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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-44363

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what safeguarding training is provided by NHS Scotland to deal with violence against women and girls.

Question reference: S6W-44373

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a consistent nationwide approach to data collection on violence against women and girls in the NHS.

Question reference: S6W-44040

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 12 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the current implementation of free personal and nursing care reflects the original policy intent of the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002.

Question reference: S6W-44037

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 10 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of local authorities operating waiting lists for free personal and nursing care, and what its position is on whether this is consistent with the statutory framework.

Question reference: S6W-44038

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 10 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it is appropriate for local authorities to prioritise free personal and nursing care payments based on risk assessment or funding availability, including where an eligible person is self-funding.

Question reference: S6W-44036

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 10 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether free personal and nursing care under the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 must be implemented promptly once eligibility is confirmed, or whether local authorities may lawfully delay implementation due to resource constraints.

Free personal and nursing care is underpinned by the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002, which places a duty on local authorities to secure the provision of personal and nursing care, without charge, for individuals who are assessed as eligible. Once eligibility has been confirmed, local authorities must put arrangements in place as soon as reasonably practicable. Operational factors such as care planning and provider availability can affect timescales, but financial pressures or resource constraints do not remove or suspend the underlying statutory duty. The entitlement is not discretionary and applies equally to those who are self-funding their accommodation costs in care homes.

Decisions on eligibility are made by local authorities in line with the guidance set out in the National Eligibility Criteria Framework for Adult Social Care as agreed by the Scottish Government and CoSLA in 2009. The guidance provides a mechanism for managing demand for social care based on the principle that local authorities will manage their resources to focus first on supporting those people who are most in urgent need. It outlines that eligibility criteria should be based on risk and urgency of the need for support and sets out four risk categories against which people’s needs should be considered (low, moderate, substantial and critical).

Local authorities are democratically accountable for the discharge of their statutory responsibilities. Compliance is supported and overseen through statutory guidance, financial and performance reporting, scrutiny by the Care Inspectorate, and established complaints and redress mechanisms, including the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. The Scottish Government continues to engage closely with CoSLA to understand system pressures and to support implementation which reflects both the statutory framework and the founding principles of free personal and nursing care.

Question reference: S6W-44039

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 10 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms exist to monitor compliance by local authorities with statutory duties relating to free personal and nursing care, particularly where payments are delayed due to financial pressures.

Question reference: S6W-43870

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 20 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, following the pause to the publication of The Long Term Conditions Framework in December 2025, what progress has been made in establishing an advisory board for grouped long-term conditions, including myalgic enchephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and long COVID, and when the initial recommendations will be provided to the Scottish Government.

I opened an event with clinicians and third sector organisations on 25 February to set out the role and remit of the work on long term conditions going forward.

This work is a vital part of the Service Renewal Framework, Major Change One on the services that prevent disease, enable early detection and effectively manage chronic and long term conditions.

Advisory Groups led by clinicians and third sector organisations will now be set up with recommendations made to the new administration for consideration.

Question reference: S6W-43848

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to the Urgent Question and supplementary questions by Dorothy Bain on 18 February 2026, and in light of the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General having recused themselves from Operation Branchform, whether this means that they should not have had any knowledge of, or dealings with, the criminal case against Peter Murrell, and, if so, for what reason a minute was sent to the First Minister.

Question reference: S6W-43901

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its decision to refuse on appeal the planning application for Flamingo Land, whether it will now end Scottish Enterprise’s exclusivity agreement with Lomond Banks.