Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-41034

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to improving access to blood borne virus testing in NHS board areas where emergency department opt-out testing will not be available.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving access to blood borne virus (BBV) testing across all NHS Board areas as part of our BBV elimination efforts. While we are taking a phased approach to implementing emergency department opt-out testing – initially focusing on areas of higher prevalence - we will consider further expansion if evidence emerges to support this.

All NHS Boards and other relevant services are encouraged to adopt approaches to BBV testing which are appropriate to their local contexts. These include testing in primary care, drug and alcohol services, custodial settings, community pharmacies and through outreach initiatives. This year, for the first time, the Scottish Government has set targets for BBV testing in prisons and drug and alcohol services to encourage uptake.

In addition, work is underway to increase testing for patients who present with symptoms that may indicate a BBV. This includes the development of a national HIV indicator condition action plan and local adoption of tools such as intelligent liver function testing to support earlier diagnosis of hepatitis.

Question reference: S6W-41036

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) delivery models, in addition to the E-PrEP pilot.

Ensuring equitable access to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) remains a priority for the Scottish Government. Our assessment of PrEP delivery models is informed by multi-sector engagement, expert advice from the HIV Transmission Elimination Delivery Plan Implementation Group and surveillance data published by Public Health Scotland (PHS).

The latest HIV in Scotland report from PHS highlights increased uptake of PrEP among women and trans people, alongside sustained demand among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. However, we recognise that further action is needed to increase awareness and uptake of PrEP, particularly among people who may face barriers to accessing sexual health services. In addition to funding the online PrEP (e-PrEP) clinic pilot, the Scottish Government’s HIV Transmission Elimination Delivery Plan sets out a range of actions to increase awareness of PrEP and explore alternative access routes, including primary care, community pharmacies and outreach-based models.

Question reference: S6W-37444

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its 2014 public procurement policy note regarding illegal settlements, what action it has taken to prevent public funds being used for activities related to illegal Israeli settlements.

Any action which the Scottish Government takes on public procurement must comply with obligations in applicable international agreements.

It has been the consistently expressed view of the Scottish Government that the exploitation of assets in illegally occupied territories is likely to constitute grave professional misconduct for the purposes of public procurement law. This would give rise to grounds to exclude a bidder engaged in such conduct from procurement processes. Any decision to exclude such a bidder, is however, one for the contracting authority awarding the contract in question, and must be taken following assessment of available evidence. I have asked officials to refresh our guidance to public bodies on this point.

Following the publication in 2020 of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights' database of companies believed to be active in listed activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Scottish Government wrote to all Scottish public bodies, asking them to identify any companies on the database with whom they had a relevant and ongoing relationship.

As Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, I wrote to those identified companies in June 2022, asking them to explain what they were doing to cease the specific activities which had led to their inclusion in that database.

Last year, the Minister for Business wrote to Scottish public bodies in October, advising them that the database had been updated, and that it should be used as part of their due diligence processes.

On 3 September, the First Minister outlined a range of measures which the Scottish Government is taking in response to the situation in Gaza. This includes pausing the payment of new business grants to, or investment in, companies involved in the design, production, supply, and support of military equipment, technologies and services, whose products or services are provided to specific identified countries, where there is plausible evidence of genocide being committed by that country.

The First Minister also called on the UK Government to prohibit the import of goods produced in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Question reference: S6W-39821

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 1 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the timescale is for the completion of the work by the Scottish Law Commission regarding tenement law reform; in the event that it is not achieved before May 2026, how early in the next parliamentary session it expects to be in a position to introduce legislation resulting from this, and whether the reforms will include consideration of mandatory block insurance.

The Scottish Law Commission (SLC) agreed to carry out a law reform project to examine whether compulsory owners’ associations for tenement properties could be established and if so what changes in the law may be required.

The SLC is expected to provide the Scottish Government with a Report and draft Bill for consideration in Spring 2026.

Following receipt of SLC Report and draft Bill, the Scottish Government will take the time required to fully consider an appropriate way forward.

Question reference: S6O-04875

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support local authorities and other public bodies to apply ethical criteria when deciding whether to divest from sectors such as fossil fuels, arms companies and businesses complicit in occupation or war crimes.

Question reference: S6W-39532

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 19 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates that it will be able to bring forward anchor funding for The Art Works project in Granton.

The Scottish Government remains committed to The Art Works project in Granton. Discussions are ongoing between the Scottish Government, NGS and the wider collections sector to ensure the project delivers the best value for money from any further Scottish Government investment.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government has confirmed that the next multi-year Scottish Spending Review and infrastructure pipeline will be published alongside the 2026-27 Budget. The Scottish Government remains committed to infrastructure investment as a key lever in securing economic growth, tackling the climate crisis, and delivering high-quality public infrastructure across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-39435

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 14 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has issued any policy or guidance to (a) publicly owned companies and (b) ScotRail regarding the outsourcing of functions.

Question reference: S6W-39507

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 13 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38909 by Jenny Gilruth on 22 July 2025, whether it will provide the information that was requested and confirm whether any additional Barnett consequential funding is available as a result of the UK Government’s reported additional investment for dealing with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in English schools.

We are not able to determine the detail of any consequential impact of the UK Government’s announcements on additional investment in relation to RAAC. These commitments form part of the UK Government’s decisions on departmental allocations at phase 1 and phase 2 of the UK Spending Review, which covers funding for 2025-26 onwards. At Spending Reviews, the Scottish Government receives additional Barnett funding for the net changes in departmental totals only, rather than being provided with a programme level breakdown.

However, through the £2bn Learning Estate Investment Programme, the Scottish Government will provide local authorities with significant funding support to replace 6 schools which contain RAAC.

Question reference: S6W-39434

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 11 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether its ministers are involved in ScotRail's decision-making regarding the reported intention to outsource its complaints handling service.

Question reference: S6W-39433

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 25 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether publicly owned companies should operate a presumption against outsourcing of business functions that are capable of being undertaken in-house.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring publicly owned companies deliver services that are high-quality, provide best value, support fair work and contribute to inclusive economic growth. This includes an expectation in favour of in-house delivery where functions can be undertaken effectively within the organisation and where this is demonstrably in the public interest.

However, any decision whether to outsource or utilise in-house functions is for individual, publicly owned companies to make in line with their legal duties, operational requirements and a full assessment of any impacts, including quality of service, value for money and public benefits before such a decision to outsource is made.

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