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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 3708 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S5W-08154

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-06547 by Shona Robison on 6 February 2017, by what date it will announce the national target for the treatment of hepatitis C in 2017-18, and for what reason it is not setting individual targets for NHS boards.

The national target for hepatitis C treatment in 2017-18 will be 1800. This has increased by 300 from the previous target for 2016-17.

The incidence and prevalence of hepatitis C varies across Scotland, as does the distribution of genotypes of the disease, which can influence treatment options and cure rates. This means the scale and nature of hepatitis C infection in different Boards can necessitate a different response. Targets for each NHS Board are therefore not appropriate and the Government is focussed on whole population approaches to hepatitis C. The annual hepatitis C treatment target is, therefore, only set as a national minimum target for the whole of Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-07881

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to the Spartans alternative school in Edinburgh and other similar institutions.

Question reference: S5W-07879

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each local authority area have run (i) breakfast and (ii) homework clubs in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S5W-07882

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 21 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the two-hour school PE target.

The Scottish Government is committed to increasing physical activity and we want to make Scotland a more active country by encouraging people, and in particular young people, to make physical activity a part of their everyday lives.

98% of primary and secondary schools across Scotland continue to provide at least two hours or two periods of PE each week, in line with the Programme for Government 2016 commitment to maintain the PE commitment. There are no plans to review this target.

Question reference: S5W-08030

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 21 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve services for people with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is relatively common, and is managed across primary care and specialist mental health services. The provision of health services is the responsibility of local health boards. The Psychological Therapies Matrix (published by NHS Education for Scotland) provides guidance for Health Boards and Integration Authorities on psychological therapy treatment options, including for OCD:

http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/education-and-training/by-discipline/psychology/the-matrix-(2015)-a-guide-to-delivering-evidence-based-psychological-therapies-in-scotland.aspx

Any referrals to general psychological therapies, including for OCD, are subject to the LDP access standard. The Scottish Government has announced a £54.1 million package of funding over four years from 2016-17 to improve access to mental health services.

Question reference: S5W-08031

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 21 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that health professionals who work with people living with with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) inform them of the (a) activities that can be carried out at home to help deal with the condition and (b) details of support groups in their area.

Subject to the wishes of patients, community mental health teams involve families and carers routinely in the care and treatment of patients. Individual care plans allow consideration to be given to physical, mental and social aspects of the management of patients, including patients with OCD. Social prescribing and community resources are commonly used tools. Digital resources like NHS Inform provide details of a range of such resources for people living with OCD. https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/mental-health/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd

Question reference: S5W-08032

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 21 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that the views of people living with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and their carers are taken into account when developing its strategy for dealing with the condition.

During our engagement on the next Mental Health Strategy, we invited written responses on an engagement paper outlining our proposed priorities, and received nearly 600 responses.

The responses were independently analysed and a full report published online, which can be viewed at: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/12/1634/0

One of the groups suggested as a priority by respondents was families and carers.

All of the feedback we received has helped shape our thinking when developing the Strategy, which we will publish in the coming weeks.

Question reference: S5W-07889

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many care-hours were delivered by each local authority in each year since 2005, and how this compares with the target for each year.

Question reference: S5W-07884

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to provide access to proton cancer treatment in each NHS board.

We expect that every NHS Scotland patient who needs it has access to Proton Beam Therapy (PBT). PBT is highly specialised and available in only a few treatment centres globally. There are currently no NHS PBT centres in the UK and Scottish patients go to other European countries or the USA for PBT. Costs are covered by central NHS funding. Treatment referrals are agreed by a Scottish expert panel and subsequently by a UK panel. More information can be found from: https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/highly-spec-services/pbt/.

Question reference: S5W-07806

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 20 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners who tested positive for hepatitis C in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17 were referred for treatment on their release from prison.