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: S5W-21631

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 26 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to help reduce the volume of microplastics in the environment and the sea.

The Scottish Government's focus is to both reduce and prevent this source of microplastics pollution. We have many policies under the frameworks of our Marine and National Litter Strategies, as well as commitments in our Programme for Government to reduce all plastic litter which degrades into microplastics. In addition we have taken action directly with two sources of microplastics; In June 2018 we introduced legislation to ban the use of plastic microbeads in rinse-off personal care products and we have also established a working group with the plastics sector to build on the industry's Operation Clean Sweep guidelines to further reduce nurdle loss across the full supply chain.

We are showing leadership in our approach to tackling plastics, as the first UK administration to commit to establishing a deposit return scheme, and to introducing legislation to ban plastic-stemmed cotton buds.

Question reference: S5W-21096

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 04 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 25 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in each NHS board area are on the kidney transplant waiting list.

The following table lists the number of people in Scotland currently listed as active on the waiting list for a kidney-only transplant by NHS Board.

NHS Board
AYRSHIRE & ARRAN	23
BORDERS	11
DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY	16
FIFE	26
FORTH VALLEY	31
GRAMPIAN	40
GREATER GLASGOW & CLYDE	112
HIGHLAND	26
LANARKSHIRE	56
LOTHIAN	57
TAYSIDE	24
ORKNEY, SHETLAND, WESTERN ISLES	10*
Total	432

Data supplied by NHS Blood and Transplant as at 11-02-2019.

* Please note that data for the Island NHS Boards has been merged and rounded to the nearest 10 in order to avoid risk of disclosing personal data of individuals and the total figure has been adjusted accordingly.

Question reference: S5W-21097

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 04 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 25 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in each NHS board area have died in each year since 2009 while waiting for a kidney transplant.

The following table provides number of residents of Scotland recorded as having died between 2009-2018 whilst on the waiting list for a kidney-only transplant. Please note we have not provided data by individual NHS Board as that would risk potential identification of the individuals concerned.

Year of death

Total

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Total

265

Data supplied by NHS Blood and Transplant as at 11-02-2019

Question reference: S5W-21094

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 04 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 21 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on altruistic kidney donation, and what action it can take to encourage people to consider becoming living kidney donors.

The Scottish Government is supportive of altruistic kidney donation, although it is of course entirely for individuals to decide if they wish to donate a kidney, whether to a stranger or to a loved one. The role of the Scottish Government is to help raise public awareness of the potential of living kidney donation and to that end a range of information about living kidney donation is available on the Organ Donation Scotland website. The Scottish Government will continue to ensure that real-life stories of living kidney donors, recipients of living kidneys and how these people have benefited from this type of donation are published on a regular basis.

Question reference: S5W-21095

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 04 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 21 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to mark the 10th anniversary of the first person in Scotland to become an altruistic kidney donor, which was in March 2009.

The 10th anniversary of the first person in Scotland to become an altruistic kidney donor will be marked during National Living Kidney Donation Awareness Week from 11 – 17 March 2019. I will meet one of the first people in Scotland to donate a kidney altruistically in 2009 during a visit to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. There will also be a week-long living kidney donation radio campaign and real-life stories of living kidney donors and recipients, which we hope will be featured in the Scottish regional and national press that week.

Question reference: S5W-21384

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 04 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 21 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to Give a Kidney Scotland with its campaign work to encourage people to consider becoming living kidney donors.

Question reference: S5O-02936

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of emergency workers’ time is lost due to mental ill health.

Question reference: S5W-21366

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 20 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms there are for patients to complain about food quality in (a) hospitals and (b) social care settings.

In a hospital setting, all patients should complain to the nurse in charge of their ward if they are not happy with the food provided and they should be offered an alternative meal. Patients can also complete a questionnaire as part of the mealtime observations conducted by NHS board staff or through an inpatient experience survey. If the patient is still unhappy, they can address their complaint at a local level through the NHS complaints handling procedure.

The Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011 and supporting legislation provides a specific right for people to make complaints, raise concerns, make comments and give feedback to NHS Boards. The Act also places a duty on NHS Boards to thoroughly investigate and respond to any concerns raised, to take improvement actions where appropriate and to share learning from the views they receive. .

In Social Care settings, if the level of service that a person or someone they care for is receiving is not up to standard, they should in the first instance to speak to the care service itself about their concerns. If they do not receive a favourable response they can then raise a formal complaint using the relevant local authority’s complaints procedure. They can also choose to complain directly to the Care Inspectorate if the service is being provided on behalf of the local authority, by a private care provider. If they are still unhappy with the outcome, they have the right to ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) to look into the decision.

Question reference: S5W-21448

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 20 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish a progress report on the Cleaner Air for Scotland strategy.

The second annual progress report for the Cleaner Air for Scotland strategy was pubished on 10 August 2018. The report can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/cleaner-air-scotland-annual-progress-report-2017-18/

On 6 November 2018, the Scottish Government announced that Professor Campbell Gemmell would chair an independent review of Scotland’s air quality strategy. The review will explore the progress and impact of Scotland’s previous air quality strategy, assessing progress to date and making recommendations for future priorities. The review is well underway, with a number of steering group and working group meetings having taken place, along with a stakeholder event on 10 January 2019.

Question reference: S5W-21447

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 20 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the City of Edinburgh Council regarding the progress that the city is making toward meeting its air quality targets.

Edinburgh City Council has produced an action plan containing a number of measures to improve air quality. The Scottish Government is working closely with the Council as it implements the measures contained in the plan and is providing practical and financial assistance to both monitor air quality and support delivery.

As announced in the 2017-18 Programme for Government, the Council will establish a Low Emission Zone in Edinburgh by 2020.