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-04854

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the capacity of Marine Scotland to ensure the effective and robust enforcement of fisheries and marine conservation legislation.

Question reference: S6W-03148

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 13 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many GP appointments in each month since March 2020 have taken place (a) face to face, (b) over the telephone and (c) virtually, broken down by NHS board.

(a) & (b) We collect high quality data from across the health system, and are working with stakeholders to improve the quality of data we can collect from GP practices to ensure it is comparable and robust. There is no obligation on practices or health boards to report data on activity to Scottish Government, therefore we don’t have a robust time series of data covering the full time period asked for at health board level.

GP practices have remained open, accessible and at the forefront of our community services to deal with non-COVID-19 medical care throughout the pandemic.

We have continued to meet routinely with GPs and their representatives, and hear regularly from patients, to help build intelligence around appointments and pressures in GP practices throughout the pandemic, and are currently working together with NSS and PHS on a more advanced digital solution for capturing this information moving forward.

(c)In relation to virtual appointments, the table placed in the Scottish Parliament Information centre under bib number 62934, shows the number of face to face appointments being undertaken using the video consulting platform Near Me, but would not fully cover the various digital means of engaging with the Health Board - for example to feed in blood pressure readings and receive feedback through a managed service.

Question reference: S6W-04814

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 10 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it still plans to carry out its 2022 census as per its current timeline.

Question reference: S6W-04829

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 9 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government when the Inner Sound Local Fisheries Management Advisory Group last met, and how often it meets.

In February 2020, the Scottish Government published the Inshore Fisheries Pilot: Inner Sound of Skye Consultation Outcome Report. One of the recommendations contained in the report, was to establish an Inner Sound Local Fisheries Management Advisory Group. There are currently live legal proceedings relating to the Outcome Report and therefore it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.

Question reference: S6W-04822

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 9 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications were (a) approved and (b) not approved for an award from the 2021 round of the Regional Food Fund.

Question reference: S6W-04823

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 9 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been awarded to businesses in (a) Argyll and Bute, (b) the Western Isles, (c) the Highlands, (d) Orkney, (e) Shetland and (f) Moray from the Regional Food Fund in each year since it was established.

Question reference: S6O-00538

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how its Housing Strategy is supporting action to prevent fuel poverty in households in rural and remote areas.

Question reference: S6O-00470

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to help improve employment opportunities in the Highlands and Islands, including for young people.

Question reference: S6W-03874

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 October 2021
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 22 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it encourages onshore and offshore wind farm developers to work with businesses in Scotland in the construction and installation of wind turbines.

Renewable energy is a crucial element of our transition to deliver a net-zero economy and We are determined to maximise the economic opportunity for the Scottish supply chain from both our onshore and offshore wind potential. We remain fully committed to using every lever within our devolved competence to support and grow the wind supply chain here in Scotland.

In offshore wind, the first cycle of ScotWind leasing is currently underway, which will provide a pipeline of new projects from the late 2020s onwards. As part of the ScotWind bidding round, applicants have submitted a Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS) to Crown Estate Scotland, outlining the supply chain activity they commit to undertaking within Scotland, the UK and overseas.

There is considerable additional and ongoing work to support the growth of our domestic supply chain and capitalise on the economic opportunity resulting from offshore wind including the Strategic Infrastructure Assessment (SIA), which was referenced as a 100 Days’ Commitment of this government. Published on 20 August the SIA is now being taken forward by Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC), with the group developing an action plan to take forward the SIA’s recommendations. This assessment highlights the need for urgent investment in port infrastructure to support the growth of the sector. We look forward to SOWEC taking forward next steps on the recommendations set out in the report.

For onshore wind, our consultation on the draft Onshore Wind Policy Statement was launched on 28 October 2021 and will run until January 2022. This considers and seeks views on a variety of issues related to onshore wind including supply chain issues, and specifically seeks views on minimum local content, similar to the sector deal for offshore wind.

Question reference: S6W-04236

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients waited longer than the period specified in the referral to treatment time guarantee to receive orthopaedic treatment in NHS Highland in each year since 2007, and what the reasons for delays in treatment were.

The following table sets out the total number of patients seen and the number that waited over 18 weeks for orthopaedic treatment in NHS Highland, from January 2012 to June 2021 – the latest data available. This includes all patients reported as seen on the 18-week Referral to Treatment (RTT) pathway for orthopaedics, including those patients who did not require to be admitted for treatment. For example, some patients may not have required treatment depending on the outcome of an outpatient consultation or diagnostic test.

Please note, due to the complexities of 18-week RTT local data collection and reporting, the length of wait cannot be accurately measured by the Board of treatment for all patients. The impact of which for orthopaedics in NHS Highland is reflected in the number of unknown waits reported below. The data should therefore be treated with caution.

Table: Total patients seen and number of patients that waited against the RTT Standard, January 2012 – June 2021, NHS Highland, Orthopaedics

Year	Total Patients Seen	Number of patients seen waiting <= 18 weeks	Number of patients seen waiting >18 weeks	Unknown Waits
2012	14940	7758	966	6216
2013	12912	8016	1237	3659
2014	11679	5551	2710	3418
2015	10101	3750	3343	3008
2016	10032	3469	3696	2867
2017	9007	3042	3757	2208
2018	9499	4283	2718	2498
2019	9046	3627	2649	2770
2020	5996	1762	2126	2108
2021*	3144	962	781	1401

Source: PHS 18 Weeks RTT Database

*This year covers the period between 1 st January 2012 - 30 th June 2021.

There are a number of reasons why the RTT standard has not been met in recent years. Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, good progress was being made under the Waiting Times Improvement Plan, in reducing the numbers waiting for treatment. However, the pandemic has restricted Health Boards’ ability to make progress against the backlog of care that built up before the pandemic and has been compounded by the significant challenges Health Boards are continuing to tackle at the current time.