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-26933

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 April 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many responses were received to its consultation on the effectiveness of environmental governance arrangements, and when it will publish an analysis of the consultation responses.

Question reference: S6W-26937

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 April 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the outcome of the consultation on the licensing of activities involving animals, and what next steps it will take.

Question reference: S6W-26417

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 18 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any plans to introduce the policy of offering 10 days paid leave to NHS Scotland staff who experience a miscarriage in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, in light of the policy having been recently announced for NHS England staff.

Question reference: S6W-26551

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2024
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Siobhian Brown on 28 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish refreshed guidance on marches, parades and static demonstrations.

I am pleased to confirm that refreshed Scottish Government guidance on marches, parades and static demonstrations has been published on the Scottish Government website today and can be found at https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781836010425.

I hope that this guidance will be a useful source of information to all key parties involved in marches, parades and static demonstrations. I am extremely grateful to the members of the working group, chaired by Dr Michael Rosie, for their contribution to the refreshed guidance. Their time, expertise and diligence has helped to shape what I hope will be useful and widely used guidance.

Question reference: S6W-26491

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 March 2024
Current Status: Answer expected on 24 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it collects data across all local authorities on the rate of adoption breakdown.

Question reference: S6W-25953

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to address the reported long waiting times for patients in Glasgow seeking specialist treatment as a result of being affected by transvaginal mesh.

NHS National Services Scotland, National Services Division (NSD) and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (NHS GGC) are working to improve waiting times for access to the highly specialist Complex Mesh Surgical Service. The ongoing need for service recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic, across all areas of need in terms of women’s health, has resulted in waiting times which are disappointing, and the frustration felt by women facing significant waits is wholly understandable. For this we apologise.

However, patients are being seen, surgeries carried out, and efforts are being made to increase capacity.

The Service now also writes to patients once they are added to the outpatient waiting list, advising that their referral has been received and offering an estimated waiting time for their first appointment. This letter provides a QR code that links to the recently upgraded Complex Mesh Surgical Service Website where patients can access information about what patients can expect during their visit.

Waiting times from decision on treatment to surgery are now generally within the 12 week treatment time guarantee.

More generally, the Scottish Government is committed to eradicating long waits and we’ve already seen a significant reduction in the longest waits (over 2 years) since targets were announced. We are committed to providing further reductions through our £1bn NHS Recovery plan to increase health service capacity. We are also working closely with Health Boards to support implementation of alternative pathways and initiatives to support people being seen more quickly and increase capacity to ensure sustainability.

Question reference: S6W-25465

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the levels of vitamin D within the general population.

Scottish Government recognise the health benefits of maintaining adequate vitamin D levels across our population. Current advice is for everyone to consider taking a daily 10 microgram supplement of vitamin D to maintain bone and muscle health, particularly during the winter months. We recommend that population groups at higher risk of vitamin D deficiency take a daily 10 microgram supplement all year round.

Since 2017, all pregnant women in Scotland have been offered Healthy Start Vitamins which contain vitamin D, throughout their pregnancy. Free vitamin D supplements are also available to children under 3 and breastfeeding women.

Food Standards Scotland are currently running a social media Vitamin D campaign toolkit | Food Standards Scotland to raise awareness of the importance of vitamin D, and to encourage people to take vitamin D supplements. This builds on a number of previous FSS vitamin D campaigns during the winter.

Information on vitamin D is available for the general public on Vitamin D | NHS inform , including in different languages, easy read and audio formats. Our Parent Club website also contains information on the importance of Vitamin D. Vitamin D in care homes | Care Inspectorate Hub for adult care homes has also been published to support care home staff in discussing vitamin D supplements with residents and/ or their representatives.

Question reference: S6O-03159

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to invest in and revitalise town centres in urban areas.

Question reference: S6O-03088

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how proposed UK immigration rule changes will potentially affect overseas workers in the agricultural sector in Scotland, in light of the recent letter from Scotland Food and Drink, and industry partners, to the Home Secretary.

Question reference: S6W-24791

Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what update it has received from NHS Lanarkshire on the progress of the Monklands Replacement Project, and whether it still expects the new hospital to open in 2031 as currently planned.

As set out in our draft budget the capital funding position is extremely challenging, with a UK Government cut of some 10% in our capital budget over the next five years. That has inevitably led to some difficult decisions on what capital projects will be progressed.

The Scottish Government are in active discussions with NHS Lanarkshire on the impact of this budget settlement on the proposal to replace University Hospital Monklands and an updated position is expected in February.

The Scottish Government will bring forward a revised pipeline of infrastructure investment in the spring, alongside the medium-term financial strategy, at which point we would hope that the fiscal outlook will be clearer.