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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

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Question reference: S6T-02879

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns that pupils, parents and teachers may have to wait until 2031 for meaningful reform of the qualifications system, and that Qualifications Scotland will only be a rebrand of the Scottish Qualifications Authority, with many of the same structures and staff remaining in place.

Question reference: S6W-43098

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 29 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its reasoning is for commissioning an independent review of the legislative landscape around children in care by Professor Kenneth Norrie, in light of the Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise noting in the Chamber on 14 January 2026 that the Scottish Government has already received legal advice from Melanie Barbour KC, which was commissioned by the independent body, The Promise Scotland.

The work by the Promise Scotland an excellent starting point for consideration of how to address challenges in our current legislative landscape. The Independent Review of Scotland’s Legislative Framework for Children’s Care will build upon that work, not replicate, and will engage widely across the Children’s services landscape. It is vital that this engagement takes place in order to produce clearer commendations on how best to make the maximum practical difference, including potential legislative change, to children and families, and those involved in the care and support of children, aligning with the principles of The Promise, UNCRC, and GIRFEC.

The Review will run until January 2027, with findings to be published on conclusion.

Question reference: S6W-43021

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 29 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been identified for youth work in the draft Scottish Budget 2026-27.

The Scottish Government remains committed to youth work and continues to provide support through a range of funding streams. This includes the local authority block grant, which gives councils significant flexibility to allocate resources for youth work in their area.

In recognition of their critical role in delivering localised services, including youth work, the Scottish Government is increasing the total resources available to local government in 2026-27 by almost £651 million.

We are also investing significant funding in youth work through programmes such as Cashback for Communities which the Scottish Government has committed to finance for a further three years, supported by a record budget of up to £26 million - an increase of £6 million from the previous phase.

This is in addition to £150,000 of new funding for youth work in 2025-26, announced on 27 October, supporting measures to help re-engage young people from low-income backgrounds with school and address anti-social behaviour, and deliver investment in grassroots youth work.

Since 2023 the Scottish Government has also invested more than £2 million in community-based youth work through national youth work organisations, including YouthLink Scotland and Youth Scotland, to reach young people outside school. This includes funding for over 5,500 youth workers in 2025-26 to develop skills, knowledge and confidence to deliver youth work through training opportunities.

Question reference: S6W-43097

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 29 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what information it currently holds regarding the need for a review of the legislative landscape around care experienced people, and whether it will publish this information.

In line with the conclusions of the Independent Care Review, The Promise Scotland have published various reports and route-maps outlining the case for a consolidation of the legislative landscape of Scotland’s children’s services.

These publications are all available to read on the Promise Scotland’s website: https://thepromise.scot/

These reports note that this is a starting point, and further consideration of the broader legislative landscape will be required.

When published, the findings of the Independent Review of Scotland’s Legislative Framework for Children’s Care will empower the Scottish Government to make an evidence-based, well-informed decision at a later date as to if the legislative framework would benefit from being amended and, if so, how this can be best achieved.

Question reference: S6O-05312

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of an increase of 63 full-time equivalent teachers in 2025 compared with the previous year, how it will fulfil its commitment to recruit 3,500 new teachers before the end of the current parliamentary session.

Question reference: S6W-42138

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the safety of nuclear power.

Safety of Nuclear Power: The Civil Nuclear sector is wholly reserved by the United Kingdom Government(UKG)and is regulated by The Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR).The nuclear sector is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the UK.

ONR is the UK’s nuclear regulator and is an independent statutory corporation. It has the legal authority to regulate nuclear safety, civil nuclear security and safeguards, and conventional health and safety at the 36 licensed nuclear sites in Great Britain (GB). This authority covers:

The existing fleet of operating reactors;
Fuel cycle facilities;
Waste management & decommissioning sites;
MOD sites;
Regulation of the design and construction of new nuclear facilities;
Transportation of civil nuclear/radioactive materials by road, rail and inland waterways.

The legal framework for the nuclear industry is based around the:

Nuclear Installations Act 1965;
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974;
The Energy Act 2013.

The ONR mandates that nuclear sites hold regular exercises to assess their safety and preparedness to respond to an incident or accident.

Scottish Government Discussions with UKG: Scottish Government Officials, on behalf of Scottish Ministers, regularly attend formal meetings that directly discuss nuclear safety. These range from National level Committees and Groups to site-specific forums, as detailed in the following table:

Committee/Group	Level
Nuclear Resilience Oversight Committee	National
Nuclear Resilience Co-Ordination Committee	National
Lessons Learned Working Group	National
Local Authority Nuclear Working Group	National
Scottish Nuclear Sites Stakeholders Group	Scotland
Highland Nuclear Off-Site Emergency Planning Group	Scotland -Regional
Torness Emergency Planning Co-ordination Committee	Scotland -Site Specific
Hunterston Site Stakeholder Group(now closed)	Scotland -Site Specific

All of the above nuclear safety related meetings are attended by an SG Official and ONR The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA)attends all of the above meetings apart from the NROC.

In addition to actively participating in regular meetings, Scottish Government Officials also contribute to and peer review nuclear regulation and safety specific documents and plans. These range from over-arching legislative instruments and UK level Concept of Operations Plans down to site-specific emergency response plans.

Question reference: S6T-02777

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports that private residential childcare providers are making an estimated £10 million a year in profit from publicly funded contracts.

Question reference: S6O-05225

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will commit to structured engagement with MSP staff trade unions on an ongoing basis.

Question reference: S6T-02757

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the University of Edinburgh plans to reduce jobs by up to 1,800 as part of £140 million in budget reductions by 2026-27, including what action it will take to protect staff and students from the impact of any such redundancies.

Question reference: S6W-41252

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 10 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many families have lodged complaints regarding flexibility of hours in the early learning and childcare system since May 2021.

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