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-18991

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 27 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will implement the recommendation by the Auditor General in the report, Early learning and childcare: Progress on delivery of the 1,140 hours expansion, for it to plan how to gather data on demand for both funded early learning and childcare, and childcare paid for directly by parents.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to consult with parents and carers every two years to ensure that their models of funded early learning and childcare (ELC) meet local needs and demands. The Scottish Government has committed to working with its partners to developing an outcomes and measurement framework for funded ELC before 2025. As part of the development of this framework the Scottish Government will work with partners, including local authorities, to consider the feasibility of gathering national-level data on parental demand for funded ELC or paid-for childcare.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to consult with parents and carers every two years to ensure that their models of funded early learning and childcare (ELC) meet local needs and demands. The Scottish Government has committed to working with its partners to developing an outcomes and measurement framework for funded ELC ahead of 2025. As part of the development of this framework the Scottish Government will work with partners, including local authorities, to consider the feasibility of gathering national-level data on parental demand for funded ELC or paid-for childcare.

Question reference: S6W-19600

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with local authorities regarding powers and enforcement to deter businesses from selling vapes and e-cigarettes to underage children, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

Enforcement of legislation around the sale and purchase of nicotine vapour products (NVPs) is carried out by Local Authorities as part of the Enhanced Tobacco Sales Enforcement Programme (ETSEP). This is overseen by the Society for Trading Standards Officers in Scotland (SCOTSS) and funded by the Scottish Government.

SCOTSS membership includes representation from every Scottish local authority trading standards service. We regularly meet with SCOTSS, our last meeting took place on 21 June 2023, and our standing agenda includes enforcement in relation to NVPs and tobacco.

Through this engagement, we continue to support strong national and local alliances to tackle the availability and sale of tobacco and NVPs to under 18s.

Question reference: S6W-19521

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to SARS-CoV-2 swabs that underwent whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and the likely source of transmission was identified, what infection prevention and control action was taken as a result of the WGS data, in each month since March 2020.

Question reference: S6W-19520

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to SARS-CoV-2 swabs that underwent whole-genome sequencing (WGS), how many were identified as having as their likely source of transmission (a) healthcare associated and (b) community-acquired infection, broken down by (i) NHS board and (ii) each month in which the WGS took place, since March 2020.

Question reference: S6W-19417

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 27 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has completed the review into public funding for bus operators in Scotland, and, if so, what the review has recommended.

Question reference: S6W-19615

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 30 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent reports it has received from NHS boards of women in labour being referred to labour wards outwith their NHS board area to give birth.

The Scottish Government received two reports in 2022, one jointly from NHS Fife and NHS Lothian and one jointly from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Ayrshire and Arran. The reports contain data on the number of women in threatened extreme preterm labour (labour at less than 27 weeks gestation) who were transferred from NHS Fife to NHS Lothian or from NHS Ayrshire and Arran to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in anticipation of the requirement for specialist neonatal care for their baby.

Question reference: S6W-19519

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 30 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 July 2023

To ask Scottish Government how many inpatient SARS-CoV-2 samples, across all NHS boards, underwent whole-genome sequencing as part of any research trials.

Question reference: S6W-18477

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on (a) prescribed and (b) non-prescribed contraceptives in each year since 2018-19, broken down by (i) type of contraceptive and (ii) the number of contraceptives distributed.

The Prescribing Information System (PIS) holds information on medicines and devices dispensed in the community, and the Hospital Medicines Utilisation Database (HMUD) holds information on medication provided in secondary care settings. Contraceptives are accessed and supplied by a variety of routes and the extent to which these supplies are captured within PIS and HMUD varies by type of contraception. For example, oral contraceptives are largely prescribed by General Practice and dispensed by Community Pharmacies and so are well recorded within PIS, whereas Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARC) are more commonly provided through secondary care managed services such as Sexual Health Clinics and so are better represented within HMUD.

Over-the-counter non-prescribed contraception will not be included in either dataset; Public Health Scotland holds no data on this.

Costs are provided in table 1 below. However, a meaningful measure of the number of contraceptives issued across all drug groups is not possible. The length of cover provided by one product unit of contraception can vary from one day (e.g., one tablet) to up to ten years (e.g., one intrauterine device or IUD). Whilst measures of quantity are available within PIS and HMUD, these are for indicative purposes only and cannot be practically used to compare the amounts of different types of contraception distributed.

