- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 11 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 3 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with medical research charities and researchers they fund in Scotland to support the creation of spin-out companies from their research.
Answer
Charities are a major funder of medical research and development in Scotland, with investment estimated to be worth £122m in 2018 (Fraser of Allander report 2022). Scotland is a global centre of excellence for clinical research and there are a number of organisations in Scotland supporting those charities and their researchers.
The Association of Medical Research Charities works to maximise the potential for research and innovation in the NHS to ensure the investment from medical research charities has the greatest impact for patients. Medical Research Scotland supports individuals through the award of doctoral studentships and through other training initiatives to companies. Scottish Health Innovation Ltd also support clinical research and work closely with NHS Research Scotland, in partnership of Scottish NHS Boards and the Chief Scientist Office (CSO), to innovate and commercialise products and services. The Scottish Funding Council offer a number of funding programmes, which are administered by Interface, to offset the cost for collaborations to support innovation and research.
To further support research and development the Programme for Government has committed £100m to R&D over the next 5 years.
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06190 by Jenny Gilruth on 4 March 2022, whether it will provide updated figures on how many young people have now received a free bus pass through the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme, broken down by local authority, based on the latest information available.
Answer
The following table shows the number of cards produced for the Young Persons Scheme (YPS) by close of business 25 April 2022, broken down to local authority level. This information was supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). NECPO support the 32 local authorities by assisting with the integration of various national and local public services on the National Entitlement Card (NEC) and are the joint controller with local authorities of this data. Please note this data might include a small number of cards produced without the travel product.
Aberdeen City | 15,249 |
Aberdeenshire | 14,750 |
Angus Council | 3,878 |
Argyll and Bute | 3,046 |
City of Edinburgh | 42,142 |
Clackmannanshire | 1,683 |
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 677 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 4,763 |
Dundee City | 14,151 |
East Ayrshire | 9,574 |
East Dunbartonshire | 4,146 |
East Lothian | 7,761 |
East Renfrewshire | 5,013 |
Falkirk | 5,240 |
Fife | 23,938 |
Glasgow City | 25,066 |
Highland | 8,178 |
Inverclyde | 10,966 |
Midlothian | 5,321 |
Moray | 4,126 |
North Ayrshire | 4,091 |
North Lanarkshire | 13,060 |
Orkney Islands | 596 |
Perth and Kinross | 6,775 |
Renfrewshire | 10,270 |
Scottish Borders | 5,628 |
Shetland Islands | 1,509 |
South Ayrshire | 3,451 |
South Lanarkshire | 7,881 |
Stirling | 3,833 |
West Dunbartonshire | 8,166 |
West Lothian | 9,400 |
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 3 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the recycling system being used in Wales is successful; for what reason such a system was not considered in detail in the Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland Final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA), and whether it will consider deploying such a system as an alternative to its Deposit Return Scheme.
Answer
Whether the recycling system used in Wales is successful is a matter for the Welsh Government, not the Scottish Government. I would note, however, that the Welsh Government is also working to introduce a deposit return scheme (DRS), including the same materials as ours.
The Welsh Government is also, like the Scottish Government, working with the other UK administrations to bring in packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) from 2024 as a major reform to their recycling system. Packaging EPR for drinks containers was considered as an alternative to DRS in our final DRS Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment, which found that DRS would deliver more economic and environmental benefits.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 3 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how long after a seed potato crop is planted can Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture order that the crop be destroyed.
Answer
The Scottish Government can order a crop haulm to be destroyed at any time during the season. The Scottish Government conducts an annual surveillance programme of testing to ensure potato crops in Scotland remain free from many economically important pests and diseases and, in partnership with the potato industry, ensure that robust measures are in place to maintain Scotland’s high-health status and world-wide reputation for producing high quality seed potatoes.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 3 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to seed potato farmers to control rising aphid levels, which are key vectors of viruses that affect these crops.
Answer
The SASA website hosts a number of pages dedicated to viruses of importance to potatoes, including information on aphid monitoring of seed potato crops, virus epidemiology and varietal propensity to virus infection.
Scottish Government staff participate in the National Potato Virus Forum that was initiated in 2019 in response to the increase in virus pressure. SASA chair the Scottish Aphid- Borne Virus Working Group; the group recently published guidance outlining 6 Steps to Effective Virus Management in Certified or Home Saved Seed. The document was sent to all growers in advance of the 2021 season.
SASA operate a national network of suction traps collecting information about aphid abundance and movement and provide advice on the risk of virus transmission and the need for aphid control. This information is published on the SASA website and can be used as an early warning system for growers.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 3 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made, regarding any potential impact on Scotland or its policies, of the European Commission consultation on legislation for plants produced by certain new genomic techniques.
Answer
We are aware of the EU’s policy initiative to propose a new legal framework for plants obtained by targeted mutagenesis and cisgenesis and for their food and feed products.
Should the EU move to change its regulatory framework, we will consider the implications for Scotland as details become available.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
-
Date lodged: Friday, 22 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 3 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider investing more in case finding for undiagnosed or untreated cases of hepatitis C, in line with recommendations to NHS boards by the Short Life Working Group on Hepatitis C Virus Case Finding and Access to Care.
Answer
The Scottish Government remains committed to our target of eliminating hepatitis C in Scotland by 2024; however, we must acknowledge the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on all our health services.
We are exploring in collaboration with the Scottish Health Protection Network Hepatitis C group where focused interventions would bring about the biggest impact and support us to reach our target. We intend to include concrete proposals in the next iteration of the sexual Health and Blood Borne Viruses Framework, which we expect to publish later this year.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 April 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 3 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the scope of its proposed feasibility study on rent data collection will include.
Answer
The Scottish Government has published proposals on the collection of additional rent data on pages 76 to 78 of the Draft Rented Sector Strategy Consultation paper titled ‘ A New Deal for Tenants ’.
The scope of the feasibility will cover all the aspects raised on pages 76 to 78 and will also take into consideration any additional issues raised through Consultation responses and during discussions with key delivery partners.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 3 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards the SNP manifesto commitment to create a fund for public artwork, and when it anticipates that this will be in place.
Answer
This Government is committed to broadening the range of people represented in Scotland’s public places, reflecting in particular the contribution of women and ethnic minorities. A specific fund is being considered in the context of the Scottish Government’s longer term spending plans and we will discuss how such a fund might be best deployed with Creative Scotland, whose remit includes public art.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 April 2022
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 3 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made, regarding the testing available in Scotland, of the decision by NICE to approve placental growth factor (PlGF) testing for expectant mothers in England.
Answer
The Scottish Government expects women to receive high quality, safe care including in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of pre-eclampsia.
We are working with the Scottish Perinatal Network to examine the adoption of PlGF testing for pre-eclampsia in Scotland. This will include consideration of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidance on PlGF (DG23) that is currently out for consultation and expected to be published in July 2022.