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: S5O-04170

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of teachers in post.

Question reference: S5O-04094

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much revenue has been raised by the Large Business Supplement since 2016.

Question reference: S5W-26819

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 20 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason SIGN guideline 108 has been withdrawn; how this decision was made; what the impact of its withdrawal is on (a) health professionals providing care and (b) patients being treated for stroke, and what plans it has to update stroke guidelines.

Clinical guidelines such as NICE and SIGN are recommendations to aid healthcare and other professionals in caring for people with specific conditions. There are various sets of guidelines that clinicians can consider for the management, treatment and care of stroke patients. There is no expectation that clinicians in NHS Board areas would base their management on any one set of guidelines and they are encouraged to make best use of the guidelines that are available.

In relation to SIGN guidelines, they are withdrawn if they are over 10 years old to ensure that they remain relevant and safe. SIGN guideline 108 has been withdrawn for this reason.

The Guideline Programme Advisory Group, a subgroup of the SIGN Council, prioritises proposals for new guidelines or updates of existing guidelines against agreed criteria while considering the work programmes of other parts of Health Improvement Scotland - as well as other guideline developers - to avoid potential duplication of effort.

As part of the Programme for Government commitments in relation to stroke, the National Advisory Committee for Stroke has agreed to review and consider all relevant guidelines to ensure they are up-to-date and relevant.

Question reference: S5W-26818

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 20 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government which guidelines it uses to underpin stroke care, and to what degree these guidelines have been embedded into the care that patients receive in each NHS board.

Clinical guidelines such as NICE and SIGN are recommendations to aid healthcare and other professionals in caring for people with specific conditions. The guidelines are based on the best available evidence.

The implementation of these guidelines are the responsibility of NHS Boards and their operating divisions, reinforced and supported by their clinical governance arrangements.

Over the past 10 years, the number of people in Scotland dying from stroke has decreased by 42%. This is significant progress but we want to secure even better outcomes. That is why the Programme for Government 2019-20 commits to developing a programme to improve stroke pathways and services, including prevention, treatment and care. In particular, we will review and improve the current stroke care bundle, which comprises of four key components: admission to a stroke unit, swallow screen, brain scan and aspirin. This work will improve outcomes for patients and will enable us to scope out and define what a progressive stroke unit looks like. Consideration of relevant guidelines will form part of this Programme for Government commitment to review and improve current services.

Question reference: S5W-26817

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle bogus callers who pretend to be meter readers in (a) the Mid Scotland and Fife region and (b) Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the work of its partners – including Police Scotland. Trading Standards, Neighbourhood Watch Scotland and Crimestoppers Scotland – to raise awareness of doorstep crime and provide practical advice in terms of prevention in all parts of Scotland including Mid Scotland and Fife.

The Scottish Government has also provided Neighbourhood Watch Scotland with £115,000 and Crimestoppers Scotland £92,000 funding in 2019-20 to assist with their work in addressing crime, community safety and empowering victims to speak up.

Initiatives such as the Nominated Neighbour Scheme help to build the resilience of our communities to doorstep crime and since 2017 the Scottish Government has also implemented a Nuisance Calls Action Plan to tackle the scourge of nuisance and scam telephone calls. This includes the funding of call blocking units for vulnerable consumers.

Question reference: S5W-26820

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 15 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what tools and methodologies it uses to understand best practice in stroke care; how this knowledge and best practice is embedded into the care that patients receive when recovering, and how stroke patients and their families are made aware of how this knowledge has informed the care that they receive.

Over the past 10 years, the number of people in Scotland dying from stroke has decreased by 42%. This is significant progress but we want to strive for even better outcomes. That is why the Programme for Government 2019-20 commits to developing a programme to improve stroke pathways and services, including prevention, treatment and care. In particular, we will review and improve the current stroke care bundle to improve outcomes for patients and will begin work to scope out and define what a progressive stroke unit looks like.

The Scottish Government funds the Scottish Stroke Care Audit (SSCA) to monitor the quality of care provided by the hospitals in all Health Boards by collating data collected by the stroke Managed Clinical Networks. This data is used by the Scottish Government to monitor progress against the Scottish Stroke Care Standards (2016) and the Scottish Stroke Improvement Plan (2014) and informs and drives improvements across stroke care.

Health Boards are expected to identify aspects of their stroke services which do not meet the Scottish Standards and to work with clinical networks to improve their standards of care locally.

Question reference: S5W-26821

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 15 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what long-term forecasts it uses for predicting the incidence of stroke, and what plans it has to manage stroke care services against these predictions.

In 2019 the National Planning Board, which provides oversight , governance and decision making in relation to national planning of NHSS services , carried out a joint “Horizon Scan” with the National Advisory Committee for Stroke and other stakeholders in relation to stroke care. Part of that horizon scan involved consideration of estimates of the likely changes in stroke incidence, prevalence and burden.

In addition, national population projections are used by the Scottish Government and Health Boards to inform future planning requirements, allowing for the impact on hospitals, Health & Social Care Partnerships and the third sector to be modelled and planned accordingly.

As set out in the Programme for Government 2019-20, in the coming year, we will develop a programme to improve stroke pathways and services, including prevention, treatment and care. In particular, we will review and improve the current stroke care bundle to improve outcomes for patients and will begin work to scope out and define what a progressive stroke unit looks like.

Question reference: S5O-03999

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how the development and delivery of planned and ongoing road infrastructure projects take environmental issues into account.

Question reference: S5W-26714

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 8 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the question being asked as part of the Scottish Health Survey 2018 but the findings not being made public, whether it will confirm how many people taking part in the survey said that they would like to give up smoking, broken down by (a) age group and (b) Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) quintile.

Question reference: S5F-03824

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2020

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that local authorities are having to spend millions of pounds from cash reserves in order to balance their budgets.