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-00488

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in implementing all of the recommendations in The Scottish Independent Review of the Use, Safety and Efficacy of Transvaginal Mesh Implants in the Treatment of Stress Urinary Incontinence and Pelvic Organ Prolapse in Women: Interim Report.

All recommendations contained in the independent review's interim report have been considered, with focus on the following actions:

A revised patient information and consent leaflet for stress urinary incontinence.

A governance framework for multi-disciplinary teams treating women with these conditions.

A pathway of care for women seeking treatment for stress urinary incontinence; and a pathway of care for women experiencing serious complications.

The expert group is awaiting the independent review’s final report and until that has been published it does not consider it appropriate to take forward recommendations where important research findings are still awaited.

Question reference: S5W-00491

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many times the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has issued a medical device alert to healthcare professionals regarding polypropylene mesh devices.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has confirmed that it has not issued a medical device alert regarding polypropylene mesh implants. MHRA has stated that it continues to monitor and evaluate the safety and performance of these devices; they have not identified a robust body of evidence indicating any polypropylene mesh implants are unsafe requiring them to initiate any enforcement action against manufacturers in the UK under the European medical device regulations, and to the best of their knowledge neither has any other EU country or worldwide regulator.

Question reference: S5W-00495

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when the last time a cabinet secretary or minister visited a child contact centre.

Question reference: S5W-00487

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much surplus to requirement obturator mesh devices has cost the NHS.

Question reference: S5W-00484

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-22692 by Alex Neil on 29 October 2014, whether it will provide an update on how many pending litigations there are in Scotland in relation to defective mesh implants and against whom.

Question reference: S5W-00499

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to ensure that the rights and views of the child at child contact centres are listened to prior to them seeing their parents.

Many of those who use contact centres will have been referred there by the courts. 78% of all referrals to Relationships Scotland’s child contact centres come from the Scottish courts or solicitors. The relevant legislation when a court is considering a contact case is section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. This provides that when considering whether or not to make an order, the court shall regard the welfare of the child concerned as its paramount consideration. It also provides that the court, taking account of the child’s age and maturity, shall, so far as practicable, give the child an opportunity to express views and shall have regard to any views the child expresses. There is a presumption that a child aged 12 or above is of sufficient age and maturity to form a view.

Question reference: S5W-00493

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 14 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether any companies that have competed for public contracts since the procurement rule SPPN 4/2013, Exclusion from public contracts of companies which engage in blacklisting, came into force have acknowledged an involved with blacklisting.

Question reference: S5F-00090

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 June 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 June 2016

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the future of paediatric services across Lothian.

Question reference: S5W-00110

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the report in the Edinburgh Evening News on 16 May 2016 that NHS Lothian is to end its commitment to meeting treatment times guarantees.

The Scottish Government has made clear to all NHS boards, including Lothian that we expect them to deliver waiting time standards and the legal treatment time guarantee for the people of Scotland. All boards have consistently had above inflation increases in front line spending and boards need to use the increase in resources to deliver waiting times. NHS Lothian has received a 6.3% increase in their budget this year taking the total budget to £1.3 billion. We will continue to work closely with NHS Lothian to support the delivery of waiting times.

To meet the future need of hospital care over the next 10 to 15 years and ensure sustainable delivery of waiting times, the Scottish Government will invest £200 million in expanding the Golden Jubilee National Hospital and establish a network of five new elective and diagnostic treatment centres in Aberdeen, Inverness, Dundee, Livingston and Edinburgh.

Question reference: S5W-00111

Asked by: Neil Findlay, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with NHS Lothian regarding the end of waiting times guarantees.