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-01712

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prepare for any potential surge in avian flu cases over the winter.

Question reference: S6F-01648

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 12 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 December 2022

To ask the First Minister, further to her commitment in June that a Women’s Health Champion for Scotland would be appointed in the summer, whether such an appointment will be made before Christmas.

Question reference: S6W-12417

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce bursaries for those training for or studying allied health professions.

Question reference: S6W-12416

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to introduce training places funded through the Student Awards Agency Scotland for career-changers who wish to retrain as allied health professionals.

A national oversight group responsible for a review of AHP Education and Workforce Review has recently concluded its work. The collaborative group involving a wide range of AHP stakeholders including professional bodies, HEIs and NHS Boards have produced a number of recommendations. Workforce and recruitment and education delivery models have been considered and, although I will not pre-empt the recommendations of that group, I look forward to receiving the suite of recommendations the group has put forward regarding the future of training and development of AHP staff.

Question reference: S6W-12415

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are plans to develop a training and development fund specifically for the allied health professions.

A national oversight group responsible for a review of AHP Education and Workforce has recently concluded its work. The collaborative group involving a wide range of AHP stakeholders including professional bodies, HEIs and NHS Boards is due to report their recommendations to the Scottish Government. I will not pre-empt the recommendations of that group but look forward to receiving the suite of recommendations the group has put forward regarding the future of training and development of AHP staff.

Question reference: S6O-01646

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when its prospectus, Building a New Scotland, will include a detailed plan regarding the economic practicalities of introducing a border with the rest of the UK.

Question reference: S6W-11873

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 15 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what planning and preparation is taking place to ensure that Scotland can adopt HPV self-sampling in the national cervical screening programme as soon as it is recommended by the UK National Screening Committee.

The Scottish Government is committed to exploring the implementation of HPV self-sampling, and acknowledges that it has the potential to increase uptake levels and reduce barriers to cervical screening.

The UK National Screening Committee (NSC) recognises the potential benefits of self-sampling but have concluded that there is currently insufficient evidence to recommend implementation. Studies are underway to gather further evidence, but it is not yet known when the NSC may make a positive recommendation. Additionally, it is unclear when the work to assess and validate a test for HPV self-sampling in the UK will complete.

As introducing a new screening test into the National Screening Programme is inherently complex, a working group has been convened to assess potential models and understand any required changes to the screening programme to support an initial roll-out. This work is being informed by the emerging evidence from UK and global research, including the study undertaken in Dumfries and Galloway which provided self-sampling test kits to women between 25 and 64 who had not taken up the offer of attending for cervical screening. The results of this study showed the potential benefits of self-sampling, but also underlined the need to carefully consider how any eventual roll-out is targeted.

Question reference: S6W-11877

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 15 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10776 by Kevin Stewart on 20 September 2022, on what date it will launch the formal public consultation period on the proposed Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill.

Question reference: S6O-01529

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the social justice cabinet secretary has had with ministerial colleagues on any potential impact on levels of personal debt of the inclusion of individual consumers under the Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Bill.

Question reference: S6O-01417

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support the rural economy in areas impacted by long-term population decline.