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-32834

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 21 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what flood prevention schemes were approved, and at what cost, broken down by local authority, in each financial year from 2007-08 to 2024-25.

In 2016, an agreement was reached between Scottish Ministers and COSLA on a new strategic funding plan for flood protection schemes. This agreement ensures that from 2016 to 2026, a minimum of £42 million per annum is allocated for flooding capital grants within the local government settlement. Information is provided below on the schemes funded under that agreement.

In December 2015, SEPA published the first set of Flood Risk Management Strategies for the period 2015-2021, which included 42 prioritised flood protection schemes. 40 of these were eligible for Scottish Government funding. While work was expected to start on these schemes, their completion was not expected within the six-year timeframe.

Table 1 Flood Protection Schemes under construction
Scheme	(ii) Properties protected	(i) Completion Date	(iii A) Initial cost (£ million) (1)	( iii B) Estimated final cost (£ million) (2)
Hawick	970	2025	37.4	78.6
Campbeltown	770	2025	9.3	15.2

Schemes (b) under development are as follows:

Table 2 - Schemes under development 4 will commence construction in 2025 2 have been legally confirmed as required under the FRM Act (2009) and are undergoing further development and detailed design towards construction. 5 have begun the legal notification process towards confirmation.
Scheme	Stage	(ii) Properties protected	(iii A) Initial cost (£ million) (1)	( iii B) Estimated Final Cost of Scheme (2)
Milnathort	Construction start 2025	79	1.9	0.9
Mill Burn Millport	Construction start 2025	124	1.1	1.7
Kilmacolm – Glenmosston Burn	Construction start 2025	Not held	0.5	0.5
Comrie	Construction start 2025	189	15.7	40.0
Dumfries - Whitesands	Confirmed (3)	166	18.9	37.5
Quarrier’s Village	Confirmed (3)	60	0.2	0.2
Dumbarton - Gruggies Burn	Legal notification complete (4)	370	14.5	20.0
South Kinross	Legal notification complete (4)	Not held	3.2	15.1
Musselburgh	Legal notification complete (4)	2500	8.9	95.9
Bridge of Allan	Legal notification complete (4)	Not held	4.4	17.0
Newton Stewart/ River Cree	Legal notification complete (4)	270	7.5	19.1
(1) Note: Initial costs as provided by local authorities in 2016-17. (2) Note: Final Scheme costs are the latest estimates provided by local authorities. Differences between these latest estimates and initial cost estimates arise as a result of inflationary pressures and because flood protection schemes are put forward for prioritisation at various stages of their development to fit with Flood Risk Management Planning cycle set out in the FRM Act. Costs are revised over time as designs are finalised and more detailed investigations are carried out and as new information emerges. Schemes will only be taken forward for construction if they receive the necessary statutory and regulatory approvals, so the expected completion date is not yet known. More detailed information on each of the schemes can be obtained from the relevant local authorities whose responsibility it is to develop and deliver flood protection schemes and who are best placed to answer specific questions on each of the schemes. (3) Note: Formally confirmed under Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act (2009). (4) Note: Notification (first stage towards legal confirmation) complete under Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act (2009) 8 of the 40 schemes initially eligible have been withdrawn from the cycle one funded programme (2 voluntarily and 6 because they failed to meet the notification deadline of 31 March 2024). 1 is no longer required.

Question reference: S6W-33327

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to have a national AI system in place to support delivery of mechanical thrombectomy, and, if so, when.

Question reference: S6W-33340

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has proposed reducing the Young Patients Family Fund by £700,000 in its draft Budget 2025-26, and what its response is to reported concerns that this sets a precedent for further reductions to the support that children and young people with cancer, and their families, may need.

Question reference: S6W-33326

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the £16 million allocated to stroke thrombectomy services in the draft Budget 2025-26.

Question reference: S6W-32832

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the budget has been for flood prevention schemes in each financial year from 2007-08 to 2024-25.

Since 2008, the Scottish Government has made available £42 million per year to local authorities to invest in flood risk management actions – a commitment that is in place until 2026. A further £150million was committed across the course of this parliament.

Financial Year	Funding Amount (M)
2007-08	42
2008-09	42
2009-10	42
2010-11	42
2011-12	42
2012-13	42
2013-14	42
2014-15	42
2015-16	42
2016-17	42
2017-18	42
2018-19	42
2019-20	42
2020-21	42
2021-22	52
2022-23	63
2023-24	61
2024-25	62.5

Question reference: S6W-32835

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether all cycle 1 flood prevention schemes have been approved, and in which financial year the resource will be drawn down.

Local authorities are responsible for developing and delivering flood protection schemes and the Scottish Government provides funding to support this.

31 cycle one flood protection schemes remain eligible for grant funding as they were notified as required under the Flood Risk Management Act 2009 by the 31 March 2024 deadline agreed by Ministers and COSLA Leaders.

8 have been withdrawn from the cycle one funding programme (2 voluntarily and 6 because they failed to meet the notification deadline of 31 March 2024).1 is no longer required.

Local authorities provide a spend profile for each flood protection scheme annually to the Scottish Government and this determines how much funding is distributed to each eligible scheme in any given year.

Question reference: S6W-33337

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) neuropsychologists and (b) trainee neuropsychologists there are, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-33331

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has identified the next priorities for the improvement of neurological care and support; if so, what these priorities are; what funding it will put towards achieving them, and over what time period.

Question reference: S6W-33330

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the priorities from the Neurological Care and Support Framework for Action 2020-2025 that will not have been reached by the end of the framework period.

Question reference: S6W-33338

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to advance professional expertise in the training of neurologists in (a) immunology and (b) virology, and what action it is taking to improve the integration of neurological practice with these specialities.