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-03644

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 21 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many holiday vouchers have been given to carers through the ScotSpirit Holiday Voucher Scheme since its launch, and what steps it has taken to promote uptake.

Since this Scheme to help low income families and unpaid carers take a break in Scotland, opened for sign-ups in mid-August we have already seen 35 families (including 73 children) on a break for the current October school holidays.

VisitScotland, working with charity partners (Family Holiday Association, Shared Care Scotland and Carer Centre Network), is managing the promotion and distribution of the scheme to families and carers through their existing channels, including social media.

The scheme has only recent launched to families and carers and recipients will have until December 2022 to redeem the vouchers.

Question reference: S6O-00282

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 October 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when work will commence to address congestion at the Sheriffhall roundabout.

Question reference: S6W-02961

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time has been for cleft pallet surgery for babies in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-03416

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when a new Public Dental Service contract will be delivered.

Question reference: S6W-02932

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of current ambulance response times in the NHS Lothian area.

The Scottish Government regularly reviews performance data from the Scottish Ambulance Service which includes data on response times across the country.

This information is normally reviewed weekly, however, given the current pressures being experienced we are receiving twice daily sit reps from the Service on performance.

Like all areas of Scotland, and indeed throughout the UK, we are aware that some patients are experiencing delays in response times from the ambulance service. This is why we have already taken significant action both prior to and since the pandemic to input measures to ensure our Ambulance service has the full resources and range of support in place to deliver services.

We announced an additional package of support for the Service, backed by an additional £20 million of investment, which will help increase capacity and improve response times and staff wellbeing, including assistance from over 100 military personnel.

We have also previously taken action to help with the situation, including an additional investment of £20m as part of the £1bn NHS Recovery Plan. This investment comes from continued involvement with the SAS Demand and Capacity programme which this Government has been involved in since its inception in 2019. It will deliver almost 300 additional Ambulance Service staff by April 2022.

This breaks down as 69 staff in the North of Scotland, 139 in West of Scotland and 88 in the East of Scotland. The additional staff are a mixture of paramedics, newly qualified paramedics (NQPs) and technicians. Extra ambulances and vehicles will also be introduced over the coming months, including two in Edinburgh.

Question reference: S6W-02956

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out in legal fees by each NHS board in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-03657

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 18 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many homeless people in each NHS board area have received a GP appointment in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-02962

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many reports have been made each month by (a) NHS and (b) social care staff to the Whistleblowing Alert and Advice Line.

The Scottish Government contract with the whistleblowing charity Protect, who provided the Whistleblowing Alert and Advice Line, ended on 31 October 2020. The final report is available to view on: https://www.gov.scot/collections/nhs-confidential-advice-and-information-line/

The Whistleblowing Standards and Independent National Whistleblowing Officer (INWO) for NHS Scotland launched on 1 April 2021. The INWO offers a mechanism for external review of how a Health Board, primary care or independent provider handles a whistleblowing case. Included in this service is a confidential advice and information line which has been in operation since 1 November 2020. This provides support and advice to staff and managers on the application of the Whistleblowing Standards and mechanisms in place to support whistleblowing and whistleblowers. As the INWO operates independently, the Scottish Government do not hold information on the number of cases reported through this service.

Question reference: S6W-02957

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out in compensation by each NHS board in each year since 1999.

Regarding payments made under the NHS Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnity Scheme (CNORIS), I refer the member to the answers to questions S5W-01770 on 24 August 2016 and S5W-32423 on 30 October 2020 . 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-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Regarding compensation payments made outwith the CNORIS scheme, the information requested is not collected or held centrally by the Scottish Government and would require to be obtained from Health Boards.

Question reference: S6W-02940

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 29 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the remuneration levels of councillors.

Councillors' pay increased by 4.2% on 1 April 2021, taking the annual salary of ordinary councillors from £17,854 to £18,604. This reflects the arrangement introduced in 2017 which now ensures councillors’ pay is increased annually in line with the percentage increase in the median annual earnings of public sector workers in Scotland.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans in the near future to carry out its own review of councillor remuneration. However, we are aware that COSLA's Barriers to Elected Office Special Interest Group is considering this issue, and we are open to discussing and exploring the findings of their work with them, once it becomes available, and how we might support them to address this issue.