- Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of IBD UK’s report, Crohn’s and Colitis Care in Scotland: A Vision for Change, which highlighted that three in 10 people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) waited over a year after developing symptoms to visit their GP, what assessment it has made of the need for a new high-profile public awareness campaign on the seriousness of IBD and its symptoms, and whether it will commit to introducing such a campaign to encourage earlier GP visits and improve early diagnosis.
Answer
The Scottish Government welcomes IBD UK’s latest report, Crohn’s and Colitis Care in Scotland: A Vision for Change, and notes the recommendation for government to undertake a high-profile public health awareness campaign on the seriousness of IBD and its symptoms. In consideration of the recommendation, our assessment is that information and guidance on Inflammatory Bowel Disease including crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis is already widely available to the public via the NHS Inform website: Scottish health information you can trust | NHS inform and we have no plans to commit to a campaign at this time.
- Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any structural damage to the Kingston Bridge in Glasgow, other than that reported on 14 January 2025.
Answer
The Kingston Bridge Complex in Glasgow receives a rigorous programme of regular inspections. The output from these inspections is used to inform current and future maintenance programmes. Any defects identified from these inspections are prioritised and taken forward for future repair, if necessary.
The concrete spalling reported on 14 January 2025, immediately above Paisley Road, was related to an historic concrete repair, which broke loose after the recent period of cold weather. There are other historic repairs within the complex and, to address this issue and to ensure public safety, Transport Scotland’s Operating Company, Amey, has instigated further close visual special inspections to identify and remove any loose concrete at these historic repairs. These inspections are underway and will continue over the next few weeks.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many journeys have been undertaken by the cars in its fleet in each of the last five years, broken down by fuel type.
Answer
We do not hold this information.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will expand the Young Patients Family Fund eligibility criteria to (a) those attending day treatment and (b) under-25s.
Answer
There are no plans to expand eligibility of The Young Patients Family Fund (YPFF) at this time.
In addition to support available under the YPFF, financial support for travel to hospital is available via the patient travel expenses reimbursement schemes. Under those schemes, patients and authorised escorts can reclaim reasonable costs of travel associated with attending a hospital appointment, in line with eligibility criteria and medical requirements.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints it has received regarding the condition of the A90 in each of the last five years, and what actions were taken as a result.
Answer
There have been no official complaints logged regarding the overall condition of the A90 in the last five years. However, there has been a total of 171 individual complaints with resulting reports:
Financial Year | Number of Complaints | Action Taken |
2019-20 | 37 | Cat 1 / Cat 2 repairs completed. Complaints logged and action taken to rectify timeously |
2020-21 | 30 | Road resurfacing carried out All Cat 1/ Cat 2 repairs completed |
2021-22 | 41 | Road resurfacing carried out All Cat 1/ Cat 2 repairs completed |
2022-23 | 34 | Defective road signs removed and route reviewed for further defects All Cat 1/ Cat 2 repairs completed |
2023-24 | 29 | Road resurfacing carried out and ongoing repairs at location of Glencarse Overbridge Cat 1/ Cat 2 repairs completed |
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what funding is being provided to ensure that every cancer patient is able to access specialist psychological support throughout their treatment.
Answer
Scottish Government’s Psychological Therapies and Support Framework for People Affected by Cancer supports Health Boards in considering the services which should be available to those affected by cancer, including psychological support, at any point of throughout the cancer pathway.
In 2024-25 Scottish Government provided £123 million to Health Boards to deliver improvements to mental health services for people in Scotland, including the delivery of psychological therapies for those with cancer. It is the responsibility of Health Boards to deliver this and to locally commission as required.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many vehicles have been added to its fleet in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) vehicle type and (b) fuel type.
Answer
A breakdown of fleet additions and disposals since 2019-20, broken down by vehicle and fuel type, is provided in the following tables.
