-25, NHS Highland adult flu vaccination uptake was 53.4% and in winter 2023-24 it was 52.8%. The figures for 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 can all be found at: .

Uptake for child flu vaccinations by Health Board level is not published by Public Health Scotland via .

We recommend contacting NHS Highland’s Immunisation Team directly, as they may be able to provide you with additional data.

Question reference: S6W-42213

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to any impacts of the changes to the UK Drug Tariff Part IX's medical device listing process in England and Wales on patients and NHS services across Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not envisage that there will be any discernible impact on patients resulting from changes to Part IX of the UK Drug Tariff. The Scottish Government uses the UK Drug Tariff to populate medical device listings and pricing, which are then organised into different parts of the Scottish Drug Tariff. There will be no change to availability of existing medical devices available to be prescribed to patients in NHS Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-42207

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any psychosocial impact of living with long-term fluctuating conditions such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, including any impact on mental health and quality of life.

While we have not specifically assessed the psychosocial impact of living with fluctuating conditions such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring people with long-term conditions receive safe, effective, person-centred care, including appropriate psychosocial support. NHS Boards are expected to follow best practice in delivering this care.

We are currently developing a Long Term Conditions Framework to inform future approaches to prevention, diagnosis and care, including mental health and wellbeing support.

We are also considering the message of Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week 2025 and will reflect this in future planning.

Question reference: S6W-42292

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much was spent on the advertising and promotion of St Andrew's Day on (a) radio, (b) television, (c) print media and (d) digital and social media in 2025.