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-38612

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings laid out in Public Health Scotland's recent report on CAR-T for haematological malignancies from 2020 to 2023.

The Scottish Government welcomes the findings from Public Health Scotland’s (PHS) report on chimeric antibody receptor therapies (CAR-T) for haematological malignancies. The report, which is a collaboration between PHS and the Cancer Medicines Outcomes Programme (CMOP), describes the impact and clinical outcomes of cancer medicines in the real world and can be used to both analyse the outcomes from CAR-T therapies across Scotland and assist with planning future treatment pathways.

The report demonstrates that by developing, and refining, a robust and reliable process cancer medicines intelligence may be routinely generated to support informed decision making at individual, local, and national levels. The data assists healthcare professionals to understand the real-life impact of cancer medicines, supports clinical decision making by enabling a more individualised approach to the provision of cancer care using CAR-T therapies and helps ensure the safe and effective use of these complex medicines.

Question reference: S6W-38614

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Scotland regarding increasing the number of centres that can provide CAR T-cell therapy beyond Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Scottish Government has not had discussions with Boards about expanding CAR-T cell therapy provision beyond the current centres in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Until late 2024, adult CAR-T cell therapy in Scotland was delivered through a single specialist centre. The move to a three-centre model from April 2025 reflects a clinically-led and phased approach to scaling this complex and resource-intensive treatment.

CAR T-cell therapy requires specialist facilities, accredited services, and expert clinical teams to manage serious side effects. Because only a small number of patients are eligible, concentrating treatment in a few centres helps maintain safety, quality, and clinical expertise.

It is too early to assess the need for further expansion. The impact of the current model must be fully evaluated before considering additional centres. Any future decisions will be based on clinical need, service capacity, and workforce sustainability.

Question reference: S6W-38611

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 20 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many visits to schools for engagement events have been made by community police in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S6W-38513

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 20 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review the Skills Investment Plan For Scotland’s construction sector to determine its effectiveness, and, if necessary, update the plan to reflect the current needs of the Scottish construction industry.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38196 on 17 June 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Responsibility for developing Skills Investment Plans currently sits with Skills Development Scotland (SDS). We are exploring an approach for skills planning in collaboration with SDS and the Scottish Funding Council as part of the Post School Education and Skills Reform Programme, which will clarify how these processes are run in future.

Question reference: S6W-38817

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Kidney Care UK’s recent report, Left to get on with it: The real impact of inadequate psychosocial support in kidney care, whether it plans to implement measures to train and upskill NHS kidney care teams, general practitioners and talking therapies professionals, to ensure timely referral and access to psychosocial support for people living with chronic kidney disease.

Question reference: S6W-38816

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28109 by Jenni Minto on 25 June 2024, when it plans to next report on progress towards the Mental health and wellbeing strategy: delivery plan 2023-2025, and whether any such progress report will include an analysis of the impact of the strategy on addressing the mental health impact of non-communicable diseases, including chronic kidney disease, in light of Kidney Care UK’s report, Left to get on with it: The real impact of inadequate psychosocial support in kidney care, published in June 2025.

Question reference: S6W-38880

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the timeline for providing the £5 million of funding allocated to the hospice sector in its Budget 2025-26.

Question reference: S6W-38606

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has provided in relation to locating defibrillators outside school buildings.

Question reference: S6W-38603

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that less than 10% of patients survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Scotland, what action Ministers are taking to improve CPR training and defibrillator familiarisation in schools, to improve citizen response to an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

The Scottish Government is a partner in the Save a Life for Scotland Partnership, which is working to ensure that all school aged children in Scotland will be given the opportunity to be equipped with CPR skills and increase defibrillator familiarisation across Scotland.

This has included delivery of Restart a Heart Day Live last year. This was a live stream CPR training event targeted at school-age children, which included information on defibrillation. The Scottish Government has committed to working with Save a Life for Scotland to support Restart a Heart Day Live again in 2025.

Question reference: S6W-38605

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many young people have received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training in each local authority area in each year since 1999.