Parliamentary questions
Miles Briggs
4,209 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
11 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Young Lives vs Cancer regarding the charity's proposal to expand the Young Patients Family Fund's eligibility criteria to include all children and under 25s with cancer, and whether steps will be taken to expand the criteria for the fund, in light of the …
Answer · Jenni Minto: 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, regardless of diagnosis.I met with the charity Young Lives vs. Cancer on 25 Septemb…
3 Feb 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-34551 by Jenny Gilruth on 6 March 2025, whether it will provide (a) the same information for 2024-25, and (b) real-terms average Additional Support for Learning (ASL) spend per pupil for each year from 2012-13 to 2024-25.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Spending data on Additional Support for Learning (ASL) is collected from local authorities via the 2024-25 Local Financial Returns (LFR). These figures show that almost £1.1bn was spent on ASL by local authorities in 2024-25.Local authorities are asked …
28 Jan 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what review it will undertake into the use of the newborn heel prick blood test to screen for childhood dementia.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Scotland relies on advice from the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent expert advisory group which informs decisions across the UK on national screening programmes. Only when it considers whether to recommend screening for a particular co…
28 Jan 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many devices have been distributed to young people through the Connecting Scotland programme in 2025-26 to support digital inclusion amongst school-aged children, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government does not hold information centrally on the total number of devices issued to learners by local authorities.
28 Jan 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much additional revenue it expects to raise from the new council tax bands, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Shona Robison: Based on Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)projected 2025 values and Registers of Scotland sales data, it is anticipated that between 13,500 and 17,800 properties will fall within the two new high-value property bands. It is estimated that this will generate …
28 Jan 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many households will be included in the new council tax bands, broken down by local authority area.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-43399 on 10 February 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committ…
19 Jan 2026 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to address the reported issues with teacher job shortages, caused by temporary teacher contracts.
6 Jan 2026 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government, as part of the cross-government co-ordination of infrastructure, what discussions the finance secretary has had with ministerial colleagues on when a decision will be made on the design and construction of a new grade separated junction on the A720 Edinburgh City Bypass at Sheriffhall, …
18 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recommendations it has made regarding ratings for gas boilers versus electric heaters on EPC reports.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: In October 2025, the Scottish Government published its updated Government Response to the 2023 Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) reform consultation. This set out that the reformed domestic EPC will include three main ratings:Heat Retention RatingHeating S…
17 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Student Awards Agency Scotland regarding the recent audit of student loans by the agency, and what its position is on any additional loan balance adjustments discovered as a result of the audit being added to people’s loans retrospectively, incl…
Answer · Ben Macpherson: The Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) have not conducted an audit. They worked jointly with the Student Loans Company (SLC) to conduct a reconciliation exercise. This identified a small number of customers whose loan balances required correction. This exe…
17 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the evidence given by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs to the Education, Children and Young People Committee on 17 December 2025, in which the Cabinet Secretary commented that she had made a "private call" to a person with no officials present, stating that …
Answer · Kate Forbes: All engagements carried out by Ministers where government business was undertaken are published on Scottish Government website three months in arrears, as is required by the Scottish Ministerial Code and the Scottish Government’s Records Management poli…
17 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the establishment of an independent national whistleblowing office for education and children’s services.
Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: Protecting children from harm is a key priority for the Scottish Government.There are already relevant systems in place in Scotland to deal with complaints and whistleblowing. We have a framework in place which includes regulatory bodies which provide ongoing…
17 Dec 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the justice secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding any plans to deliver campus police officers across all schools.
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many men in Scotland have received BRCA gene tests in each year since 1999.
Answer · Neil Gray: Information on the number of men who have received BRCA gene tests since 1999 is not held by Scottish Government but by the NHS services who support this testing across Scotland.
