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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 1891 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-34155

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many reported assaults on nurses have resulted in (a) charges being brought and (b) prosecutions, in each year since 2018, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-34136

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many penalties were issued for drink or drug driving offences on each trunk road, in each year since 2018.

Question reference: S6W-34074

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported findings of the True North survey that 53% of respondents in Scotland support the Clean Power 2030 target but only 35% believe that it is achievable.

Question reference: S6W-34147

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure the timely prosecution of speeding offences, and what improvements have been implemented since 2018.

Decisions relating to the investigation and prosecution of crime, including speeding offences, are a matter for Police Scotland and COPFS, who are operationally independent of the Scottish Ministers.

Restrictions brought in to reduce the spread of coronavirus in 2020 led to a significant increase in the length of time it took for cases to progress through the court system. However, there has been considerable progress in addressing backlogs in the summary court system, aided by investment provided by the Scottish Government, with the number of outstanding scheduled summary trials reducing from an average of 38,089 in 2021-22 to 19,848 as of December 2024.

Question reference: S6W-34162

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many reported assaults on doctors have resulted in (a) charges being brought and (b) prosecutions, in each year since 2018, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-34141

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions for speeding on trunk roads led to a (a) conviction and (b) acquittal in each year since 2018, broken down by (i) trunk road and (ii) court location.

(a)The latest available information on convictions is for the financial year 2022-23.

Number of people convicted for speeding offences on trunk roads, where main crime, in Scottish Courts, by court location (LA), 2018-19 to 2022-23.

	2018-19	2022-23
	West Lothian	East Ayrshire	Highland	Perth & Kinross	West Lothian
TRUNK ROADS (S) TEMP RESTRICT TRAFFIC & OVERTAKING 30,40,50MPH (S) ORDER 1992	-	-	1	-	-
TRUNK ROADS (S) TEMP RESTRICT TRAFFIC & OVERTAKING 30,40,50MPH (S) ORDER 1994	1	-	-	-	1
TRUNK ROADS IN SCOT (TEMP PROHIBITIONS & TEMP SPEED RESTRICTIONS) ORDER 1996	-	1	-	1	-

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database.

Some speeding offences that occurred on trunk roads may have been prosecuted under more general speeding offence charges.

Please note: data for 2021-22 and 2022-23 are affected by the pandemic, subsequent court closures, reduced court capacity due to physical distancing measures and delays to cases where key participants were forced to self-isolate after testing positive for COVID-19, and may not be considered indicative of long term trends.

(b) There were no cases resulting in acquittal not guilty or acquittal not proven verdict under the legislation related to speeding on trunk roads (where main crime), between 2018-19 and 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-34164

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what penalties have been imposed following convictions for assaults on doctors in each year since 2018, broken down by the (a) type of penalty and (b) NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-34150

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what disciplinary actions have been taken in response to incidents of accessing or attempting to access pornography on Scottish Government devices or computers in each year since 2018, broken down by the outcome.

As outlined in the Scottish Government’s IT Code of Conduct attempts to access, active accessing, downloading, displaying, storing and the distribution of pornographic, racist or other offensive material, or material relating to illegal activities is considered a disciplinary matter.

Under the Scottish Government’s discipline policy, line managers are expected to deal with concerns about inappropriate behaviour at an early stage and where appropriate, on an informal basis. Informal action could include addressing concerns through discussion, feedback, training and coaching. There is no requirement to report informal action to HR. However, where an allegation of misconduct is more serious, formal disciplinary procedures would apply.

Since 2018, there have been two formal disciplinary cases taken in response to incidents of accessing or attempting to access pornography on Scottish Government devices or computers. One outcome was a 6-month formal written warning, and the other outcome was a one-year written warning.

Question reference: S6W-34157

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what penalties have been imposed following convictions for assaults on nurses in each year since 2018, broken down by the (a) type of penalty and (b) NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-34201

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many audiologists each NHS board employs, and how this compares to workforce requirements.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on the audiology workforce.

Responsibility for delivery and commissioning of services lies at a local level - with local authorities, NHS Boards and integrated health and social care partnerships. Operational decisions, including whether there is a need for audiologists, are therefore matters for those bodies to make and should take into account the numbers of patients in their local areas.