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-24097

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 July 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 17 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many carers have been supported to take a break from caring through provisions in the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016, and how many people have been entitled to such support.

The information requested is being collected through a new Carers Census. As this is the first time the Carers Census has been run, the 2018-19 collection was split into two separate 6-month collections: the first covering 1st April to 30 September 2018 and the second covering 1st October 2018 to the end of March 2019. After the second 6 months of data has been returned, the consolidated responses from both collections will be analysed and quality assured. Scottish Government intend to publish the results by late 2019.

The data received through the first 6-month data collection is incomplete due to low response rates, along with variable data quality across the returns received. Scottish Government are working with stakeholders in order to improve the collection and gather reliable and robust data through the Carers Census as efficiently as possible. To this end, Scottish Government held an event with data providers on 1st April 2019 before the second collection opened to help address some of the issues that arose during the first collection and to consult with providers on improving the guidance and process for future collections.

Question reference: S5W-23999

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 17 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that the uptake of the MMR vaccination is maximised.

In Scotland, uptake rates of one dose of MMR by five years have remained above the World Health Organisation's 95% target since 2009. In addition to the MMR vaccine offered to infants, the MMR status of secondary school pupils is checked during routine teenage vaccinations and the MMR vaccine is offered if appropriate. We are not complacent and continue to make every effort to promote and encourage uptake of the MMR vaccination.

Question reference: S5W-23838

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 17 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many contracts NHS Scotland has signed with private firms since 1 January 2019, broken down by service area covered and (a) total and (b) individual value.

Question reference: S5W-24063

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 15 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons it has rejected the South East Scotland Strategic Development Plan 2, and whether it will set out its position on the future of strategic development policy for the development plan region and Edinburgh.

Ministers rejected South East Scotland Strategic Development Plan 2 as it was not informed by an adequate and timely transport appraisal, and did not sufficiently take account of the relationship between land use and transport. The Planning Bill as passed introduces a duty for planning authorities to work together to undertake strategic planning. It is now the responsibility of the constituent authorities to decide the next steps and the Scottish Government has offered to support them with this.

Question reference: S5W-24111

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 July 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 15 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many scans have been sent abroad for reading by the NHS, and what the cost has been, in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S5W-24188

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 July 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 15 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) average and (b) longest wait to be assessed for a hearing aid has been in each NHS board in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S5W-23952

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 15 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the organisational structure is of the access support team for chronic pain issues that supports the Scottish Access Collaborative, and which organisations advise the team.

The Access Support Team is an internal Scottish Government department which is made up of performance and improvement staff who work closely with NHS Boards to ensure best practice is instilled across all hospital sites, and to share good practice and innovation across NHSScotland.

The team works closely with the Clinical Priorities Unit who coordinate the National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain, and that includes NHS staff as well as Scottish Government officials along with third sector and patient representatives.

Question reference: S5W-23955

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 11 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23681 by Clare Haughey on 20 June 2019, how access can be gained to its response and action plan to help address recommendations in the Mental Welfare Commission's 2014 report, Dignity and Respect.

Question reference: S5W-23956

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 June 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 11 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23680 by Clare Haughey on 20 June 2019, whether it will commission and publish the independent expert study on trends in the prescribing of psychoactive medications for people with dementia before the end of 2020.

Question reference: S5W-24185

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 July 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 11 July 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many deaths from alcoholic liver disease have been recorded in each year since 2007.

Alcoholic Liver disease is one of 15 conditions included in the Alcohol Specific Deaths statistics published annually by National Records of Scotland.

Data for number of deaths by underlying cause of death is available in table 2 of the NRS Alcohol-specific Deaths (new National Statistics definition) Data Tables which are available at the following link.

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//statistics/alcohol-deaths/2018/alcohol-specific-deaths-18-all-tabs.xlsx

The data for alcoholic liver disease is detailed in the following table.

Alcohol-specific deaths (new National Statistics definition) by underlying cause of death (ICD-10): registered in Scotland, 2007 to 2018

Year	Underlying Cause of Death (ICD-10). Total for K70 - Alcoholic liver disease
2007	920
2008	936
2009	820
2010	814
2011	764
2012	646
2013	682
2014	658
2015	650
2016	729
2017	738
2018	708