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-04128

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 19 February 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has explored the possibility of a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any feasibility for a bridge to Northern Ireland and has no plans to do so.

Both I and the Northern Ireland Minister for Infrastructure, have written to the UK Secretary of State for Transport, stating this is not a priority for either Government and the UK Government’s lack of engagement does not respect devolution in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

We believe infrastructure investment should focus on projects that improve lives, boost our economy, support communities and work towards Net Zero. That is how we are planning Scotland’s future infrastructure investment.

Question reference: S5W-26000

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 2 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many child patients from the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QUEH) have been transferred each week to (a) (i) other children’s and (ii) adult wards at the QUEH, (b) the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, (c) the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, (d) St John’s Hospital, Livingston, (e) the Tayside Children’s Ward at Ninewells Hospital, (f) the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, (g) other NHS facilities, (h) private hospitals and (g) hospitals in the rest of the UK since the children's cancer ward at the QEUH closed to new admissions.

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde have advised that there were 17 transfers of children from the QEUH between 29 July 2019 and 11 November 2019. Nine of these 17 transfers were to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, five to the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, and the remainder to the Beatson Oncology Unit and The Freeman Hospital, Newcastle.

With clinicians' agreement and following an Incident Management Team reviewing Health Protection Scotland’s inspection, ward 6A is now open to new admissions.

Question reference: S5W-25998

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 27 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the percentage of available bed capacity for child patients has been at each week at (a) the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QUEH), (b) the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, (c) the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, (d) St John’s Hospital, Livingston, (e) the Tayside Children’s Ward at Ninewells Hospital and (f) the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital since the children's cancer ward at the QEUH closed to new admissions.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-26000 on 27 November 2019, regarding transfers of child patients from the QEUH each week.

Conference calls take place at set times, three times a week between Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow hospitals during which capacity is discussed.

With clinicians' agreement and following an Incident Management Team reviewing Health Protection Scotland’s inspection, ward 6A is now open to new admissions.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Question reference: S5W-26067

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 13 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what direct funding it provides to (a) universities and (b) colleges for the provision of mental health services other than the 80 additional mental health counsellors that have been provided in higher education settings.

In addition to the £3.645 million Scottish Government funding for colleges and universities to enable them to take steps towards providing enhanced counsellor provision, announced earlier this month, student well-being is further supported through the Disabled Students Premium (£2.8 million) in universities and the Access and Inclusion Fund (£50.5 million) in colleges. This provides over £53 million to help institutions achieve equality of outcomes for all students, including those requiring mental health support.

Question reference: S5W-26037

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of media reports that there are no rules on ministers’ use of private email accounts, whether it will immediately publish guidance on their use of private or party email accounts, as well as on the record-keeping requirements that it will adhere to in relation to such accounts.

Question reference: S5W-26001

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 6 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many wards at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital have been (a) fully-closed, (b) partially-closed and (c) closed to new admissions each month, broken down by the date each (i) closed and (ii) reopened or is expected to reopen; how many appointments have subsequently been cancelled or reorganised, and how many adult patients have been transferred to other hospitals in (A) Scotland and (B) the rest of the UK.

Question reference: S5O-03709

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it and Scottish Enterprise have provided to companies as part of the £500 million Scottish Growth Scheme.

Question reference: S5W-25511

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2019
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its commitment in its 2017-18 Programme for Government to recruit more than 80 additional counsellors in further and higher education over the next four years, whether it will confirm how many have been recruited to date.

The Scottish Government is investing around £20 million, to provide more than eighty additional counsellors in Further and Higher Education over the next four years, starting this academic year (2019-20).

This is the first year of delivering our Programme for Government commitment which will see colleges and universities recruit and make arrangements for enhanced counsellor provision across Scotland. We will work closely with the Scottish Funding Council to monitor the delivery of this commitment on a quarterly basis throughout the academic year.

Question reference: S5W-25510

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2019
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the size is of the first tranche of new school counsellors that is referred to in its 2019-20 Programme for Government.

We have been working in partnership with local authorities to ensure delivery of the school counsellors commitment and have agreed a distribution model for funding to local authorities and a set of aims and principles to implement the service in this academic year. As part of the partnership with local authorities, each authority is empowered to determine how it will deliver the commitment to best suit the children and young people in its area, including the recruitment of counsellors. The Programme for Government commitment will be met in full by September 2020.

Question reference: S5W-25507

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 8 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the differences between how the issue is addressed in its 2019-20 Programme for Government from that in 2018-19, whether it remains its commitment to have an additional 250 school nurses either in training or in place by 2022.