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-06470

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how and (b) when the outcomes of the Scottish Ambulance Service's demand and capacity review will be implemented.

Since agreement of phased funding, SAS have been actively recruiting staff at pace and increasing vehicles on the ground on a transition basis into priority locations across the country. Seven additional satellite stations have already been established, with a further three still to be established, enabling resources to be spread across busy urban areas to better match patient demand.

Alongside this, the service having been working in partnership to design new rosters. SAS are expecting new rosters to be implemented in April 2022 for the majority of locations across the East and North Regions. The West Region full implementation is expected to be concluded by the end of July.

Recruitment for phase 3 of the review has commenced and will enable SAS to increase their establishment by a further 162 staff as well as further increase our station locations and vehicles on the ground.

Question reference: S6W-06502

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff hours have been lost in each NHS board due to staff absence, and what the total cost was of those staff absences, in each year since 2007.

The information requested is not centrally available.

NHS Education for Scotland publishes annual data on sickness absence rates and on bank and agency spend for Medical & Dental and Nursing & Midwifery staff. It should be noted that there are a variety of reasons Boards may choose to deploy bank and agency staff and this does not directly represent spending associated with staff absence.

The data can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics website:

NHSScotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence

Question reference: S6W-06528

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the £2 million from the Festivals Expo Fund will be distributed to festivals.

Since 2008 the annual Festivals Expo fund has invested over £30 million in the festivals to support innovation, collaboration and artist development. This year funding will also support festival resilience plans following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The recipients of this year’s £2 million Expo Fund were announced on 8th February 2022. The fund is managed by Creative Scotland who have noted that all eligible festivals should receive their contracts and first payments from this year’s fund, by mid-April 2022 in line with timescales from previous years.

Question reference: S6W-06474

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to lower the age for bowel screenings, and what assessment it has made of recent research and practice, including the US Preventive Services Task Force B-grade recommendation for screening for colorectal cancer in adults aged 45 to 49.

The Scottish Government will only make plans to introduce any changes to the eligible age range for the bowel screening programme in Scotland if this is recommended by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC).

The UK NSC advises Ministers and the NHS in the 4 UK countries on all aspects of screening. The Committee’s recommendations are based on the latest evidence and agreed criteria for appraising the viability, effectiveness and appropriateness of a screening programme.

The current age ranges for the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme are based on the 2018 recommendation that screening for bowel cancer using the faecal-immunochemical test should be offered every 2 years to men and women between the ages of 50 and 74 in the UK.

The Scottish Government continues to stress that it is important at any age to be aware of the signs and symptoms of cancer, and to report any concerns to a GP Practice so that these can be investigated.

Question reference: S6W-06526

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what development programmes it is considering as part of its international development aid.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35666 of 3 March 2021 which sets out in detail the programmes the Scottish Government has decided upon as part of its contribution to international development. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-06527

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the review process of its development programmes and small grants programmes in Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda and Pakistan.

Again, I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35666 of
3 March 2021 which sets out in detail the review process of the development and small grants programmes in Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda and Pakistan undertaken by the Scottish Government. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-06469

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the Scottish Ambulance Service's demand and capacity review was (a) started and (b) completed.

Question reference: S6W-06442

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many type 1 diabetics in each NHS board area will be eligible for the proposed closed loop system initiative, as recommended by the Scottish Health Technologies Group in its report of 28 January 2022.

The information requested is not collected centrally. There are a number of factors which clinicians will use to determine individual suitability for closed loop systems and other diabetes technologies.

We expect clinicians and NHS Boards to follow all relevant national clinical guidelines when assessing the most appropriate treatment for someone living with diabetes, including the use of closed loop systems.

The Scottish Diabetes Survey provides an annual summary of key issues and trends in diabetes care and treatment in Scotland, including the numbers of people accessing diabetes technologies. The 2020 Survey was published in January of this year and can be found by following link: https://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/publications/#survey-docs.

Question reference: S6W-06444

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what additional funding is in place to support the roll-out of single hormone closed loop systems to eligible adults and children with type 1 diabetes.

Additional funding of £14.6 million was allocated to NHS Boards in January 2022 to support increased access to diabetes technologies, including closed loop systems.

The Scottish Government also provides baseline funding to NHS Boards and it is for individual Boards to determine how best to utilise this funding to meet the needs and priorities of their local populations. This includes offering closed loop system technologies to all those for whom they are deemed clinically appropriate.

Question reference: S6W-06447

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the current incidence rates are for diabetes in each NHS board area, broken down by race and ethnicity.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Scottish Diabetes Survey provides an annual summary of key issues and trends in diabetes care and treatment in Scotland. The 2020 Survey was published in January of this year and can be found by following link: https://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/publications/#survey-docs.

The Scottish Diabetes Survey shows information on ethnicity from NHS Boards in Scotland is available for 81.7% of the registered population with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.