Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-43945

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation it has undertaken of any impact of radiographer and clinical radiologist staffing levels on timely access to CT and MRI scans.

Question reference: S6W-43943

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve timely access to CT and MRI scans, and how the impact of initiatives, including seven-day services and mobile scanning units, is being evaluated.

Question reference: S6W-43810

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 26 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, as part of efforts to reduce child poverty, whether it will consider widening the eligibility criteria of the Young Patients Family Fund to make it more accessible to the families who are most in need of financial support by (a) taking a "cash first" approach and (b) extending it to outpatients attending regular appointments.

The Young Patients Family Fund (YPFF) is designed to support the families of all babies, children and young people from birth to age 18 who require inpatient care in Scotland. The fund helps with travel, subsistence and accommodation costs to ensure families can remain close to their child during a hospital stay.

The Scottish Government keeps the operation and eligibility of the YPFF under regular review, alongside the wider financial support available to patients and families through the patient travel expenses reimbursement schemes. Any decisions on potential changes to the YPFF will be considered in that context, recognising that accessibility is an important factor.

Question reference: S6W-43910

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 February 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent tooth decay in children, and what recent discussions it has had with the British Dental Association regarding this.

Question reference: S6O-05602

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the gap between secondary school leavers from the most deprived and least deprived areas going to a positive destination widened to 4.7 percentage points, which is the largest since 2020-21.

Question reference: S6W-43768

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-43538 by Gillian Martin on 12 February 2026, how many times the Energy Consents Unit has corresponded with the Children’s Rights Unit by (a) email, (b) post or (c) internal memo to request a consultation or advice regarding any impacts on children.

Question reference: S6W-43593

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding the calculations provided by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) that to uplift pay in commissioned services from the real Living Wage in 2025-26 to that for 2026-27 would cost more than has been allocated in the draft Budget and amounts to a shortfall of £15 million for adult social care and £4 million for children’s social care and early learning and childcare.

The Scottish Government heard the concerns raised by local government and social care providers regarding the funding challenges in relation to the uplift to the Real Living Wage in commissioned care services.

In direct response to those concerns, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government confirmed to the Scottish Parliament our intention to amend the Budget Bill at Stage 2 to allocate a further £20 million of funding to the Local Government Settlement. In tandem with the original budget commitment, that funding is sufficient to meet the uplift to the Real Living Wage in full across adult social care, children social care and early learning and childcare and highlights the benefits of open and robust engagement.

Question reference: S6W-43592

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what potential risks to supported people and jobs it considered before deciding to change the baseline calculation for the social care commissioned services pay uplift for 2026-27, and what mitigations it put in place to address any such risks.

The Scottish Government heard the concerns raised by local government and social care providers regarding the funding challenges in relation to the uplift to the Real Living Wage in commissioned care services.

In direct response to those concerns, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government confirmed to the Scottish Parliament our intention to amend the Budget Bill at Stage 2 to allocate a further £20 million of funding to the Local Government Settlement. In tandem with the original budget commitment, that funding is sufficient to meet the uplift to the Real Living Wage in full across adult social care, children social care and early learning and childcare and highlights the benefits of open and robust engagement.

Question reference: S6W-43594

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it undertook with (a) commissioned providers, (b) local government and (c) health and social care partnerships regarding proposals to change the social care commissioned services pay uplift baseline for 2026-27, in advance of the publication of the draft Budget 2026-27.

The Scottish Government heard the concerns raised by local government and social care providers regarding the funding challenges in relation to the uplift to the Real Living Wage in commissioned care services.

In direct response to those concerns, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government confirmed to the Scottish Parliament our intention to amend the Budget Bill at Stage 2 to allocate a further £20 million of funding to the Local Government Settlement. In tandem with the original budget commitment, that funding is sufficient to meet the uplift to the Real Living Wage in full across adult social care, children social care and early learning and childcare and highlights the benefits of open and robust engagement.

Question reference: S6W-43595

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 20 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its decision to not fully fund the social care pay uplift from the real Living Wage 2025-26 to the real Living Wage 2026-27 in its draft Budget 2026-27, who it has asked to fund the gap in pay for wholly commissioned public services.

The Scottish Government heard the concerns raised by local government and social care providers regarding the funding challenges in relation to the uplift to the Real Living Wage in commissioned care services.

In direct response to those concerns, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government confirmed to the Scottish Parliament our intention to amend the Budget Bill at Stage 2 to allocate a further £20 million of funding to the Local Government Settlement. In tandem with the original budget commitment, that funding is sufficient to meet the uplift to the Real Living Wage in full across adult social care, children social care and early learning and childcare and highlights the benefits of open and robust engagement.

Seòmar agus comataidhean