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-26647

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 December 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 20 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to an audit report by Food Standards Scotland, which found that the Fife Council environmental health team is facing staff shortages that have led to it being unable to perform proactive visits, and instead it is focusing on responding to complaints or business queries only.

I am informed by Food Standards Scotland that it has carried out a number of Capacity and Capability Audits of Local Authorities over the past three years. Audits of Local Authorities’ food law enforcement services are part of Food Standards Scotland’s arrangements to improve consumer protection and confidence in relation to food. Food Standards Scotland was satisfied that there weren’t any imminent risks to public health.

Following each audit, the Local Authority should draft an action plan to address the recommendations made within the report. These actions should be time bound and designed to address any weaknesses identified, and support any necessary improvement.

Food Standards Scotland follows up all action plans resulting from these audits and works with the Local Authorities until they are satisfactorily implemented.

Fife Council has put an action plan in place to address the recommendations made in Food Standards Scotland’s audit report, and this has been followed up recently by Food Standards Scotland to check progress on implementation of the audit recommendations. To date 2 of 6 recommendations have been effectively implemented, and the others are progressing.

Question reference: S5O-03959

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has provided in loans through its Digital Growth Fund.

Question reference: S5W-26556

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 6 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how Scotland contributes to the European Stroke Organisation strategy 2018-2030, including the target to reduce incidence across Europe by 10%.

The European Stroke Action Plan 2018-2030 is a collaborative document resulting from efforts from the European Stroke Association, Stroke Alliance for Europe and many other stakeholders, including a number of stroke professionals based in Scotland. We work with international partners to share best practice.

We continue to implement our Stroke Improvement Plan which sets out the priorities and actions to deliver improved prevention, treatment and care for all people in Scotland affected by stroke. Figures from Information and Statistics Division (ISD) show that the number of people dying from stroke decreased by 42% over the last decade. Significant progress has been made towards improving stroke services in Scotland but we want to continue to improve on this figure. That is why the Programme for Government commits to ensuring that improvements are made to stroke pathways and services, including prevention, treatment and care.

Question reference: S5W-26555

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 6 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many strokes have been recorded in each of the last 10 years, broken down by NHS board, and what targets it has set to reduce incidence.

The information is already available in the public domain and can be found at https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Stroke/Topic-Areas/Incidence/ .

The Scottish Stroke Care Standards, in the Scottish Stroke Care Audit (SSCA) are used to assess the performance of stroke services.

Figures from Information and Statistics Division (ISD) show that the number of people dying from stroke decreased by 42% over the last decade. We are determined to further improve that figure and the Programme for Government commits to building on this to ensure stroke pathways – including prevention, treatment and care – continue to improve.

Question reference: S5W-26551

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 6 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what stroke guidelines are followed by NHS boards, including which boards follow the latest Royal College of Physicians (RCP) guidelines, and what its position is on rolling out the RCP guidelines to all boards.

Question reference: S5W-26552

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 6 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what collaboration there is between stroke professionals in Scotland and their international partners, and how this has been used to (a) improve the design and work of NHS stroke units and (b) help ensure that patients receive evidenced-based care of a world class standard.

Stroke professionals in Scotland have a strong history of being involved, and taking the lead, in international collaborations. For example, Professor Martin Dennis, Chair of Stroke Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and Chair of the National Advisory Committee for Stroke, has conducted a series of international randomised controlled trials on a variety of treatments used in stroke units. The results have influenced international guidelines.

We are committed to working collaboratively with stakeholders, including international partners, to ensure that people who have had a stroke receive the best possible care as quickly as possible to enable them to live longer, healthier independent lives. Figures from Information and Statistics Division (ISD) show that the number of people dying from stroke decreased by 42% over the last decade. Significant progress has been made towards improving stroke services in Scotland but we want to continue to improve on this figure. That is why the Programme for Government commits to ensuring that improvements are made to stroke pathways and services, including prevention, treatment and care.

Question reference: S5O-03898

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent making preparations for independence in the last 12 years.

Question reference: S5O-03839

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle fly-tipping.

Question reference: S5W-26263

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 November 2019
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 20 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to protect firefighters from attack.

Our firefighters do a remarkable job in very challenging circumstances, often putting themselves in danger to protect the public and we will therefore not tolerate attacks against them or any other public sector workers.

Scotland's justice system provides for protection for all workers under our common laws of assault, threatening and abusive behaviour and breach of the peace.

The Emergency Workers Act 2005 includes a penalty of up to 12 months imprisonment, a £10,000 fine, or both and we have extended the act to include GPs and doctors, nurses and midwives working in the community.

For more serious attacks other offences can be used with maximum penalties all the way up to life imprisonment.

We fully support the activity of the SFRS and others to educate and promote positive behaviour towards all our emergency workers.

Question reference: S5W-26111

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 11 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the second supplementary to question S5O-03677 by Aileen Campbell on 30 October 2019 (Official Report, c. 28), whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding what role it expects procurement plans to have in helping councils that are struggling to balance budgets.

Local authorities are independent corporate bodies and, like other public bodies, are largely responsible for their own procurement processes and decisions.

Under our national public procurement legislation, they need to prepare and publish a procurement strategy, setting out how they intend to carry out their significant procurements and publish an annual report against that strategy.

These documents help drive local transparency by showing how public bodies ensure that their procurements are delivering value for money and contributing to their broader aims and objectives.