- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 April 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 18 April 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment the Ministerial Taskforce on Population has made of the potential impact of the centralisation of services on the sustainability of rural communities.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 18 April 2024
- Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 April 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 17 April 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of cases of livestock worrying.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 17 April 2024
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 25 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by George Adam on 10 April 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the anticipated local government elections in 2027, what information it has on when any work to redraw mainland council wards will commence.
Answer
Boundaries Scotland has the statutory responsibility to review the electoral arrangements for local government areas. In line with the requirements of the Local Government Act 1973, Boundaries Scotland must submit to Scottish Ministers a report on its review of the electoral arrangements for a local government area no more than 15 years after the previous report for that area was submitted. Boundaries Scotland is currently conducting the Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries, and will report to Ministers by 1 May 2025. Work to review council wards will recommence once this review has been submitted. The Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Bill proposes an amendment to the deadline by which Boundaries Scotland must complete the next local government reviews, from 31 December 2028 to 30 April 2031. This is to align the 15-year period between reviews with the five-year local government election cycle.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Emma Roddick on 10 April 2024
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to introduce a bill on ending conversion practices.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to introduce legislation to end conversion practices in Scotland that is as comprehensive as possible within devolved competence.
Conversion practices, which aim to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, are damaging and destructive acts that violate people’s human rights. Whilst our proposals will protect people from the harms of conversion practices, our approach also recognises and respects established rights and freedoms. This includes freedom of thought, conscience and belief and private and family life as well as parents exercising their rights and responsibilities in relation to their children.
Our public consultation, containing detailed proposals, ran for 12 weeks and closed on 2 April 2024. Responses to that consultation will now be analysed and considered.
Future legislative programmes will be announced in relevant Programmes for Government in the usual way.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 April 2024
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of patients diagnosed with diabetes have been provided real-time glucose monitoring devices in each NHS board in each year since 1999.
Answer
This information is not held centrally.
Some information on the percentage of people using glucose monitors and other diabetes technologies can be found in the Scottish Diabetes Survey, which provides an annual summary of key issues and trends in diabetes care and treatment in Scotland. The Survey provides annual data going back to 2004 and can be found here: https://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/publications/#survey-docs.
The next iteration of the Survey, covering data for 2023, will be published later this year.
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 April 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what advances have been made in optometry services within primary care in the last five years, and what funding arrangements are in place to support at-home diagnostic and treatment services.
Answer
The Scottish Government is: rolling out a new Community Glaucoma Service, which supports eligible patients with lower risk glaucoma and treated ocular hypertension to be discharged from hospital and registered with accredited community optometrists; and delivering UK-leading changes to the undergraduate optometry degree model, which will enable students to graduate as Independent Prescriber optometrists.
In relation to at-home diagnostic and treatment services, community optometry practices that provide NHS eye examinations to eligible patients in a domiciliary setting receive a General Ophthalmic Services eye examination fee as well as an additional visiting fee.
- Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 April 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list any payments that it has made to P&O Ferries since 17 March 2022 to date.
Answer
The Scottish Government has made no payments to P&O Ferries since 17 March 2022.
- Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 April 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26010 by Fiona Hyslop on 18 March 2024, which job-related and professional training courses, which amounted to £58,408.55, were completed in (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23.
Answer
The amount of £58,408.55 is in relation to 2022-23 only. In 2021-22 the equivalent amount was £31,663.82.2021-22 – a total of £31,663.82 related to job-related and professional training courses. These included:
1. Health &Safety Training Courses
(including Evacuation Chair Training, Fire Safety Course, Institute of Civil Engineering H&S Course)
2. Conference and Seminars
(including Road Safety Scotland Annual Seminar 2022, Training for Transportation Professionals Conference, Women in Transport Event, Rapid Transit Conference, Construction News Decarbonising Construction Conference)
3. Educational Development Training Courses
(including Excel Training, Chartered Institute of Public Relations Course, The Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply Procurement Training)
2022-23 – a total of £58,408.55 related to job-related and professional training courses. These included:
1. Conference and Seminars
(including Bridge Design & Engineering Bridges Conference 2023, Smarter Working Expo, Road Expo 2022, World Routes Conference, Freedom of Information Conference, Road Safety Scotland Annual Seminar 2023)
2. Educational Development Training Courses
(including Holyrood Insight Course, Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) Training Course, International Centre for Parliamentary Studies Training Course, Institution of Civil Engineering Training Course, Writing Course)
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 April 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what recent review it has undertaken of the provision of sexual health and wellbeing services for young people.
Answer
There has been no formal review of the provision of sexual health and wellbeing services for young people, however the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that young people across Scotland have access to these services. In 2023 we published our Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus (SHBBV) Action Plan, particular attention was paid to young people in the development of the plan. We have allocated multi-year funding to a range of projects to help deliver this goal, details of these projects were published alongside the SHBBV Action Plan.
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 March 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 April 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what targeted training is currently offered to teachers to help them to assess, monitor and improve the health and wellbeing of pupils.
Answer
In June 2021, the Scottish Government published a new professional learning resource for school staff aimed at providing essential learning required to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing https://www.cypmh.co.uk/
Education Scotland also offers a comprehensive suite of professional learning resources to support teachers in assessing, monitoring, and enhancing the health and wellbeing of pupils. These include trauma-informed training delivered to over 1,000 practitioners in collaboration with NHS Education for Scotland. Additional Education Scotland resources, such as the Cycle of Wellbeing and Positive Mental Wellbeing guide practitioners in fostering positive change, are also available.
The Inclusion, Wellbeing, and Equalities Professional Learning Framework , launched by Education Scotland in November 2023, further supports educators in building capacity and understanding across the four key themes of Inclusion, Rights and Equalities, Relationships and Wellbeing and Care.
