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-22980

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 14 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many affordable homes were built in 2018-19, broken down by local authority.

The following table shows the number of affordable homes delivered in 2018-19 between 1 April 2018 and 31 December 2018. Figures for the final quarter, 1 January 2019 to 31 March 2019, will be published in June 2019 and may differ slightly from the figures previously published by the Scottish Government More Homes Division for a number of reasons, including: differences in data extraction dates and changes made to the historical data after the original publication.

All published quarterly figures for 2018-19 can be found at the following link: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration

Please note that as well as new build homes, the Affordable Housing Supply Programme includes rehabilitation projects, off the shelf purchases and homes for low-cost home ownership from existing housing stock:

Council	New Build	Off the Shelf	Rehabilitation	TOTAL
Aberdeenshire	138	85	0	223
Angus	57	15	0	72
Argyll & Bute	62	3	0	65
City of Aberdeen	232	205	0	437
Clackmannanshire	31	6	0	37
Dumfries & Galloway	59	28	0	87
Dundee	99	38	0	137
East Ayrshire	46	1	0	47
East Dunbartonshire	8	2	0	10
East Lothian	63	87	0	150
East Renfrewshire	8	2	0	10
Edinburgh	453	137	0	590
Falkirk	30	51	0	81
Fife	167	104	0	271
Glasgow	389	86	41	516
Highland	418	152	4	574
Inverclyde	41	4	0	45
Midlothian	83	80	0	163
Moray	32	12	0	44
North Ayrshire	180	12	0	192
North Lanarkshire	193	39	0	232
Orkney Islands	28	2	0	30
Perth & Kinross	102	216	0	318
Renfrewshire	127	17	0	144
Scottish Borders	126	48	0	174
Shetland	16	0	0	16
South Ayrshire	0	0	0	0
South Lanarkshire	98	20	10	128
Stirling	47	13	0	60
West Dunbartonshire	84	12	0	96
West Lothian	336	230	0	566
Western Isles	4	1	3	8
TOTAL	3,757	1,708	58	5,523

Question reference: S5F-03331

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 May 2019

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the Scottish Heart Failure Nurse Forum's warning of a “potential crisis in care delivery".

Question reference: S5W-22908

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 8 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to consider the applicability of recommendations from the review of England's cancer screening programmes to help improve similar services in Scotland.

The review of England’s cancer screening was commissioned by NHS England and is expected to culminate in recommendations about future commissioning and delivery of cancer screening programmes in England. The independent review is being conducted by Professor Sir Mike Richards and is expected to report in Summer 2019. The Scottish Government has not had any direct involvement in the review of England's cancer screening.

The Scottish Government is advised on all aspects of screening by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) and the Scottish Screening Committee. Both Committees will consider any recommendations which come from the review, and advise Scottish Government on any implications for cancer screening services in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-22909

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 8 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what involvement it has had in the review of England's cancer screening programme and how it will use opportunities to learn lessons from its recommendations.

Question reference: S5W-22736

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 8 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the significant decrease in the number of people from Scotland aged 16 to 24 who self-assessed as having good or very good health, according to the Scottish Core Questions Survey 2017.

We have noted this decrease in self-reported wellbeing. Evidence suggests that the underlying causes are an increasing proportion of this age group reporting long-term conditions and lower levels of mental wellbeing.

Mental health is an absolute priority for this Government. We have put in place a ten year strategy to improve access to mental health services, backed by an additional £150 million over five years. Additionally, the 2018-19 Programme for Government has mental health at its very heart. It contains a package of measures to support positive mental health and prevent ill health. These new actions build on the Mental Health Strategy and will be backed by £250 million of additional investment.

Question reference: S5W-22914

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 8 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on introducing an ID card for young carers, primarily to assist with collecting from pharmacies.

The Scottish Government supported piloting of young carer identification cards in six local authority areas in 2012. Based on the learning from these pilots, we offered all local authorities one-off grant funding to establish similar cards and recommended the ongoing costs were covered through previous Carer Information Strategy funding. It was made clear that this was a local decision. Some areas decided not to establish a card because of concerns they would be stigmatising.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has published guidance in its Medicines, Ethics and Practice professional guide for pharmacists about children collecting medicines from a pharmacy, with one consideration being that the child may be a young carer: https://www.rpharms.com/resources/quick-reference-guides/children-collecting-medicines-from-a-pharmacy .

Question reference: S5W-22634

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 7 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on (a) drugs and (b) other treatments for blood cancer in each year since 2015.

This information is not collected or held centrally to the level of detail requested. It is for NHS Boards to determine spend on drugs and other blood cancer treatment services from their unified budget in accordance with the needs of their resident population and based on clinical decisions. This will vary from Board to Board and Region to Region.

Treatment, particularly for cancer, can be complex and often involves the use of a combination of medicines. Many of the drugs can be used for treatment of other cancer and non-cancer conditions, which makes it difficult to calculate the cost of drugs for specific treatments such as blood cancer.

Question reference: S5W-22721

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 7 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it will use to select an impartial chair of the committee that will review mental health and incapacity legislation.

The Scottish Government is clear that we need to ensure we appoint the right person for what will be a complex and important review. As there will be an emphasis on engaging widely, the review will have to get to the heart of differing opinions so that the real issues can be fleshed out and then considered on an evidence-led basis. The Chair therefore will provide strong leadership and will have demonstrated that they are an effective strategist and a good networker. We are also looking for someone who can give a clear sense of direction and who is able to communicate clearly to a wide and varied audience. The Chair will have senior level experience, knowledge and understanding of legislation and/or human rights.

A short-life working group will support the review and will be drawn from areas of interest. We expect to have representatives from legal, psychiatry, social work, nursing and service management backgrounds as well as those with lived experience. It will be for the Chair to determine how they take forward this review but the views of people with lived experience of compulsory care and treatment, their families and representatives must be central to the work of the review.

Question reference: S5W-22812

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 7 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns that funding for cardiovascular research does not adequately reflect the impact that cardiovascular disease has on the population and the economy.

Question reference: S5W-22808

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 7 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider commissioning an independent review of whether the funding that is awarded by the Chief Scientist Office and the Scottish Funding Council for mental and physical health research is allocated on an equitable basis between both fields to help ensure that the highest quality work is carried out.

This answer responds to S5W-22808, S5W-22809, S5W-22810, S5W-22811 and S5W-22812 on 7 May 2019. The Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (CSO) does not target funding towards any particular condition through its research grant schemes but supports research funding opportunities across a very broad health remit that neither advantages or disadvantages funding towards any particular health area. This allows consideration of research applications to address the widest range of NHS, health and care challenges rather than to focus funding in certain areas and consequently deprioritise others. Applications submitted to CSO are funded following independent expert assessment of the quality of the research projects proposed with funding recommendations made by an independent expert committee.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) does not provide funding specifically for physical or mental health research. It is for Universities to decide whether they undertake such research using SFC grants.

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 .