Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-03495

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to reduce NHS waiting times.

Question reference: S6W-27145

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress has been made towards the new national funding framework for hospice funding.

Question reference: S6W-27147

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will address the reported £16 million funding deficit facing the hospice sector, in light of the recent funding announcement for hospices in Wales to help maintain services and meet staffing costs.

Question reference: S6W-27146

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that funding is provided to hospices to allow consistency with the NHS Agenda for Change pay awards.

A real terms uplift to health funding has been prioritised in the opening Budget position for 2024-25. We have invested £2 billion in the 2024-25 budget for social care and integration, which is an increase of over £1 billion compared to 2021-22. This delivers on our Programme for Government commitment to increase social care spending by 25% (£840 million) over this Parliament, two years ahead of our original target.

Despite this significant investment the financial climate remains extremely challenging, and we are working with partners to understand and address the challenges, within the context of a finite budget.

Question reference: S6W-27143

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how the reported cyber attacks in NHS Scotland led to medical information about patients being accessed.

A cyber threat actor was able to gain unauthorised access to NHS Dumfries and Galloway's infrastructure during a targeted and sustained cyber-attack. As the member will understand,NHS Dumfries and Galloway's IT infrastructure contains information that includes patient's medical information.

The member may find the frequently asked questions published by NHS Dumfries and Galloway to be of use in finding further information: Cyber Attack – FAQ – NHS Dumfries & Galloway (nhsdg.co.uk) .

Question reference: S6W-27144

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made regarding any reasons for the reported failure of NHS Scotland's usual cyber security defences, which allowed medical information about patients to be accessed.

The criminal investigation by Police Scotland, supported by other agencies, into this attack is still going on. As such there is a limited amount that I can share at this moment in time. As the investigation progresses the Scottish Government and partners will undertake a lessons identified exercise and share its findings with public bodies so they are able to take preventative steps to defend against similar attacks.

Question reference: S6W-27101

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Emma Roddick on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it engaged with (a) black and minority ethnic people in Scotland, (b) race equality groups and (c) National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in the drafting of Scotland's input to the 2023 UK state report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

We routinely engage with a range of stakeholders in our work across Scottish Government, including work to implement the recommendations and observations of the Committee.

The UK's State Report covers the measures that have been adopted, by Government, relating to the rights described in the Convention, and on the progress made in upholding them. Scottish Government did not engage with these groups for the specific purpose of providing our updates to the UK Government for inclusion in their State Report, due to the nature of the reporting process.

Scotland is determined to play our part in eradicating racism, inequality and injustice – and in building a better, fairer world. Specifically, the Race Equality Framework demonstrates our commitment to eliminating racism – our Vision for a fairer Scotland is that by 2030 Scotland is a place where people are healthier, happier and treated with respect, and where opportunities, wealth and power are spread more equally.

Question reference: S6W-26997

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how the National Gender Identity Healthcare Reference Group will work together with any new working group considering the recommendations of the Cass Review.

Question reference: S6W-26999

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Cass Review is a valid scientific document.

Question reference: S6W-27100

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Emma Roddick on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it engaged with the UK Government in the drafting of the 2023 UK state report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The UK Government is the State Party to the CERD with a legal obligation to report on implementation. It submitted its state report to the Committee in March 2023.

Prior to this report’s submission, the Scottish Government shared updates on devolved policy areas including health, housing and employment with the UK Government. These updates were included in the UK Government’s report to the Committee.

Scotland is determined to play our part in eradicating racism, inequality and injustice – and in building a better, fairer world. Specifically, the Race Equality Framework demonstrates our commitment to eliminating racism – our Vision for a fairer Scotland is that by 2030 Scotland is a place where people are healthier, happier and treated with respect, and where opportunities, wealth and power are spread more equally.

Chamber and committees