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

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Question reference: S6O-05451

Asked by: Davy Russell, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how its employability programmes support parents of children aged nine months to three years to return to work, in light of the lack of funded childcare for this age group.

Question reference: S6O-05361

Asked by: Davy Russell, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the rates of young people not in education, employment or training.

Question reference: S6O-05309

Asked by: Davy Russell, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to further support the Programme for Scotland's Childminding Future beyond its current three-year cycle in order to continue to grow the number of childminders across Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-05282

Asked by: Davy Russell, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Shelter Scotland statistics stating that there are 109,000 families on waiting lists for social housing.

Question reference: S6W-42028

Asked by: Davy Russell, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce legislation to end ticket resales in Scotland for profit, in light of the UK Government's recently announced plans.

The Scottish Government welcomes the statement of intent from the UK Government to explore possible legislative solutions and will continue to engage with the UK Government as their proposals to address this, and dynamic ticket pricing, continue to emerge.

As well as a range of existing legislative measures to address ticket resales for profit in general, the Scottish Government has previously criminalised ticket touting for specific major events held in Scotland. We have made detailed and specific exceptions for above face value sales to enable support for charitable causes, associated with such events.

Most recently the UEFA European Championship (Scotland) Bill (SP Bill 60), introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 12 March 2025, seeks to provide a range of commercial rights protections, including a ban on ticket touting, in order to meet UEFA’s requirements for hosting EURO 2028 matches in Scotland.

A more general provision driven by consumer protection, rather than commercial rights protection for EURO 2028, would be a reserved matter.

However, the Scottish Government also recognises the manner in which new technology has not only opened increased channels for selling tickets above face price but also making it easier to ticket tout on an industrial scale. As well as increasing the risk of fraud for fans, such activity also diverts funding away from the creative industries sector that might otherwise have been directly benefiting the artists and venues.

Question reference: S6O-05200

Asked by: Davy Russell, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what specific action it has taken to address waiting lists for hip and knee replacement surgeries.

Question reference: S6O-05135

Asked by: Davy Russell, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve working conditions for employees of the Scottish Prison Service.

Question reference: S6O-05097

Asked by: Davy Russell, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support new farmers and crofters in South Lanarkshire.

Question reference: S6O-05060

Asked by: Davy Russell, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 October 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on any potential impact of the recently reported decline in the number of computer studies teachers on employment in the technology and digital sectors.

Question reference: S6W-40391

Asked by: Davy Russell, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 22 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding (a) how many and (b) what proportion of care experienced people have enrolled in (i) the Open University and (b) other university education in each of the last 10 years.

Care Experienced students entering undergraduate courses at The Open University and other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have been included below.

Further details on Care Experienced students in Scotland can be found in the annual Scottish Funding Council's Report on Widening Access (RoWA). https://www.sfc.ac.uk/publications/report-on-widening-access-2023-24/

Scottish Domiciled undergraduate entrants to Scottish universities, by Care Experienced status, 2014-15 to 2023-24

Academic year	Provider	Care Experienced	% of all UG entrants who are care experienced*
2014-15	The Open University	45	1%
	Other HEIs	230	1%
2015-16	The Open University	35	1%
	Other HEIs	225	1%
2016-17	The Open University	45	1%
	Other HEIs	250	1%
2017-18	The Open University	45	1%
	Other HEIs	325	1%
2018-19	The Open University	35	1%
	Other HEIs	425	1%
2019-20	The Open University	50	1%
	Other HEIs	450	1%
2020-21	The Open University	55	1%
	Other HEIs	600	1%
2021-22	The Open University	95	1%
	Other HEIs	670	1%
2022-23	The Open University	185	2%
	Other HEIs	710	2%
2023-24	The Open University	220	3%
	Other HEIs	815	2%

Source: HESA Student Data, SG Secondary Analysis

*Percentage is an estimate and could be influenced by the number of unknowns in the data and improved data quality in recent years.

1) When interpreting figures relating to care experienced students it is important to note that the reporting of students from care experienced backgrounds has been given more focus in recent years, with increased efforts made to encourage students to declare themselves as being care experienced.

2) Those on short part-time courses are more likely to include unknown information.

3) Numbers may differ slightly from other published sources due to the way data has been aggregated. This includes 2020-21 where SFC published a slightly higher number of Care Experienced students due to post-data collection changes.

4) Numers are rounded to the nearest 5.

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