2019-20
Vehicle type | Fuel type | Number of vehicles added | Number of vehicles disposed |
Car | Diesel | 0 | 34 |
Car | Hybrid | 0 | 3 |
Car | Plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) | 9 | 0 |
Car | Electric (EV) | 2 | 0 |
Light Commercial | Diesel | 2 | 12 |
Light Commercial | Plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) | 2 | 0 |
Total | - | 15 | 49 |
2020-21
Vehicle type | Fuel type | Number of vehicles added | Number of vehicles disposed |
Car | Diesel | 0 | 4 |
Car | Plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) | 3 | 0 |
Car | Electric (EV) | 8 | 1 |
Light Commercial | Plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) | 2 | 0 |
Light Commercial | Range extender (REV) | 3 | 0 |
Light Commercial | Diesel | 3 | 4 |
Total | - | 19 | 9 |
2021-22
Vehicle type | Fuel type | Number of vehicles added | Number of vehicles disposed |
Car | Diesel | 0 | 14 |
Car | Plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) | 2 | 3 |
Car | Electric (EV) | 30 | 0 |
Light Commercial | Diesel | 0 | 3 |
Light Commercial | Electric (EV) | 1 | 0 |
Total | - | 33 | 20 |
2022-23
Vehicle type | Fuel type | Number of vehicles added | Number of vehicles disposed |
Car | Diesel | 0 | 26 |
Car | Plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) | 15 | 6 |
Car | Electric (EV) | 0 | 1 |
Light Commercial | Diesel | 2 | 1 |
Light Commercial | Electric (EV) | 0 | 3 |
Total | - | 17 | 37 |
2023-24
Vehicle type | Fuel type | Number of vehicles added | Number of vehicles disposed |
Car | Diesel | 0 | 8 |
Car | Petrol | 0 | 16 |
Car | Plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) | 24 | 10 |
Car | Electric (EV) | 0 | 1 |
Light Commercial | Diesel | 2 | 4 |
Light Commercial | Plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) | 0 | 2 |
Total | - | 26 | 41 |
2024-25 (up until 22-01-25)
Vehicle type | Fuel type | Number of vehicles added | Number of vehicles disposed |
Car | Hybrid | 0 | 5 |
Car | Plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) | 10 | 5 |
Light Commercial | Diesel | 0 | 1 |
Heavy Goods | Diesel | 0 | 1 |
Total | - | 10 | 12 |
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the carbon emissions associated with journeys taken by the cars in its fleet in each of the last five years.
Answer
Fleet carbon emissions are published in our Public Bodies Climate Change report which is available on the Scottish Sustainability Network site. Additionally, SG holds the Carbon Trust to Net Zero Standard for year on year carbon reduction, with carbon emission data on the fleet independently audited by the Carbon Trust to ensure accuracy.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it records the purpose of each journey taken by the cars in its fleet, and, if so, whether it will provide the most recent breakdown of such journeys by purpose, including business travel and any other categories.
Answer
We do not hold this information.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in clinical research into (a) dementia, (b) neurodegenerative conditions, (c) non-neurodegenerative conditions and (d) other neurological conditions in each of the last five years.
Answer
Within the Scottish Government, funding for Health and Care Research comes under the policy remit of the Chief Scientist Office (CSO)
CSO directly funds research through its research project and fellowship schemes. These are open to applications from across the clinical spectrum. All applications go through the same independent expert review process to enable funding decisions to be made
For multi-year projects and fellowships, the funding figure is allocated to the year corresponding to the start date and is the total amount committed to the project or fellowship
The 4 categories listed have been interpreted as follows:
Dementia - category including Alzheimer's; Frontotemporal Lobe Dementia; Lewy Body Dementia
2024-25 | 28,115 |
2023-24 | 299,999 |
2022-23 | 592,437 |
2021-22 | 260,978 |
2020-21 | 20,000 |
Neurodegenerative Conditions - category including MND/ALS; Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's
2024-25 | 132,368 |
2023-24 | 356,955 |
2022-23 | |
2021-22 | 1,947,038 |
2020-21 | 73,325 |
Non-neurodegenerative conditions - category including Epilepsy; Migraine; Seizures
2024-25 | |
2023-24 | 501,704 |
2022-23 | |
2021-22 | 379,814 |
2020-21 | |
Other neurological conditions - category including Ischaemic and Haemorrhagic Stroke; Cerebral Small Vessel Disease; Acquired Brain Injury
2024-25 | 550,919 |
2023-24 | 300,000 |
2022-23 | 856,698 |
2021-22 | 762,439 |
2020-21 | 78,744 |
In addition to directly funding research projects and fellowships, CSO also funds the NHS Research Scotland infrastructure that supports the running of Clinical Trials in the NHS here. This infrastructure includes topic-specific research networks which act as the interface between the research community, the NHS and patients themselves, facilitating the set up, delivery and completion of clinical studies across Scotland within their specific clinical areas
The research networks in Dementia/Neuroprogressive Conditions; Stroke; and Pain support the delivery of clinical studies across one or more of the above categories.
Details of CSO funding for these 3 research networks is provided in the table below:
Network / Specialty | FY 2020-21 | FY 2021-22 | FY 2022-23 | FY 2023-24 | FY 2024-25 | Total per area |
Neuroprogressive & Dementia | £506,000 | £677,000 | £777,000 | £829,000 | £855,000 | £3,644,000 |
Stroke | £616,000 | £641,000 | £689,000 | £734,000 | £757,000 | £3,437,000 |
NRS Pain | £14,404 | £14,821 | £18,000 | £28,500 | £30,000 | £105,725 |
Total per Financial Year | £1,136,404 | £1,332,821 | £1,484,000 | £1,591,500 | £1,642,000 | £7,186,725 |