Table 1: Cost of contraceptives issued in PIS and HMUD from 2018/19 to 2022/23, by BNF paragraph

Year	BNF paragraph	Total cost
2018-19	7.3.1.0. Combined hormonal contraceptives	£2,481,077.97
	7.3.1.1. Combined hormonal systems	£76,961.55
	7.3.2.1. Oral progestogen-only contraceptives	£1,655,742.83
	7.3.2.2. Parenteral progestogen-only contraceptives	£3,801,664.99
	7.3.2.3. Intra-uterine progestogen-only device	£2,911,778.68
	7.3.3.0. Spermicidal contraceptives	£3,827.63
	7.3.5.0. Emergency contraception	£729,734.84
	21.4.0.0. Contraceptive devices	£40,162.22
2019-20	7.3.1.0. Combined hormonal contraceptives	£2,447,912.45
	7.3.1.1. Combined hormonal systems	£81,772.99
	7.3.2.1. Oral progestogen-only contraceptives	£1,751,465.69
	7.3.2.2. Parenteral progestogen-only contraceptives	£3,739,842.34
	7.3.2.3. Intra-uterine progestogen-only device	£2,980,340.96
	7.3.3.0. Spermicidal contraceptives	£2,799.65
	7.3.5.0. Emergency contraception	£887,595.65
	21.4.0.0. Contraceptive devices	£40,793.78
2020-21	7.3.1.0. Combined hormonal contraceptives	£2,062,640.35
	7.3.1.1. Combined hormonal systems	£71,294.88
	7.3.2.1. Oral progestogen-only contraceptives	£1,814,380.10
	7.3.2.2. Parenteral progestogen-only contraceptives	£2,596,546.10
	7.3.2.3. Intra-uterine progestogen-only device	£1,736,105.38
	7.3.3.0. Spermicidal contraceptives	£1,974.72
	7.3.5.0. Emergency contraception	£689,367.85
	21.4.0.0. Contraceptive devices	£19,629.36
2021-22	7.3.1.0. Combined hormonal contraceptives	£2,054,375.79
	7.3.1.1. Combined hormonal systems	£69,083.39
	7.3.2.1. Oral progestogen-only contraceptives	£1,805,823.06
	7.3.2.2. Parenteral progestogen-only contraceptives	£3,365,352.67
	7.3.2.3. Intra-uterine progestogen-only device	£2,856,637.26
	7.3.3.0. Spermicidal contraceptives	£2,293.69
	7.3.5.0. Emergency contraception	£963,038.59
	21.4.0.0. Contraceptive devices	£33,840.25
2022-23	7.3.1.0. Combined hormonal contraceptives	£2,013,008.31
	7.3.1.1. Combined hormonal systems	£66,692.32
	7.3.2.1. Oral progestogen-only contraceptives	£1,901,855.47
	7.3.2.2. Parenteral progestogen-only contraceptives	£3,469,198.81
	7.3.2.3. Intra-uterine progestogen-only device	£3,082,500.15
	7.3.3.0. Spermicidal contraceptives	£2,231.46
	7.3.5.0. Emergency contraception	£1,056,156.66
	21.4.0.0. Contraceptive devices	£30,427.78

Source: Public Health Scotland, PIS, HMUD

Reference: IR2023-00531

Notes:

For PIS:

1. Includes items prescribed and/or dispensed in Scotland

2. Excludes items prescribed and/or dispensed in England

3. Includes all prescriber types

4. Includes dispenser types: dispensing doctors, appliance suppliers, community pharmacists

5. Includes items dispensed by locations contracted to dispense NHS prescriptions i.e. excludes items dispensed by private dispensers.

6. Excludes private prescriptions

7. Costs are based on Gross Ingredient Cost (GIC), excluding broken bulk

8. Information on items prescribed but not dispensed is not currently held by PHS, Prescribed Items are based on items which have been prescribed, dispensed and subsequently submitted for payment.

9. Data is based on BNF Hierarchy and not clinical usage.

For HMUD

10. Includes all transaction from pharmacy stock control systems to clinical areas

11. Excludes internal stock transfers from one store location to another

12. Costs are based on the transaction costs recorded by the pharmacy stock control system.

Question reference: S6W-19515

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether all employees of the Scottish Prison Service have been directed to receive training on trauma-informed justice, and what information it holds on how many employees have received this training to date.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS records the number of training interventions delivered rather than the number of staff who have received the training. The diverse range of individuals who have benefited from these interventions include both operational staff and members of the senior leadership team.

SPS Trauma-informed training is linked to a range of learning and development interventions for SPS staff. As of 10 July 2023, SPS has delivered 2608 trauma-informed training interventions to staff.

Question reference: S6W-19777

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 26 July 2023

Ministers have not met with universities and colleges to discuss RAAC. Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council officials have met on four occasions to discuss this matter, the last meeting of which was held on 5th July.