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-07052

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 28 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government from where it has located the additional £6 million funding for the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund, which it announced on 25 February 2022.

The additional funding to deliver the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults in 2021-22 has been identified as part of the £120 million Mental Health Recovery & Renewal (MH R&R) Fund to ensure the delivery of commitments set out in the Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan.

The new Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults was launched in October 2021 with £15 million of funding from the Mental Health Recovery & Renewal budget. The Fund aims to support grassroots community-based initiatives across Scotland which promote good mental health and wellbeing and early intervention for those in distress and tackle the impact of social isolation, loneliness and the mental health inequalities made worse by the pandemic. The Fund is managed locally by Third Sector Interface (TSI) bodies and is designed to support the development of an integrated culture of mental wellbeing and prevention within local communities.

Following a very positive response to the Fund from communities across Scotland, the additional £6 million funding for 2021-22 announced in February has been provided to TSIs to meet the demand for local mental health and wellbeing projects, bringing total funding to £21 million in 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-07237

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05937 by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022, what the current capacity of the breast screening programme is, and how this compares with pre-COVID-19 levels before March 2020, as a result of the recent interventions made to increase the number of available appointments.

Following the restart of the breast screening programme in August 2020, a number of steps continue to be taken to increase capacity in the breast screening programme, including through deploying additional mobile units and offering weekend and evening appointments. The programme is still implementing infection control measures and therefore cannot yet operate in the same way that it did in the pre-Covid period. During Quarters 1 and 2 of 2021 with the provision of additional capacity, including extended opening hours, average capacity levels were near 100% of the 2018-19 average and at certain points over 100%. The impact of the Omicron wave on staff absences in Quarter 3 and into Quarter 4 means average capacity levels have reduced, with the January 2022 actual figure recorded at 84%. The following table shows average capacity figures for periods since the recommencement of the programme in August 2020.

Scotland

Average

(Aug - Dec 20)

Average

(Jan – Mar 21)

Average

(Apr-Jun 21)

Average

(Jul-Sep 21)

Average

(Oct - Dec 21)

Actual

Jan’22

% Capacity

79.4

89.4

99.5

99.6

90.0

84.0

It is important to note that the above is based on management information and is not subject to the same level of scrutiny as published statistical data.

Question reference: S6W-07236

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06126 by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022, what assessment it has made, based on current projections, of when all screening centres will be able to offer women aged 53 to 70 a breast screening appointment within 39 months of their previous screening.

Modelling work completed prior to omicron suggested it would be March 2023 before all screening centres in Scotland would reach the point of being able to offer breast screening rounds of 39 months. There are however a number of factors at play including the ongoing pandemic, the steps we are continuing to take to increase capacity in the screening programme, as well as options that are being considered to accelerate the recommencement of self-referrals for women over-70.

Question reference: S6O-00917

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is adapting its agriculture policy for crops and livestock due to the war in Ukraine.

Question reference: S6O-00832

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comments by the president of COSLA, who said that local authorities are at breaking point.

Question reference: S6W-05938

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the current average length of time is between screening appointments for women aged between 50 and 70 eligible for the Breast Cancer Screening Programme, broken down by NHS board.

The data is not available in the format requested as the Scottish Breast Screening Programme (SBSP) is delivered from six screening centres, each covering a designated population. It should be noted that the data provided below is management information that has not been subject to the quality checks that are normally applied on a statistical publication.

For women aged 53-70 years who were screened between 1st April 2020 and 31st January 2021, the average interval between screening episodes was 41 months across Scotland. The average interval between screening episodes across each screening centre was as follows:

East – 46 months

North – 40 months

North East – 42 months

South East – 41 months

West – 38 months

South West – 39 months

Question reference: S6W-05937

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many breast cancer screening centres are currently meeting the target of offering all eligible women aged 50 to 70 their breast screening appointments within 39 months of their previous screening, broken down by NHS board.

The data is not available in the format requested as the Scottish Breast Screening Programme (SBSP) is delivered from six screening centres, each covering a designated population. The SBSP should offer an appointment to women within 36 months of their previous screening episode.

On average, the West and South West screening centres are offering women aged 53-70 a screening appointment within 39 months of their last screen.

The National Screening Oversight, Scottish Screening Committee and Breast Screening Programme Board (BSPB) continue to work with health boards to increase the number of available appointments, including through deploying additional mobile breast screening units and providing additional appointments during evenings and at weekends.

It should be noted that this data is unpublished management data that has not been subject to the standard quality checks that are applied to statistical publications.

Question reference: S6W-05939

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how many cases of breast cancer may not have been diagnosed as a result of women over 70 not being able to self-refer for routine breast cancer screening.

Question reference: S6O-00802

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support it plans to provide to rural households to transition to net zero heating.

Question reference: S6O-00638

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to build 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.