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-33571

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it evaluates the effectiveness of telemedicine in improving healthcare outcomes for rural communities.

All nationally scaled up developments are subject to appropriate evaluation and equalities impact assessments.

As an example I can refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13957 on 31 January 2023 regarding formal evaluations undertaken on the NHS Near Me platform to date. Learning from Near Me in particular showed the need to ensure choice in how people access services. The evaluation highlighted that it would not be appropriate for all situations or circumstances, whilst still recognising benefits for rural communities when offered routinely. Within the priorities of the Digital Health and Care Delivery Plan and its supporting governance and reporting structures, we work with our delivery partners on an ongoing basis to ensure that we can develop services further as they grow and learn from their impact.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-33555

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what role community hospitals play in delivering healthcare services in rural areas, and whether any have been closed or downgraded in the last five years.

Community hospitals are an essential part of the health and social care system, providing a wide range of services. Where possible they should be embedded in local communities and when major service changes are proposed, the Scottish Government seeks assurances that local areas are following the processes outlined in our “Planning with People” guidance.

In the last five years multiple community hospitals have been closed, temporarily closed, or repurposed. As they are independently managed by IJBs, Scottish Government does not hold exact numbers for closures.

Importantly, closures do not always represent a reduction in capacity, in some cases resources are repurposed to support more people in their own homes.

Question reference: S6W-33655

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 reduce carbon emissions in NHS facilities, and how this is being implemented in rural NHS boards.

The NHS Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy 2022-26 sets out the approach and actions to be taken by NHS Scotland, with support from the Scottish Government and working in partnership with others, to respond to the climate emergency and to contribute towards the achievement of the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It applies to all NHS Boards in Scotland, including those with rural communities.

The NHS Scotland Annual Climate Emergency & Sustainability Report reports on progress in reducing carbon emissions for all Health Boards in Scotland, including those with rural populations. The latest report was published last year, see: Annual Climate Emergency & Sustainability Report 2024.

Question reference: S6W-33756

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 data it holds on the reach and engagement of its social media campaigns, and how it uses this data to guide future spending.

Question reference: S6W-33750

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 contracts it has awarded to external companies for social media management and related services in the last five years, and what the total cost was of any such contracts.

Social media management involves the management of Scottish Government social media accounts across platforms, and the directly related services comprise organic content production and outreach to secure content from creators and influencers.

The majority of the Scottish Government’s social media management and organic content creation is managed by internal teams, supported occasionally by agencies where required.

The Marketing Services Framework covers the provision of all marketing services, including the development of materials to deliver targeted messaging, engagement with audiences and to support behaviour change. The Media Planning, Buying and Associated Services Framework covers services for a full range of media including television, radio, press, digital, online, cinema and out of home.

Social media management support would be covered by various lots within these frameworks, depending on the required service, such as:

Digital content production, including websites and routine i.e. non-advertising social media content is covered by Lot 3 Digital Marketing Services. The list of suppliers is here
Managing accounts or outreach on behalf of the Scottish Government is covered under Lot 4 Public Relation Services. The list of suppliers is here
Promotional Media to increase visibility of online content is covered by both Lots 1 and 2 for domestic and international use. The list of suppliers is here

The total spend by the Scottish Government against each of these Lots includes social media management and related services, but spend is not limited to this. The limitations are detailed, along with total spend for the last 5 years, below:

Digital Services agencies occasionally carry out social content creation for the Scottish Government – this is commissioned alongside activity such as website content creation, testing and improvement, and services relating to the successful, safe and secure functioning of websites - to meet the overall policy objectives of each project. A breakdown of the annual Scottish Government marketing spend on Digital Services contracts can be found here and the figures are outlined below:

2019-2020 - £566,678
2020-2021 - £265,975
2021-2022 - £432,181
2022-2023 - £133,378
2023-2024 – £96,302

Public Relation Services agencies carry out influencer marketing and social content creation for the Scottish Government, and this is commissioned alongside media relations and other PR functions to meet the overall policy objectives of the project. A breakdown of the annual Scottish Government marketing spend on PR Services contracts can be found here and the figures are outlined below:

2019-2020 – £411,238
2020-2021 - £530,488
2021-2022 - £695,596
2022-2023 - £281,760
2023-2024 –£340,111

Media Services agencies carry out media planning and buying for the Scottish Government to promote marketing activity including social media content over social media advertising channels. This is often commissioned alongside other online advertising channels such as paid for search and display advertising– to meet the overall policy objectives of each project.

A breakdown of the annual Scottish Government marketing spend on online channels via Media Planning and Buying contracts can be found here and the figures are outlined below.

2019-2020 - £1,333,735
2020-2021 - £5,057,831
2021-2022 - £6,265,931
2022-2023 - £1,459,995
2023-2024 – £1,168,354

To note, Scottish Government marketing outputs as a whole will be carried across multiple social platforms in either paid or organic form in the course of campaign activity, as this bolsters the desired policy outcomes in line with key Scottish Government priorities.

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

Question reference: S6W-33715

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 NHS boards to digitise legacy medical records, and what progress has been made on this over the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-33709

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 guidance it has provided to NHS boards in relation to recording a patient’s biological sex on medical records.

The existing Scottish Government Records Management Health and Social Care Code of Practice (Scotland) 2024 has guidance on managing health records of people who identify as transgender. This links to guidance from the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, the General Medical Council and NHS National Services Scotland (NSS). It was recognised in 2020 that it was an area under development, and subsequently the Scottish Government's Chief Statistician issued guidance for public bodies on the collection of data on sex and gender in 2021. The Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2024 incorporates the Chief Statistician's guidance along with feedback from stakeholders, providing further guidance to NHS Boards.

Question reference: S6W-33708

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 NHS Scotland's progress on the digitisation of all patient medical records.

Question reference: S6W-33274

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether any MSP spouses who work for MSPs in an unpaid capacity and have a Parliament IT account would be bound by the Scottish Parliament’s acceptable use of IT policy.

The current Acceptable Use of IT Policy does not explicitly apply to Members and their staff, though all Parliament IT account holders are bound by the SPCB's Use of Resources Policy which states that resources, including IT resources, are provided to support parliamentary duties and must not be used to any significant extent for any other purposes. A revised Acceptable Use of IT policy which will apply to Members and their staff is currently being developed for approval by the SPCB.

Question reference: S6W-33273

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Claire Baker (on behalf of the SPCB) on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether any MSP spouses who work for MSPs in an unpaid capacity and have a Parliament IT account would be required to complete General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) training.