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the (a) allocated budget and (b) actual outturn expenditure for the Young Patients Family Fund in each financial year since its introduction.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The first year of YPFF delivery was from July 2021 and there is complete expenditure data up to March 2025. The fund is demand-led and the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring sufficient funding to NHS Boards to support all valid YPFF claims. Actual s…
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many men in Scotland have received prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests in each year since 1999.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Managed Clinical Network for Children andYoung People with Cancer’s (MCN CYPC) transition (from Managed ServiceNetwork), what action it is taking to ensure that the MCN CYPC (a) maintainsdedicated administrative and data management staffing levels, and (b) has ther…
Answer · Neil Gray: The Managed Clinical Network for Children and Young People with Cancer (MCN CYPC) provides clinical leadership and expertise to advise and support NHS Boards, Scottish Government and other stakeholders in relation to the delivery of children and young people&…
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many missed outpatient appointments for children and young people with cancer were recorded in each of the last three years, and whether an assessment has been made of the correlation between missed appointments and the financial cost of travel for any families that have been exclude…
Answer · Neil Gray: Scottish Government does not hold this data.Financial assistance for attending hospital appointments, including outpatient and day treatments, is available through the patient travel reimbursement schemes. The Young Patients Family Fund is a fund to support f…
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the cost of expanding the Young Patients Family Fund’s eligibility to include children and young people with cancer who are (a) day-case patients, and (b) aged 18-25.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Young Patients Family Fund (YPFF) is just one of the means of financial support available to patients and their families. YPFF supports families to visit a child or young person aged under 18 while they are an inpatient. Financial assistance for attending…
15 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on the development of the unique learner number system.
Answer · Ben Macpherson: To date, the only costs associated with developing a unique learner number relate to staff resource to consider options to ensure best use of public funds. As work progresses, a range of options will be fully assessed and evaluated to ensure any future spendi…
10 Dec 2025 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service's public consultation on the proposed closure of Marionville Fire Station in Edinburgh.
4 Dec 2025 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of, and support it is providing to, childhood dementia awareness.
3 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many co-ordinated support plans have been made in each local authority, in each year since their introduction.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Data on the number of coordinated support plans by sector and local authority between 2007-2024 are published in the Pupil Census supplementary statistics: Pupil census supplementary statistics - gov.scotStatistics prior to 2007 are not available.
3 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the theme of Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week 2025, "How it Feels", how it plans to shed light on the serious and life-changing nature of the conditions, in order to transform understanding in schools and to ensure that students are better supported to complete their educati…
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government welcomes the theme of Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week 2025, “How it feels,” and values the work of charities like Crohn’s and Colitis UK in highlighting the challenges of managing often invisible symptoms.The Scott…
3 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on breakfast provision from Public Equity Funding (PEF) since the policy was established in 2017.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Specific data on breakfast provision expenditure from Pupil Equity Funding in schools is not held centrally.Since Pupil Equity Funding’s introduction in 2017-18, over £1 billion has been allocated to Scotland’s schools, empowering headteache…
25 Nov 2025 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the culture secretary has had with the finance and local government secretary regarding providing support to Edinburgh in dealing with the pressures of holding major annual cultural events and royal visits, including reintroducing the capital city supplement.
19 Nov 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many school days have been lost due to industrial action in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of school days lost due to industrial action since 1999.The Scottish Government periodically collects information on the number of school closures for reasons including adverse weather and indust…
19 Nov 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what new funding will be given to the Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023–2033.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government Cancer Strategy for Scotland (2023 – 2033) is underpinned by multi-year phases of planned actions.The initial three-year Cancer Action for Scotland Plan 2023-2026 has supported the strategy by determining actions to help us achie…
19 Nov 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many controlledparking zones have been introduced by each local authority in each year since1999, also broken down by how many parking permits have been sold for theseeach year, and how much has been raised by these sales.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads in their area and this includes the introduction of controlled parking zones. The Scottish Government does not monitor how many of these zones have been intro…
18 Nov 2025 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of police officers in Edinburgh and the Lothians, in light of the growth in the population of south east Scotland and any additional policing duties in the capital.