Parliamentary questions
Kenneth Gibson
2,008 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
14 Oct 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how much the increase in employer national insurance contributions will cost the business sector in Scotland in the financial year 2025-26.
Answer · Shona Robison: Scottish Government analysis shows that changes to employer National Insurance Contributions will disproportionately impact on businesses in industries such as hospitality where almost 4,000 jobs have been lost since March, hitting lower paid and part-time st…
23 Sep 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government, as part of the work of its Ministerial Population Taskforce, what action it will undertake to support people to have larger families, should they want more children.
9 Sep 2025 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with ScotRailregarding an increase to the service frequency on the Largs to Glasgow Centralroute.
29 Aug 2025 · Topical Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Cabinet Secretary for Transport's announcement on 19 February 2025, whether it will provide an update on its discussions with Peel Ports regarding bringing Ardrossan harbour into public ownership.
26 Aug 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on the public finances of working age economic inactivity.
23 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the annual cost to the Scottish economy was as a result of lost productivity caused by smoking-related early deaths or illness in (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Scotland level information on costs for each of the years requested is not available. However, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) commissioned Landman Economics to provide updated analysis on costs of smoking which was published in January 2025. This analysis…
23 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost was to the NHS of providing medical treatment for smoking-related hospitalisations in (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Scotland level information on costs for each of the years requested is not available. However, Action on Smoking (ASH) commissioned Landman Economics to provide updated analysis on costs of smoking which was published in January 2025. This estimated the UK wi…
23 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the annual social care cost was for people with smoking-related illness or disease in (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Scotland level information on costs for each of the years requested is not available. However, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) commissioned Landman Economics to provide updated analysis on costs of smoking which was published in January 2025. This analysis…
15 Jul 2025 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how much it spent on Microsoft 365 licences in the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answer · Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB): Microsoft 365 licences are required for the 1654 users of the Parliament IT systems to access their emails, SharePoint, MS Teams, and MS Office applications as well as providing advanced security features. The annual cost for these licences is £549K and…
14 Jul 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how much was spent by (a) theNHS, (b) local authorities and (c) the entire Scottish public sector onMicrosoft 365 licences in the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answer · Ivan McKee: Scottish Government does not hold centralised figures for Microsoft 365 license spend across the entire public sector, however, information is held on spend through the Scottish Government Microsoft Enterprise Agreement and spend on all Microsoft products thr…
16 Jun 2025 · Inspired Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the commitment to the Finance and Public Administration Committee on the publication of reports on longer-term insights.
Answer · Kate Forbes: Today, we are publishing the findings from the Scottish Government’s Horizon Scanning project. The Future Trends for Scotland report and the accompanying Trend pack describe the 60 trends likely to be important to Scotland over the next 10 to 20 years. …
6 Jun 2025 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the impact on Scotland will be of the Chancellor’s Spending Review 2025.
2 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to invest in infrastructure to support a greater uptake of home dialysis as part of the forthcoming long-term conditions framework.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with long term conditions including Chronic Kidney Disease are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective…
2 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reviewed the impact of the national guidance on reimbursement for home dialysis costs to include utility costs, including water and electricity, following its introduction in March 2024.
Answer · Jenni Minto: In January 2024, we implemented a Scotland-wide policy reimbursing home dialysis patients for their extra electricity costs incurred in their treatment. At the time of implementation, there was a commitment to undertake a review 6-12 months later to ensure th…
2 Jun 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the adequacy of current financial incentives for home dialysis and whether there has been any variation in adoption across NHS boards.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The primary driver for introducing a national policy was to achieve a level of consistency and resolve the situation where some NHS Boards were already reimbursing the electricity costs associated with home dialysis, some partially reimbursing and others maki…
22 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether NHS boards should provide blood sample collection through (a) phlebotomy hubs and (b) community treatment and care services.
Answer · Neil Gray: NHS Boards are responsible for ensuring the provision of a safe, sustainable and high quality healthcare service that best meets the needs of their patients. The whole general practice team is being strengthened significantly and we are committed to increasin…
22 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) data gathering and (b) reporting requirements are in place (i) centrally and (ii) at NHS board level to capture the number of medicines prescribed off-label.
Answer · Jenni Minto: There are no data gathering or reporting requirements in relation to the number of medicines prescribed off-label, centrally. Health Boards are expected to collect this data as part of their local medicine governance processes.
22 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what requirements exist for GPs under the General Medical Services contract to provide phlebotomy services and collect blood samples to support secondary care management of chronic conditions.
Answer · Neil Gray: Under the General Medical Services contract GP practices are responsible for providing the services required for the management of their registered patients and temporary residents who are, or believe themselves to be ill, with conditions from which recovery …
22 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance is provided to clinicians who are considering prescribing a medicine off-label when unlicensed for a particular condition, when there is a Scottish Medicines Consortium approved medicine available, which is licensed for that indication.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Guidance to clinicians to support prescribing medicines off-label is provided by the General Medical Council (GMC) . The guidance states that doctors should usually prescribe licensed medicines in accordance with the terms of their licence but they may prescr…
8 May 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether fisheries management measures for the remaining inshore Marine Protected Areas and a programme of protection for Priority Marine Features outside inshore Marine Protected Areas will be fully consulted on and adopted in statute before the end of the current parliamentary session.&…
Answer · Gillian Martin: Scottish Ministers are legally required to consult, develop and implement fisheries management measures for inshore Marine Protected Areas and Priority Marine Features.Developing the evidence-base for effective fisheries management measures, and undertaking s…
28 Apr 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to reverse the decline in NHS productivity since the COVID-19 pandemic, as referenced in research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
21 Apr 2025 · Topical Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to conclude negotiations with Peel Ports regarding the purchase of Ardrossan Harbour.
25 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that any teachers impacted by stress can access appropriate support.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Although Local Authorities, as the employers of teachers, hold the legal responsibility to provide appropriate health and wellbeing support which meets their employee’s needs, the Scottish Government understands the importance of providing additional, n…
20 Mar 2025 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the UK Government’s Spring Statement.
18 Mar 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the impact will be on discretionary funding in the current financial year of the International Financial Reporting Standard 16 changes outlined in its Spring Budget Revision.
17 Mar 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on Scotland of its network of international offices.
Answer · Angus Robertson: Scotland’s international network continues to deliver tangible benefits to our people, businesses and institutions.We welcomed the recommendation made in 2022 by the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee for the Scottish Governmen…
12 Mar 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the impact on Scotland of its network of international offices.
26 Feb 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the proportion of ScotRail trains that were cancelled in 2023-24 compares with other rail operators across the UK.
11 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much the annual cost would be to provide free ferry tickets for island-based residents of (a) Argyll and Bute, (b) North Ayrshire and (c) the Highlands and Islands who are aged under 22.
Answer · Jim Fairlie: We intend to provide free foot passenger travel on inter-island ferries for under 22-year-old island residents within the Outer Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland Island groups.We also intend to extend the existing ferry concessionary scheme - which provides 4 jo…
10 Feb 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there has reportedly been limited progress in taking forward the Ayrshire Growth Deal.
Answer · Kate Forbes: The Ayrshire Growth Deal has faced significant challenges - including cost inflation, technical complexities and the COVID-19 pandemic - which have adversely affected project timelines and budgets. In addition, development of two key projects resulted in them…