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: S5W-03223

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 1 November 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the availability of its data on (a) the balance of trade and (b) (i) primary and (ii) secondary incomes.

The Scottish Government produces a broad range of economic statistics. All statistics are subject to quality assurance of data and results at the time of production, and the methods used and availability of source data are regularly reviewed to ensure continuous improvement.

(a) Estimates of exports and imports (the balance of trade) for the onshore Scottish economy are published as part of the Quarterly National Accounts Scotland (Table G) and annual Supply and Use Tables statistics releases. The latest results can be accessed at:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/QNA2016Q1 and http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/Input-Output. The Scottish Government is also developing statistics on the imports and exports of oil and gas from Scottish Adjacent Waters. The latest results can be accessed at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/oilgas. In addition to estimates of the balance of trade, detailed statistics on exports are also published in the annual Export Statistics Scotland publication. This can be accessed at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/Exports/ESSPublication.

(b) The Scottish Government publishes estimates of the balances of primary and secondary incomes for the Households and Non-Profit Institutions Serving Households (NPISH) sector as part of the Quarterly National Accounts Scotland statistics release. This information is used in the calculation of Gross Disposable Household Income (GDHI). The latest results can be accessed in Table I of the Quarterly National Accounts Scotland at:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/QNA2016Q1.

(i) Estimates of the primary income flows for all sectors of the economy (Government and Corporations) are required for the calculation of Gross National Income (GNI). The Scottish Government published an initial overview of development work on the production of GNI estimates in November 2013, including provisional results for 2010. This work can be accessed at:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/snap.

(ii) The Scottish Government does not currently produce estimates of secondary income flows (transfers of income), other than for the Household and NPISH sector.

Question reference: S5F-00407

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 November 2016

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S5F-00381

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2016

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S5W-03160

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many responses to the consultation on proposed amendments to the National Health Service Central Register (Scotland) Regulations 2006 have been received; by what date it will publish an analysis of these, and what policy decisions it has taken regarding the issues raised by the consultation.

302 responses were received to the consultation on the proposed amendments to the National Health Service Central Register (Scotland) Regulations 2006. These were published online at: www.gov.scot/Publications/2014/12/5990/downloads.

As set out in answer S5W-00414 on 14 June 2016 and S4W-29921 on 8 March 2016, I will provide to Parliament our analysis of the consultation in due course. No policy decisions have yet been made. We continue to give full and proper consideration to the responses received, options moving forward and our commitment to developing an outcome that protects user privacy.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Question reference: S5O-00216

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve working conditions for social care staff.

Question reference: S5F-00289

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 September 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 September 2016

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S5F-00247

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 September 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 September 2016

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S5F-00161

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 September 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 September 2016

To ask the First Minister when the cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S5W-01789

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 5 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what level of access there is in Scotland to pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV transmission.

To date, no manufacturer has received a marketing authorisation for pre-exposure prophylaxis and so it is not routinely available. As with all other medicines that have not been licensed or have not yet been considered by the Scottish Medicines Consortium, NHS boards have guidance and procedures in place for off-label prescribing. A decision to recommend the use of a medicine off-label depends on the clinical judgement of the prescriber concerned, taking account of safety and efficacy risks.

Question reference: S5W-01788

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 August 2016
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 5 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, noting the High Court ruling regarding NHS England’s funding for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), what its position is on the funding of PrEP by NHS Scotland to prevent HIV transmission.