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: S7W-04123

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 5 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-25172 by Jenny Gilruth on 4 March 2024, whether it will provide the complete figures for each year since 2012-13.

Question reference: S7W-03476

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Alyn Smith on 2 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the national funding strategy for tertiary education, skills and apprenticeships, as required under the Tertiary Education and Training (Funding and Governance) (Scotland) Act 2026.

Question reference: S7W-03903

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what form the proposed additional childcare for children aged nine months referenced in its Programme for Government will take, and whether it expects this support to be equivalent to the value of between £1,400 and £11,000 committed to in the 2026 Scottish National Party manifesto.

Question reference: S7W-03902

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to introduce funded childcare for children aged between nine and 23 months, and whether this will be implemented before or after the introduction of funded childcare for primary school-age children, as announced in its Programme for Government.

Question reference: S7W-03901

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether any pilot schemes are currently in place to provide additional childcare support for children aged between nine and 23 months, and whether it has any plans to introduce any such pilot schemes in West Lothian.

Question reference: S7W-03904

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when its consultation on childcare will open and conclude.

Question reference: S7O-00365

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of its public service reform agenda on funding for third sector organisations.

Question reference: S7W-03312

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 28 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to provide any additional funding to local authorities to support the provision of cross-boundary funded childcare placements, as part of the wider reforms to childcare announced in its Programme for Government.

The local government settlement already fully funds the provision of 1140 hours of high-quality ELC for all eligible children, with the Scottish Government investing around £1 billion every year since 2021.

Local Authorities are encouraged to work together to offer families a choice of provider which is not limited by local authority boundaries through joint Funding Follows the Child guidance developed by COSLA and the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government continues to call on all local authorities to work together to offer choice and flexibility where families are impacted by boundary lines.

Ministers have committed to exploring cross-boundary provision further with COSLA within the context of wider reform and the Scottish Government’s ambition to transform the wider childcare offer during this parliament.

Question reference: S7W-03311

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 28 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings it has had with COSLA to discuss the issue of local authorities ceasing the provision of cross-boundary funded childcare placements in the current calendar year, and on what date or dates those meetings took place.

The previous Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise and the First Minister both wrote to COSLA on the issue in March 2026 before the dissolution of Parliament, calling for action to address the concerns of affected families in relation to local decisions restricting the choice of cross-boundary provision and noting that cross-boundary provision would be a key issue for local and national government to consider during the next parliamentary term.

Following her appointment, the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic highlighted concerns about cross-boundary provision to the COSLA Spokesperson for Children and Young People at their introductory meeting on 1 June 2026.

This issue remains a priority for Ministers, who have committed to exploring cross-boundary provision further with COSLA within the context of wider reform and the Scottish Government’s ambition to transform the wider childcare offer during this parliament.

Question reference: S7W-03313

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 28 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce a binding duty on local authorities to provide cross-boundary funded childcare placements in the current parliamentary session.

Local authorities do not have a statutory duty to provide funded ELC to children who reside outside their area, however they have the power to do so under section 23 of the Education (Scotland) Act (1980) and are encouraged through joint Scottish Government and COSLA guidance to treat children from neighbouring authorities the same, wherever possible.

While the Scottish Government is not currently planning to legislate to create a statutory duty, Ministers remain open to exploring all potential routes to improving families’ experiences.