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-33738

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on the frequency and severity of storms that have affected Aberdeenshire over the last five years, and what plans it has to improve infrastructure resilience in the region.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the frequency and severity of storms. This information is collected and held by Met Office.

We have recently made available £5m per annum capital budget over 4 years to fund the extension of the public water network to enable the removal of Private Water Supplies which should improve resilience to affected water supplies during power outages. Milton of Cushnie in Aberdeenshire has been shortlisted as one of the communities who will benefit from this funding.

The Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) published in December 2022, provides guidance on long term investment in Scotland’s strategic transport network. STPR2 recommends future investment to ensure that Scotland’s trunk road network remains safe (Recommendation 30), adapted to deal with the impacts of climate change (Recommendation 31) and resilient (Recommendation 32).

Recommendation 31 provides a basis for identifying, prioritising and implementing transport infrastructure improvements. Measures could include but are not limited to strengthening or replacing sea walls, upgrading coastal fences and stabilising embankments, slopes and hillsides.

Scottish Government have also initiated a Significant Local Infrastructure process in which Local Resilience Partnerships are mapping infrastructure within their geographic areas. This will allow better understanding of this local infrastructure and will collate a rich picture to support further work, including identifying dependencies and interdependencies and allow improvements to business continuity and emergency response plans.

We would recommend that, should you require further information on storms and infrastructure in Aberdeenshire, you contact Aberdeenshire Council.

Question reference: S6W-34029

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) plastic, (b) paper, (c) metal and (d) glass straws it has procured in each of the last 10 years, and what the average cost was.

Question reference: S6F-03781

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 February 2025

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the Court of Session’s decision regarding the Rosebank oil field and the Jackdaw gas field.

Question reference: S6W-33742

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to raise public awareness about storm and wildfire preparedness in rural communities, including Aberdeenshire.

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 provides the legislative framework for resilience activity in Scotland.

Category 1 responders, including Local Authorities, are obliged under the Act to maintain arrangements to warn the public, and to provide information and advice to the public, if an emergency is likely to occur or has occurred. This includes emergencies such as severe weather and wildfires.

In addition, the Scottish Government has a longstanding commitment to providing the public with advice on preparing for and responding to a range of emergencies through its Ready Scotland channels.

The Ready Scotland website (ready.scot) provides information on how the public can prepare their home, their family and their businesses for severe weather and other emergencies. It also provides information on how to respond, keep safe, and help others in the community when emergencies do occur.

When areas are at risk from severe weather or severe wildfires, the Scottish Government, responder organisations and other resilience partners all work closely to share public safety advice through a variety of channels.

Question reference: S6W-33711

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 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many medical records team leaders there currently are in the NHS, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-33613

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is addressing any gaps in mental health services for rural populations, particularly in Aberdeenshire.

The Scottish Government recognise that people in rural areas can experience particular challenges in relation to their mental health and wellbeing.

Decisions around the provision of mental health services is a local responsibility, planned by Integrated Joint Boards and delivered through a mixture of NHS, local authority and third sector organisations. Mental Health services will vary depending the local population needs and will be guided by clinical decision making.

While we expect service decisions to be taken locally, we have invested £66 million in our Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults since 2021. The Fund has a strong focus on prevention and early intervention and prioritises a range of ‘at risk’ groups including those people disadvantaged by geographical location (particularly remote and rural areas) with over 900 awards being made to community projects supporting people disadvantaged by geographical location (including rural areas) since its inception.

Question reference: S6W-33689

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is improving awareness and uptake of community optometry services among rural populations.

Public Health Scotland publishes annual data on NHS eye examination on their website at: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/ophthalmic-workload-statistics/ophthalmic-workload-statistics-statistics-as-at-year-ending-31-march-2024/

Tables 6.1 and 6.2 provide data at Scotland, Health Board and Health and Social Care Partnership level outlining that, apart from the COVID-19 impacted years, increasing numbers of people are having a free NHS-funded eye examination.

In addition, the NHS Inform and Eyes.NHS.Scot websites have content relevant to the provision of NHS funded eye examinations in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-33645

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring the sustainability of small pharmacies in rural communities; what impact the closure of such facilities has had on access to healthcare in the last five years; what specific steps it has taken to prevent closures, and what the outcomes have been.

The Scottish Government continues to support community pharmacies, including rural pharmacies, by delivering the largest ever increase to funding two years in a row. This has delivered a total of £422 million in guaranteed funding for community pharmacies across Scotland in this financial year.

In addition, there is a Guaranteed Minimum Target Income for essential small pharmacies, most of which are rural, and a pharmaceutical needs weighting payment which acknowledges both demographics and deprivation- associated with a patient’s postcode. Both of these measures help support rural pharmacies by ensuring they are not disadvantaged because of their location.

When community pharmacies close or transfer ownership this is a business decision taken by the community pharmacy owner. The Scottish Government has not undertaken an impact assessment on closures. Health Boards are the bodies responsible for ensuring that there is adequate provision of NHS pharmaceutical services within their area.

Question reference: S6W-33607

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve access to reproductive healthcare, including abortion services, in rural areas such as Aberdeenshire.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that women across Scotland have timely access to reproductive health services. Work continues on the actions set out in the Women’s Health Plan 2021 and the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus (SHBBV) Action Plan 2023-26 to ensure that anyone accessing contraception, or deciding to terminate their pregnancy, is provided with fully accessible and person-centred pathways, with information provided to allow for informed decisions to be made about their own sexual and reproductive health.

As part of the SHBBV Action Plan, the Scottish Government has committed to visiting all 14 Health Boards. During these visits the Scottish Government will be recognising the challenges that Boards are facing and the good practice being delivered. This time will also be used to explore areas for collaboration between Boards, both nationally and regionally, especially within rural areas. Officials’ visit to NHS Grampian is scheduled for May 2025.

The evaluation of early medical abortion at home (EMAH) in Scotland was published in March 2023, demonstrating high levels of effectiveness of EMAH, but noting some variations in service delivery across the country. The Scottish Government has taken various actions forward with the Scottish Abortion Care Providers network following this to improve and increase consistency of EMAH services for women across Scotland, and particularly in rural areas, including by providing improved patient information.

An updated medical abortion approval was signed in December 2024, allowing women to take abortion medication in residential or temporary accommodation if clinically appropriate, particularly benefitting patients who may live significant distances from hospitals or clinics.

The Scottish Government is working with Health Boards and Public Health Scotland to monitor access to services, including analysis of annual statistics. As part of the commitment to ensure services are accessible to all, officials regularly discuss barriers to these reproductive health services with Health Boards, including NHS Grampian, to inform possible improvements to services for patients in rural locations.

Question reference: S6W-33726

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 3 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the bidding process for Glasgow Prestwick Airport.

I wrote to the Economy and Fair Work Committee on 25 June 2024 to confirm that a market testing exercise for Glasgow Prestwick Airport was underway. Scottish Ministers’ longstanding position is that the airport should be returned to the private sector at the appropriate time and opportunity. This must be to an organisation with the commitment and capability to operate businesses directly relevant to GPA.

Any decision to sell GPA must represent value for money for taxpayers and be informed by what is right for the long-term success of the business and its contribution to the local and Scottish economy.