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: S6O-04296

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-04290

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the finance secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding infrastructure investment plans for the building of new schools, in light of the recent Audit Scotland report, which noted that further borrowing will be needed to invest in these.

Question reference: S6W-33247

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-30182 by Jenni Minto on 8 October 2024, whether its draft Budget 2025-26 will impact on the National Thrombectomy Planning Board's plans for a phased approach to expanding thrombectomy services.

The Scottish Government remains committed to expanding the national thrombectomy service, and ensuring access to this treatment is as equitable as possible.

Through the National Thrombectomy Programme Board, and Thrombectomy Advisory Group, work is being undertaken to drive expansion of the thrombectomy service.

Planning is ongoing to establish how the £16 million funding announced in the Scottish budget, once scrutinised by the Scottish Parliament, will be best used to maximise the number of patients able to benefit from thrombectomy.

Question reference: S6W-33667

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a specific timeline for the launch of the delayed cruise ship levy consultation.

Question reference: S6W-33723

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address any patient concerns about data privacy in relation to the sharing of medical records across healthcare providers.

The Scottish Government is committed to addressing patient concerns about data privacy in the sharing of medical records across healthcare providers. We provide clear guidance on privacy and confidentiality, promote robust information governance practices, and support the NHS and healthcare providers in implementing appropriate processes to safeguard patient data.

The responsibility for developing data sharing agreements and publishing privacy notices is down to each individual Board. However, NHS Inform provides patients with supportive information to ensure they have an understanding of the holistic approach to data privacy NHS Scotland take. This information can be found here https://www.nhsinform.scot/care-support-and-rights/health-rights/confidentiality-and-data-protection/how-the-nhs-handles-your-personal-health-information/.

In addition to the guidance on Inform, Privacy by design is at the core of the National Information Governance Programme, forming a key part of our Data Strategy to ensure that digital and data-driven practices are developed with privacy safeguards embedded from the outset.

The Scottish Government also engages regularly with patients, the ICO, and citizen interest groups to ensure data-sharing practices respect patients' rights and expectations

Question reference: S6W-33707

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work on the National Digital Platform, and when patients will (a) have digital access to their medical records and (b) be able to digitally book appointments.

We continue to develop the capabilities of the National Digital Platform (NDP), with core components that will enable individual access, such as standards-based data storage and integration, and access controls and user authentication for the workforce now largely in place.

However, the Platform itself will not provide patients digital access to their medical records or the ability to book appointments, rather it will power the underlying data requirements and systems integration for digital services that are public facing such as the Scotland-wide national vaccine service or the development of a Digital Front Door.

The Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment digital application that is deployed on NDP is currently live in multiple health boards. In the past year, the platform has supported the delivery of the ANIA Digital Dermatology Pathway and will be providing the single source of the truth for Medical Devices Data as part of the Scan for Safety Programme in 2025-26.

The platform will be used to deliver the Digital Front Door service - an online app for patients which will begin to be rolled out in December 2025. The national roll out of this service will be incremental, starting in Lanarkshire. It will allow people to access and manage their hospital appointments online, receive communications, find local services, and access and update their personal information from day one. This will be the first step in a nationally committed, five-year programme for the Programme for Government 2024-25 commitment in launching a new personalised digital health and social care service.

Question reference: S6W-33753

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on paid promotions and advertisements on social media platforms in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-33640

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting (a) small- and (b) medium-sized enterprises in rural areas to implement healthy workplace initiatives.

Through our vision for ‘a Scotland where people live longer, healthy and fulfilling lives we are focused on improving the health of the population. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeblood of the Scottish economy and so we want to create an economy that prioritises the wellbeing of staff and employees of SMEs.

The Scottish Government supports the Healthy Working Lives (HWL) initiative, hosted by Public Health Scotland, which offers a range of materials to support employers on all aspects of work-related health promotion and ill health prevention, return to work and workplace safety.

The Scottish Government funds Working Health Services Scotland (WHSS), a service delivered by individual territorial health boards that provides occupational health advice and support for people who are self-employed or working in companies with 250 or less employees and have a health condition or injury which they feel is impacting on their work. This service is coordinated by Salus Occupational health, safety and return to work services (NHS Lanarkshire), who work in partnership with all 14 NHS Health boards delivering the service, including coverage across rural areas.

Question reference: S6W-33748

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the total expenditure on social media-related activities, including management, advertising, and content creation, has been in each of the last five years.

Social media related activities undertaken by the Scottish Government encompass abroad set of teams and workstreams. A significant proportion of the management of Scottish Government accounts on social media platforms and the production of organic content, is managed by internal teams.

Communication to specific audiences via social media is an integral part of every Scottish Government marketing campaign and incorporates e.g. videos, paid advertisements, website and social content and influencer marketing. Scottish Government marketing content and campaigns run across multiple social media platforms (in either paid-for or organic form) as part of integrated marketing and communications campaigns. All social media activity is developed to support defined policy outcomes and in line with key Scottish Government priorities.

Scottish Government marketing and advertising spend is published each year can be found at https://www.gov.scot/collections/marketing-spend/ including a breakdown by discipline and media type. As the 2024-25 financial year is not yet complete the information is not included.

Question reference: S6W-33714

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to protect the security of patient medical records in the context of any increasing cyber threats.

The Scottish Government actively promotes cyber security. Our goal is to reduce the risk of cyber-attacks and protect against the unauthorised exploitation of systems, networks, and technologies. As the Scottish Health Competent Authority for health in Scotland we promote best practice, regulatory requirements, and global international standards for the improvement of cyber security practices.

Health Boards must individually go through the Network Information Systems Regulations audit lifecycle, demonstrating continual improvements against the Scottish Public Sector Cyber Resilience Framework to the Scottish Health Competent Authority.

The Scottish Government has also invested in the Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCoE). The CCoE empowers continuous improvements by focusing on key enablement pillars including Centralised Security, 24/7 Monitoring, Threat Hunting, Incident Response and Training & Awareness. It is complimented by the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre which is a key partner to the CCoE, enhancing our national incident response capacity and capabilities.