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: S5O-03819

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on its winter planning with Glasgow City Council for rough sleepers.

Question reference: S5W-25595

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 31 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) healthcare- and (b) community-associated cases of Clostridioides difficile have been reported at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital since January 2019.

Between 1 January 2019 and 30 June 2019, Health Protection Scotland (HPS) reported 43 cases of healthcare associated Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) (aged 15 years and above) at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde.

Community associated CDI cases are attributed to the health board of residence, as they are defined as cases with no healthcare contact within the 12 weeks preceding diagnosis. Therefore, HPS do not report community associated CDI cases at hospital level.

In the latest quarterly epidemiological data published for Quarter 2 (April - June 2019), HPS report that no NHS Scotland Board had incidence rates for healthcare or community associated CDI that were above normal variation when analysing trends over the past three years.

Question reference: S5O-03732

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on infection management at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

Question reference: S5W-25594

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide up-to-date (a) absence and (b) vacancy rates for domestic staff at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

The requested information is not held centrally. ISD Scotland's data on absence and vacancies is not available at the level requested.

ISD publish national workforce data containing the staff group, and job family of staff in post. The data does not capture the service(s) that an individual employee may contribute to. ISD’s latest workforce data is available at:

https://www.isdscotland.org/health-topics/Workforce/publications/2019-09-03/visualisation.asp .

ISD publish absence data by NHS Board annually in June. It does not break down by individual hospital or staff group. The latest data is available at: https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2019-06-04/Sickness_Absence_M2019.xls .

Vacancy data is collected from Boards for nursing and midwifery staff, allied health professionals and consultants only.

Additional recording and management of absence and vacancies is undertaken by Boards in their capacity as providers and employers.

Question reference: S5O-03630

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the action that it is taking to address the use of non-prescribed benzodiazepines, such as etizolam, in Glasgow.

Question reference: S5O-03538

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 18 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that one in ten pupils are taught in substandard schools.

The proportion of pupils educated in good or satisfactory condition schools has increased from 61% in 2007 to 90% in 2019.

We welcome the decrease in the number of poor or bad condition schools from 993 in 2007 to 288 in 2019.

While it is the statutory duty of local authorities to maintain the school estate, we have demonstrated our commitment to improving Scotland's school estate through the £1.8 billion Schools for the Future Programme and the £1 billion Learning Estate Investment Programme.

Question reference: S5W-24791

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 12 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether Sustrans Scotland applies the Fairer Scotland Duty when administering the Places for Everyone programme, which is funded by Transport Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-24789

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether the proposed monitoring framework for the Cycling Action Plan for Scotland will assess the distribution of cycling infrastructure in cities to ensure that it does not inadvertently entrench health inequalities.

One of the outcomes of the Active Travel Framework is the availability of walking, cycling and wheeling infrastructure for all.

A series of measurement indicators are being developed to inform progress towards this and the other outcomes contained within the Active Travel Framework. This includes measures that will gather data on the provision of and proximity to walking, cycling and wheeling infrastructure.

The intention is, where possible, to provide disaggregation of these measures by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) tool, by geography, and by urban/rural classification to understand the distribution of cycling and wheeling infrastructure in cities and across the country.

Question reference: S5W-24790

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 August 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what demographic assessment it has made of the people who use cycling as a form of active travel.

As part of the Scottish Household Survey, Transport Scotland routinely gathers demographic information about the people who cycle as a form of active travel. The information contains data on age, gender, income, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), economic status and Urban Rural classification. The survey has a representative sample of around 10,000 Scottish residents each year, and asks questions every two years on people who cycle.

As a further source of demographic data, Cycling Scotland delivers an annual Cycling Monitoring Report which reports on a suite of national indicators to inform cycling participation in Scotland.

Question reference: S5O-03464

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 June 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed maintenance of the Clyde Tunnel with Glasgow City Council.