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 MSPs 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-43616

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated to community audiology in its draft Budget 2026-27, and how this funding will be used to deliver more care in the community.

The draft 2026-27 Scottish Budget includes additional funding for community audiology of £1 million, underlining our commitment to support community audiology policy development and the Service Renewal Framework vision to shift the balance of care to the community.

The 2026-27 Budget will also support continued funding of the “Near You” service run by the Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID). The service is operating in five Scottish health board areas and provides hearing checks and after-care support to hearing aid users, including maintenance, battery replacement, sign-posting and peer support.

Question reference: S6W-43539

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 13 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent (FTE) Scottish Public Pensions Agency staff are currently working on matters related to the Matthews (Second Options) Case for retained firefighters.

Question reference: S6W-43537

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) regarding the Matthews (Second Options) Case for retained firefighters, and whether a calculation and statement will be sent by the SPPA to all eligible members by the March 2026 deadline.

In March 2025 the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) paused delivery of the Matthews Second Options exercise to enable it to accelerate progress in other dependent remediation work.

The timescale for issuing calculations and statements to firefighters was initially anticipated to be between October 2025 and March 2026. This timetable has subsequently been revised and these statements will be issued from April 2026, allowing eligible retained firefighters to make an application under the rules.

The SPPA website contains further useful information about the Matthews Second Options exercise: https://pensions.gov.scot/firefighters/matthews-2nd-option-case.

Question reference: S6O-05537

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to continue providing funding to any organisations that challenge the judgment in the For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers case.

Question reference: S6W-43469

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what factors have contributed to the reported increase in the number of prisoners subject to an Order for Lifelong Restriction living in the community on licence in recent years.

The Parole Board for Scotland are responsible for directing the release of an individual subject to an Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR) and for setting licence conditions. They will only direct release when they are satisfied that imprisonment is no longer necessary for public protection. An individual subject to an OLR in the community will have a Risk Management Plan approved by the Risk Management Authority for the rest of their life.

Question reference: S6O-05454

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent report by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales showing that business confidence in Scotland has fallen for the sixth consecutive quarter and is lower than the UK average.

Question reference: S6W-42887

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it has been working with NHS boards to reduce A&E waiting times in order to meet the standard for 95% of all patients to be admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours of arrival, in light of recent Public Health Scotland statistics for the month ending 30 November 2025, which state that only 66.7% of A&E attendances met this threshold.

Question reference: S6W-42884

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 63,867 domestic abuse incidents reported to the police in 2023-24 involved a repeat offender, and, if there are no available statistics on this, for what reason this information is not recorded.

Question reference: S6W-42886

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to address the 8% increase in suspected drug deaths from January to September 2025, compared with the same period in 2024, as set out in its quarterly report, Suspected drug deaths in Scotland: July to September 2025.

Question reference: S6W-42885

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government to what extent it considers that any increases in NHS waiting times contributed to the 8% increase in suspected drug deaths from January to September 2025, compared with the same period in 2024, as set out in its quarterly report, Suspected drug deaths in Scotland: July to September 2025.