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: S6W-11162

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the British Medical Association's (BMA) reported view that 10% of the GP workforce could retire by the end of 2022 due to the "punitive" pension system in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is aware of the impact that the UK Government’s pension annual and life time allowances policy is having on the GP workforce in Scotland. There is limited action we can take to mitigate the impact as issues relating to pensions are a reserved matter. We have written to the UK Government on a number occasions to urge them to take action, and we have highlighted our concerns about the risks to delivering in-hours general practice as well as out of hours services.

Question reference: S6W-11158

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review the 4.5% pay offer to doctors, in light of a British Medical Association (BMA) survey finding that 78% of respondees would be willing to take some form of industrial action in order to deliver improved pay.

The Scottish Government along with the BMA and other stakeholders provide evidence to the Doctors and Dentist Review Bodies (DDRB) who make an independent recommendation on pay uplifts for medical and dental staff across the UK.

We take part in this process in good faith and in the knowledge that the DDRB make independent recommendations which can be above or below what participants are seeking. This year, the DDRB have recommended a pay award which we have implemented in full for all Medical and Dental staff.

Question reference: S6W-11165

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what specific actions NHS boards can take to respond to and manage closures of pharmacy branches.

Health boards can take a range of actions in response to any breach of terms by a pharmacy contractor. Community pharmacy contractors are required to meet the Terms of Service as set out in Schedule 1 of the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulation 2009. Should, in the opinion of the Health Board, a community pharmacy contractor breach the Terms of Service, they can consider taking any appropriate action in line with the noted Regulation and the National Health Service (Discipline Committees) (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

Question reference: S6W-11143

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many long COVID clinics have been created in Scotland, and where.

Question reference: S6W-11166

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to increase the range of actions that NHS boards can take when pharmacy branches close without an adequate reason for doing so.

Question reference: S6W-11168

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will empower the Care Inspectorate to regulate the business behaviour of companies that operate community pharmacies, including in relation to their premises, staffing levels, safety and treatment of patients.

Question reference: S6W-11012

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its direct involvement in the setting of water charges for 2022-23, whether it will use its powers of direction to require it to be consulted or have its approval sought by Scottish Water on the setting of charges for the year 2023-24, in order to ensure that charges are set at a level that is affordable by households and businesses, in light of the current high levels of inflation.

Question reference: S6W-11013

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its direct involvement in the setting of water charges for 2022-23, whether it will use its powers of direction to require the Water Industry Commission to consult it or seek its approval on any actions that the Commission proposes that could require, or otherwise press, Scottish Water to propose a water charges scheme that would raise charges above the rate of inflation in 2023-24 and beyond.

Question reference: S6W-11011

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether there is (a) sufficient flexibility in the interpretation of and (b) a need to clarify or revise the policy and objectives for the delivery of water services for the current regulatory period to ensure they are consistent with delivering levels of water charges for 2022-23 and beyond that are considered by Scottish Ministers to be affordable, in light of the current high levels of inflation.

Ministers’ charging policies and Objectives for the water industry are clearly set out in the key framework documents that can be found on the Scottish Government’s website. Current circumstances facing the industry, indeed the country at large, are undoubtedly challenging and the Scottish Government will maintain regular dialogue with Scottish Water to support the continued delivery of all of Ministers’ Objectives over the current regulatory period. The affordability of charges is a matter for Scottish Water’s Board to consider alongside the requirement to meet its other statutory obligations. WICS has no powers to require a particular outcome in the charge setting process beyond setting the charge caps which are established to protect customers.

Question reference: S6W-10866

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 4 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers there to be a parity of treatment between blood cancers and solid tumour cancers, and how it will improve treatment for blood cancers.

NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government remains focused on delivering high-quality care in the safest possible way for patients of all cancer types, including blood cancers.

The National Cancer Plan, published on 9 December 2020, includes actions to improve access to treatments for all cancers.

The Covid-19 National Cancer Medicines Advisory Group (NCMAG) was established to oversee interim governance arrangements for cancer medicines in response to the impact of Covid-19 on the health service. These arrangements include two new medicines approved for use with patients with leukaemia, a type of blood cancer.

We have established the Scottish Cancer Network, which is a dedicated national resource to support and facilitate a ‘Once for Scotland’ approach to cancer services. Its aim is to enable equitable access to care and treatment across Scotland.

Lastly, an updated Framework for Effective Cancer Management was published on 3 December 2021. It supports clinicians and NHS managers to drive improvements in cancer pathways, including blood cancers, providing Health Boards with the tools to effectively manage cancer patients and ultimately recover waiting times.