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-02813

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the UK Government's strategy for England, Our place to give: a plan for growing place-based philanthropy, and whether it has identified any approaches within that strategy that could inform collaboration between government, philanthropy and civil society in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has noted the publication of the UK Government’s “Our Place to Give” strategy with interest. We recognise the significant history of philanthropy in Scotland and welcome the opportunity to strengthen Scotland’s Third Sector through meaningful collaboration with philanthropists and charitable foundations.

We are committed to developing a Third Sector Partnership Agreement in collaboration with the sector and other partners, including independent funders. The Partnership is an opportunity to build on the relationship between Scottish Government and the Third Sector, recognise the third sector’s role and reset how Scottish Government, the third sector and partners work together to design and deliver policy and services that meet the needs of the people of Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-02815

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with charitable funders regarding the reported pressures that charities are facing as public finances tighten, and whether it will consider the role that philanthropic funding could play alongside public funding to help sustain vital community organisations.

Question reference: S7W-02816

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider the establishment of a clear point of contact within government for philanthropists and charitable foundations wishing to work in partnership with it, similar to the model used by the UK Government's Office for the Impact Economy.

Scottish Government welcomes the UK Government’s commitment to the impact economy. The PfG published earlier this month announced the development of a new Social Economy Strategy, enabling the future development of social enterprises and other forms of socially oriented business models. This work will be led by the Scottish Government's Economy Directorate, demonstrating Scottish Governments commitment to the social economy being at the heart of our wider economic growth. In developing the new social economy strategy Scottish Government will ensure that their is alignment with the Third Sector Partnership Agreement that is being progressed within SG communities.

Question reference: S7W-02812

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with philanthropic foundations and individual philanthropists regarding the role that philanthropy can play in supporting charities and communities across Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the role that philanthropy can play in supporting our third sector and communities across Scotland. As part of our policy development with respect to the third sector, Scottish Government engages with independent funders, philanthropic foundations and academics. We recognise the funding pressures that third sector organisations are facing and we will continue to engage and explore opportunities which would support a sustainable and resilient third sector.

Question reference: S7W-02817

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will convene a roundtable with philanthropists, charitable foundations and representatives of the wider third sector to consider how Scotland can encourage greater philanthropic giving and develop opportunities for government and philanthropy to work together on shared priorities.

The Scottish Government understands how important it is to embed collaboration is to the delivery of our shared priorities. In the Programme for Government, we announced the development of a Scottish Prevention Investment Framework, which aims to provide a consistent approach to identifying, assessing and prioritising investment in prevention and early intervention, helping direct resources towards actions that improve outcomes for people and reduce future demand on public services. Collaboration with external parties, including with philanthropists and the third sector, will be part of the development of this Framework.

Question reference: S7W-02814

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, following the publication of the UK Government's strategy for England, Our place to give: a plan for growing place-based philanthropy, whether it will consider developing a strategy for Scotland to encourage philanthropy and strengthen the relationship between government, charitable funders and philanthropists.

Question reference: S7W-03215

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 14 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS boards are responsible for investigating patient experience complaints against GP practices that are not directly managed by the NHS.

Question reference: S7W-03247

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 14 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce national guidance on screen time for children under five, including specific limits, similar to the guidance introduced in England.

Question reference: S7W-03248

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 14 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what resources, in addition to the advice available through the Parent Club platform, it is developing to provide parents and caregivers with clear and comprehensive guidance on managing screen time, device exposure and AI-driven tools for children under five in the home environment.

Question reference: S7W-02811

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh North Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 11 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what programmes it has to respond to the reported decline in children's online safety.

The Scottish Government currently have a number of programmes in place and planned for the future to help create a safer online environment for children and young people. On 25 March 2026 the Online Safety Taskforce published its Action Plan which brings together our priorities for protection children and young people from online harm. This plan will continue to be built upon to ensure it evolves alongside the lived experiences of children and young people across Scotland.

We recognise that online safety is a complex problem and that there is a spectrum of harm that can occur – from damaging concentration, to wasted childhood years scrolling on one end, through to the absorption of harmful violent/misogynistic/radicalising content in the middle, to incitement to self-harm and grooming at the most acute end. We have therefore committed in our Programme for Government to take a public health approach to online safety to ensure children, parents and schools are better equipped to deal with online safety.

As part of this approach we launched Digital Wellbeing surveys on 19 August to hear directly from children, young people and parents/carers on the issues facing them and what further guidance they would like. On the 25 August we launched a public health campaign, with content on how parents can help keep their children safe online, as well as a public consultation on restricting access to mobile phones in schools.

We fund a range of initiatives that address social media usage amongst children and young people to help them navigate online spaces and use screens in a healthy, safe and positive way. This includes the Digital Discourse Initiative and the Mind Yer Time resource which is designed by children and young people to use social media and screens in a healthy way. We also work with Parent Club to provide a range of advice for parents and carers on supporting the mental health and wellbeing of their children and families, including a range of advice and information specifically for parents of teenage children.