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-06124

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review and reconsider the Control of Entry arrangements for community pharmacy services, in light of reported calls that this may provide a fairer, equal and transparent process for applicants whereby local interests and needs are prioritised over competitor interests.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing and implementing within this parliamentary term a revised contracting framework for community pharmacy NHS pharmaceutical services, underpinned by a review of existing Control of Entry, funding arrangement and introduction of a Performers List for the Pharmacy profession, as outlined in Achieving excellence in pharmaceutical care: a strategy for Scotland strategy.

Any future amendments to the regulations will uphold the necessity for successful applications to be granted around set criteria. These include neighbourhood requirements, the adequacy of existing pharmaceutical services in an area (from registered pharmacy premises), and the necessity or desirability of to secure adequate pharmaceutical services in an area.

Question reference: S6W-05349

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the waiting time for surgery for Priority 4 gynaecology patients, in light of some patients being informed that the waiting time for some procedures is currently over 100 weeks.

As you know, the NHS in Scotland is under unprecedented pressure, particularly as a result of this latest Covid wave, and a number of services have been stood down in order to support urgent and emergency demand.

The latest data shows Boards are reporting a 65% increase in coronavirus absence compared to the previous week and significantly faster rate of increase in Covid hospitalisations this year compared to last January. This is a reminder of the challenges our NHS continues to face, having a high impact on waiting times for those people waiting to receive scheduled treatment.

Those waiting for treatment should be signposted to help on how they can manage their condition, and are encourage to seek support if they feel their mental health is being impacted.

The NHS Recovery Plan, which is backed by over £1 billion of additional investment, sets out how the Scottish Government will increase NHS capacity by at least 10% as quickly as possible in order to address backlogs and meet the ongoing healthcare needs for people across the country, including gynaecology patients.

Women’s Health is key priority for this government, which is why we published an ambitious Women’s Health Plan in August 2021. The Women’s Health Plan underpins actions to improve women’s health inequalities by raising awareness around women’s health, improving access to health care for women across their life course and reducing inequalities in health outcomes for girls and women, both for sex-specific conditions and in women’s general health.

Question reference: S6O-00673

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its proposals on green ports as part of the wider investment to support a green recovery.

Question reference: S6W-05393

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what level of funding can be provided by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to stabilise and develop the site of Mavisbank House in Loanhead; what engagement HES is undertaking with relevant stakeholders to take forward development of this site; what short-term developments HES anticipates for this project, and whether HES will take a leadership role in the site's development.

Historic Environment Scotland has already played a lead role in looking at the options for development at Mavisbank House, through its partnership with the Landmark Trust in the ultimately unsuccessful funding application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Historic Environment Scotland is continuing discussions with interested parties about the future of the property and I have asked the body to write directly to the member about the details.

Question reference: S6O-00554

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the proposed works at Sheriffhall roundabout as part of its £300 million commitment to the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal.

Question reference: S6W-04446

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maggie Chapman on 25 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what consideration has been given to the length of time taken to process motions and questions submitted by MSPs.

Since the start of Session 6, the Chamber Desk has seen an upturn in the number of questions and motions submitted. In particular, the number of Urgent Questions being lodged has increased significantly. These factors have had an impact on the previous pattern of work undertaken by the Chamber Desk and have resulted in a longer turnaround time than Members will previously have been used to. When Urgent Questions are lodged, they are given priority due to the timeframe for such questions to be taken if selected and only selected questions are published. To respond to these changes in demand and pattern of work, additional staffing resources have been deployed to the Chamber Desk. Due to the specialist nature of the services provided by the Chamber Desk, the impact of these additional resources will not be immediately realised as staff require to undertake training and familiarisation with the role. Where any Members have lodged motions that are particularly time-sensitive and that they wish to be prioritised they should indicate this by email to the Chamber Desk and, where possible, early attention can be given to processing those items.

Question reference: S6O-00462

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what targeted support it is providing to communities to help deal with antisocial behaviour.

Question reference: S6O-00338

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported Crown Office findings that there has been a 9% increase in reported charges with a "domestic abuse identifier" during the COVID-19 pandemic, what action it is taking to support victims of domestic violence.

Question reference: S6O-00324

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 October 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it will support opportunities for the cultural sector to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic this winter.

Question reference: S6W-03692

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 October 2021
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Ivan McKee on 14 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that it is using every opportunity to use government funding to promote fair work and pay people the real living wage.

We have consistently pushed the boundaries in our procurement activity to achieve payment of the real Living Wage to those employed in public contracts, and have provided extensive guidance and support to public bodies on this issue.

We are making payment of the real Living Wage a condition of winning Scottish Government contracts and we will engage widely to encourage this practice across the public sector in Scotland.

We acknowledge the valuable work that others such as the Fair Work Convention and the Poverty Alliance have undertaken in this area.

The Scottish Government will bring this matter to parliament on return from parliamentary recess.