- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 28 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to issue statutory guidance on the assessment of capacity for the purposes of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill.
Answer
Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill is still to go through a further amending stage (Stage 3), before MSPs are asked to vote on whether or not to pass the Bill. The guidance that will constitute statutory guidance will depend on the final text of the Bill, should it be passed.
The Scottish Government continues to maintain a neutral position on the Bill. The Government will of course comply with the law and therefore if the Bill is passed and the resulting Act requires statutory guidance to be issued on a matter the Government will do so. Decisions around the content of any statutory guidance which the resulting Act permits or requires to be issued will only be made as part of implementation if the Bill passes, as it will need to be in accordance with the final text of the Act and informed by stakeholders’ views.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Ben Macpherson on 28 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the responses to its consultation Support for part-time study and disabled students, which closed on 9 October 2025
Answer
Responses to the Citizen Space consultation on Support for Part-Time Study and Disabled Students were published on 9th January 2026 at https://consult.gov.scot/.
An analysis report of the consultation findings will be published in spring 2026.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 6 February 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to use the allocation of over £7 million to support the implementation of improvements in neurodevelopmental assessments, as announced in its draft Budget 2026-27.
Answer
Answer expected on 6 February 2026
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 January 2026
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2026
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to findings published by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow indicating that a majority of clinicians anticipate practical challenges in implementing the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2026
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) standards and (b) requirements breast screening centres must meet to provide reasonable adjustments and supportive equipment for women with limited mobility.
Answer
The Scottish Breast Screening Service is committed to improving accessibility and ensuring as many eligible women as possible can participate in breast screening. Guidance, developed and issued by Public Health Scotland, is followed by all health boards to ensure all reasonable measures are taken to enable women with limited mobility to attend their screening appointment. This guidance supplements the Healthcare Improvement Scotland breast screening standards, published in 2019, and the 2010 Equality Act Public Sector Duty.
Screening invitation letters request that women who require additional access or support should contact the breast screening centre in advance of their appointment to discuss their requirements and what adjustments would be appropriate so that they can attend their appointment. Once a participant has made the breast screening centre aware of additional requirements, this can be recorded to ensure appropriate support is allocated in future invitations, such as extended appointment time, or hoist access into a mobile unit.
It is important to note that all women, including those who are physically unable to have a mammogram, should speak to their GP if they are concerned about possible signs of breast cancer. If a woman does have symptoms, she should be referred for assessment at a symptomatic clinic.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how NHS Scotland is working with mammography machine manufacturers to improve the adaptability of its equipment to enhance access for women with (a) mobility impairments and (b) physical disabilities.
Answer
The Scottish Breast Screening Service is committed to improving accessibility and ensuring as many eligible women as possible can participate in breast screening. While the NHS does not have direct input into the manufacturing of mammography equipment, careful consideration is given to the needs of women with mobility impairments or physical disabilities, during the procurement process.
As part of the procurement process, the Scottish Breast Screening Service visit manufacturers to view and assess the available equipment to assess its accessibility for patients with mobility impairments and physical disability. Currently, there is no available mammogram equipment fully accessible to all women; however, the breast screening service will continue to procure the most suitable and accessible equipment that is available, in conjunction with providing guidance to all staff to ensure accessibility is at the forefront of our service. Women who are unable to have a mammogram are provided with assistance on when and how to contact a GP to ask for a breast check and further discuss possible symptoms of breast cancer.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the recorded number of women who cannot undergo a complete mammography due to mobility impairments or restrictions.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not collate information nationally on the number of women who cannot undergo a complete mammography due to mobility impairments or restrictions. Individual screening centres hold this information as women are requested to contact them with details of any accessibility needs so that their visit can be planned. This ensures an appropriate appointment is allocated for those who can participate in screening, and may include extended appointment time or mobile hoist access for wheelchair users. Once the requirements are recorded, adjustments for the next appointment will be made in advance of the appointment being issued.
The breast screening programme is committed to improving accessibility, and therefore continues to monitor any innovations and research that could increase accessibility for women with mobility impairments or restrictions. In addition, for women who are unable to have a mammogram but are considered at very high risk of breast cancer, an MRI can be used for screening.
It remains important that women who are unable to participate in breast screening speak to their GP if they notice any possible signs of breast cancer. A GP can determine whether they should be referred for diagnostic testing using methods which are suitable for women who are unable to participate in breast screening. Details of the possible signs of breast cancer can be found on NHS Inform.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 October 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 20 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the December 2025 publication of Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland has been cancelled.
Answer
The content previously included in the “Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland” statistical release will now be released as three separate publications:
- Pupil and teacher characteristics - covering information from the current academic year’s pupil census and the school staff census
- Funded early learning and childcare statistics - covering information from the current academic year’s Early Learning and Childcare census
- School attendance, absence and exclusions statistics - covering information from the previous academic year’s attendance absence and exclusions data collections
This change will make it easier for users to find and access the statistics they are interested in. All three new publications are scheduled for release on 9 December 2025, in line with the usual publication date for Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland which has now been discontinued.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 November 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-30645 by Jenny Gilruth on 8 November 2024, whether it has completed its analysis of bids to the school meal debt fund and followed up with local authorities on the information provided and, if so, whether it will confirm how many (a) children and (b) families had their school meal debt written off as a result of this fund, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The local authorities who received support to clear their known school meal debt to 31 March 2024 have now reported on the funding they received. While this report will be published in due course, it is clear that local authorities collect data in different ways and therefore it is not possible to differentiate between the number of children and families funding has helped. However, from reports we believe that in excess of 70,000 instances of support were provided to children and families by this fund.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 November 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer given to question S6W-30642 by Jenny Gilruth on 7 November 2024, whether it has completed its analysis of bids to the school meal debt fund and followed up with local authorities on the information provided and, if so, whether it will confirm how much funding in total has been received by local authorities through this fund.
Answer
Following analysis of local authority bids to the School Meal Debt Fund, £2,887,345.58 was allocated to 30 local authorities who applied for support. A breakdown of allocations is as follow:
Local Authority | Grant amount |
Aberdeen City | £411,977.90 |
Aberdeenshire | £145,751.82 |
Angus | £25,872.90 |
Argyll and Bute | £24,348.66 |
Clackmannanshire | £30,624.00 |
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | £10,057.61 |
Dumfries and Galloway | £29,439.63 |
Dundee City | £21,318.68 |
East Ayrshire | £82,180.63 |
East Dunbartonshire | £74,230.69 |
East Lothian | £54,354.71 |
East Renfrewshire | £53,760.77 |
Edinburgh, City of | £89,321.00 |
Falkirk | £60,181.31 |
Fife | £81,495.00 |
Glasgow City | £655,032.39 |
Highland | £115,747.76 |
Inverclyde | £74,041.99 |
Midlothian | £50,030.00 |
Moray | £38,295.85 |
North Ayrshire | £314,843.00 |
North Lanarkshire | £21,263.00 |
Orkney Islands | £7,330.52 |
Perth and Kinross | £29,310.43 |
Renfrewshire | £106,077.68 |
Scottish Borders | £3,908.21 |
Shetland Islands | £15,949.52 |
South Ayrshire | £28,214.73 |
South Lanarkshire | £224,215.00 |
Stirling | £8,170.19 |
SCOTLAND | £2,887,345.58 |
