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-31786

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 9 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are being drafted or implemented in relation to (a) mental health support and (b) pay awards for Police Scotland.

The mental health support for police officers and police staff is a matter for the Chief Constable.

In line with Police Scotland’s ‘People Strategy 2024–27’, a ‘Health and Wellbeing Action Plan’ was developed by Police Scotland to provide officers and staff with a range of tools and services that will enable them to take positive action in relation to their health and wellbeing.

In relation to pay for officers and staff, claims are currently being taken through the appropriate negotiating mechanisms, those being, the Police Negotiating Board for Scotland (PNBS) for Police Officers and the Joint Negotiating and Consultative Committee (JNCC) for Police Staff. The PNBS is undertaking a period of conciliation and if agreement can still not be reached, the two Sides of the PNBS would enter into an arbitration process through ACAS. Police Staff pay is also going through a process of negotiation and conciliation; this is a matter for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority.

Question reference: S6W-31710

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether, by clearing the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) backlog by December 2025, as set out in its Programme for Government 2024-25, it expects that no child or young person will wait longer than 18 weeks to start treatment.

I remain clear that long waits are unacceptable and that is why in the Programme for Government we reaffirmed our commitment to meet the CAMHS standard and clear backlogs by December 2025.

While we will work to ensure no child will wait to start treatment longer than 18 weeks there may be occasions where children and young people wait over 18-weeks to start treatment. This may be out with the NHS Board’s control, such as those who have significantly complex presentations and require very specific services.

Question reference: S6W-31711

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it did not include psychological therapies in its Programme for Government 2024-25 commitment to clear the backlog and meet the standard nationally for child and adolescent mental health services by December 2025.

I am as committed as ever to meeting the waiting times standard for psychological therapies and to clearing waiting list backlogs as confirmed in our Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

We continue to publicly report and monitor performance closely and provide enhanced support to those NHS Boards with the longest waits, including commissioning NHS Boards to produce annual trajectories for when they expect to meet the standard.

Funding to support this commitment is included within the £120 million that we have directly allocated to NHS Boards and IJBs for a new Enhanced Mental Health Outcomes Framework in 2024-25.

Question reference: S6W-31462

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce Kitt Medical packs into state schools to treat extreme anaphylaxis in children with life-threatening allergies.

The Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017 allows schools across the United Kingdom, including independent schools, to buy and hold spare adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) devices without the need for a prescription to treat anaphylaxis in schools in emergency situations where a pupil’s own prescribed device is either not working correctly, or is otherwise unavailable.

We published guidance on supporting children and young people with healthcare needs in schools in December 2017. Information on support for pupils at risk of anaphylaxis is covered within Annex B of this guidance.

The Scottish Government provides funding to local authorities through a block grant. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on providing AAI devices to schools, on the basis of local needs and priorities.

Question reference: S6W-31465

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce waiting times for allergy diagnosis and treatment.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with an allergy, are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

The latest published data shows that there were 302 patients waiting for a new outpatient allergy appointment as of 30 September 2024, with a median waiting time of 40 days and 78.5% of waits within the 12 week New Outpatient standard.

While this is welcome progress, I recognise there is more to be done. We continue to target resources to clear the longest waits and are working with all boards to maximise current resources and productivity.

Question reference: S6W-31464

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Scotland regarding the inclusion of allergy awareness in all medical training and professional development.

The Scottish Government is working closely with NHS Education Scotland (NES), who are responsible for managing all training provided to doctors in Scotland.

Allergy awareness is an integral part of all medical curricula, particularly in recognising and managing anaphylaxis. Foundation doctors also receive relevant training. Additionally, two new training pathways have been developed for Allergy and Immunology: Allergy | The Federation

Allergy and Clinical Immunology (ACI)
Allergy, Clinical and Laboratory Immunology (ACLI)

Turas learn also hosts a number of useful resources in relation to allergy awareness for healthcare professionals: Turas Learn - Allergy

Question reference: S6W-31466

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) care pathways and (b) treatments exist for patients with extreme and life-threatening allergies.

The Scottish Government expects NHS Health Boards to manage those in need of adult allergy services according to local needs and deliver these services to provide high quality care that is safe, effective, and person-centred.

Children and Young People in Scotland can access dedicated allergy services through the National Managed Clinical Allergy Network (CYANS). CYANS has published a guideline on the diagnosis and management of food allergies in children, based on national guidelines. Further information can be found at: About Us – Children and Young People's Allergy Network Scotland (nhs.scot).

Question reference: S6W-31463

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 3 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to bring forward a national allergy strategy.

Question reference: S6F-03599

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 02 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6W-30857

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to introducing routine prostate cancer screening for men in their 40s.

The Scottish Government, along with the other UK nations, relies on advice about screening programmes from the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent expert advisory group.

Population screening for prostate cancer was last reviewed by the UK NSC in November 2020 when they concluded that the benefits of screening did not outweigh the potential risk of harm. As you may be aware, I have recently written to the UK NSC to ask them to review this matter again. The UK NSC chairman, Sir Mike Richards, has responded with assurance that this issue is a high priority for the Committee.

I am also encouraged that a large-scale study (TRANSFORM) has been launched to provide valuable evidence, looking at potential innovative screening methods and recruiting hundreds of thousands of men for the research. The UK NSC have committed to assessing evidence as it is published throughout the trial, and this will inform any future recommendation.

Should a recommendation be made to introduce prostate screening, the organisations that oversee screening will advise Scottish Ministers on how to take that recommendation forward.

In the meantime, men and those with a prostate who are concerned they have possible symptoms should speak to their GP. There is a list of symptoms available on the NHS website: Prostate cancer - NHS (www.nhs.uk).

Men aged 50 or over can also discuss taking a PSA test with their GP, even if they do not have symptoms.