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-16544

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 13 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14327 by Maree Todd on 7 February 2023, whether it will provide a timeline for the (a) Health and Social Care Alliance programme and (b) Wellbeing of Women research project, and whether its findings will be made publicly available.

The Scottish Government commissioned the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland to undertake a programme of lived experience engagement and information sharing, that supports the implementation of the Women’s Health Plan: 2021 - 2024 over the lifetime of the plan.

An update on the delivery of this work since the publication of the Plan can be found in our recently published Women’s Health Plan: A Report on Progress .

The jointly funded £250,000 endometriosis research project with Wellbeing of women covers a period of 3 years, and began in the financial year 2022-23.

The findings from the research will be published in an open access journal after the research completion in 2025. The results will also be presented at national and international endometriosis conferences.

Question reference: S6W-16041

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 13 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to signing the Miscarriage Association's Pregnancy Loss Pledge and implementing its standards across all of its workplaces.

We are fully committed through our employment policies and procedures to support employees who experience pregnancy loss at any stage of pregnancy and our current package of support measures fully reflect the spirit and intent of the Pregnancy Loss Pledge.

This includes the terms of our bereavement policy, which include miscarriage and stillbirth, as well as through a number of sources of support for colleagues who have experienced loss including:

guidance and support from line managers;
HR People Advice and Wellbeing support; and
an internal Counselling and Wellbeing Team.

Colleagues can also access the Employee Assistance Programme for external confidential support.

Question reference: S6O-02103

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with food producers, manufacturers and distributers regarding supply chains and how to tackle food insecurity and food poverty.

Question reference: S6W-16713

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 12 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the final and statutory version of its guidance on the guiding principles on the environment, under section 17 of UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021.

Question reference: S6W-16082

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which schools will be part of the proposed pilot scheme as part of the roll-out of free school meals in secondary schools.

Question reference: S6W-16422

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the date from which universal free school meals will be made available to pupils in P6 and P7.

We remain committed to the expansion of universal free school meals in primary schools. In the Scottish budget for 2023-24, we announced additional investment of £16 million in revenue funding and £80 million in capital funding for free school meals expansion. This will continue to fund the next phase of our expansion, which will be targeted to Primary 6 and 7 pupils in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment, which is the next step in fulfilling our commitment to universal provision of free school meals in primary schools.

We recognise that a number of local authorities have indicated they face challenges in planning for the substantial expansion of free school meals. It is right that we work in partnership with local government to deliver our shared commitment. We will continue to engage with COSLA and other key delivery partners to undertake planning for further expansion.

Question reference: S6W-16092

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14660 by Shona Robison on 6 March 2023, whether further steps will be taken to ensure that people who need incontinence pads will be able to afford them, in particular, people who are (a) not eligible for prescription pads or (b) eligible for a limited supply of prescription pads but exceed the amount that they are eligible for.

NHS Boards regularly assess continence patients' needs, with the assessments undertaken by dedicated Bladder and Bowel Teams or community nursing staff. This ensures that patients' needs are met, either through treatment or provision of appropriate containment products. Referrals can also be made by patients' GPs where necessary, and also by a range of other healthcare professionals including pharmacists, consultants and care home staff.

Where a patient has been assessed as requiring continence products, these are provided by their local NHS Board's continence service on prescription. As such, any person that is suffering from incontinence should seek a referral to their local continence service in order that their incontinence can be assessed, treated where appropriate, or managed through the prescription of continence products.

Whilst NHS Boards follow the guidance contained in the Association for Continence Advice Scotland paper 'Guidance for the provision of absorbent pads for adult incontinence - Scotland' that the number of absorbent pads issued in each 24 hour period would not normally exceed 4, it is stressed that provision should meet assessed clinical need. This will include determining the amount of urine being passed daily by the patient, and consequently the appropriate absorbency level for the absorbent pads being prescribed.

There is no expectation for an individual to buy continence products where they have been assessed as requiring them, so any patient that feels that their prescription does not meet their needs should raise their concerns with their local continence service in order that their incontinence can be reassessed and their prescription adjusted if appropriate.

Question reference: S6W-16083

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of GP practices in NHS (a) Lanarkshire and (b) Forth Valley that are at risk of closure.

Question reference: S6W-16425

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether it will challenge the decision of the UK Secretary of State for Scotland to issue an order under section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 in respect of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed by an overwhelming majority of the Scottish Parliament, with support from members of all parties. The UK Government's use of section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 to prevent the Bill proceeding to Royal Assent represents an unprecedented challenge to the Scottish Parliament's ability to legislate on devolved matters.

The Scottish Government has provided detailed responses to questions from the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee in a letter of 5 February, is now considering the reasons given by the UK Government for its use of the section 35 power, and will update Parliament on next steps in due course.

Question reference: S6W-16037

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 6 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the Deposit Return Scheme.

I attended the recent Inter-ministerial group on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 6 March 2023 where Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme was discussed. The next meeting of this group is scheduled for 17 April.

Officials also meet regularly with other departments in the UK, Welsh and Northern Irish administrations to discuss DRS. Recently the following meetings have taken place:

30 March – Senior Officials Programme Board
30 March – UK Common Frameworks Project Board
3 April – Scottish Government / Defra bilateral meeting

Officials are also in regular contact with counterparts in the UK Government outwith these engagements.