- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 16 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 14 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019, including whether it is aware of any data setting out (a) the views of children and families on the impact of the Act, (b) the views of professionals with responsibility for child protection on the impact of the Act, (c) whether the Act has led to an increase in referrals of families to social work or other family support services, and (d) whether the Act has led to an increase in parental prosecutions for assault.
Answer
Answer expected on 14 July 2025
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide financial support to families who wish to move a family member's ashes, in light of reports that this can cost between £5,000 and £10,000, or more if there is an objection to planning permission.
Answer
The Scottish Government currently has no plans to provide financial support in connection with applications for exhumation.
However, we are committed to simplifying the process as much as possible. Officials are developing regulations under the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 which will remove applications for exhumation from the courts, making the process more straightforward and less expensive for applicants.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the Helensburgh Wastewater Treatment Works recording 1,722 spills in 2024 meets the requirement for sewage spills to only happen in exceptional circumstances, in light of the European Court of Justice and Environmental Standards Scotland reportedly emphasising this requirement.
Answer
As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:
All overflow events at Helensburgh wastewater treatment works arose through a Settled Storm Sewage Overflow after being screened and receiving primary treatment. This process is licensed by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and all overflows are monitored and reported.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many new event duration monitors have been fitted to sewage overflows in 2025, and how many monitors in total have been installed as a part of the Improving Urban Waters Route Map.
Answer
As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:
Scottish Water has already installed 1,000 event duration monitors to meet the commitment set out within its Improving Urban Waters Routemap. Scottish Water plans to go beyond this commitment and install a further 700 this year, aiming to cover around 50% of overflows. Scottish Water has installed 135 of these further monitors in 2025.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 13 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide stable, permanent jobs to newly qualified nurses in NHS boards, including NHS Lothian, in light of reports that there are currently hundreds of nurses waiting for their first permanent position after graduating from university with a degree in nursing.
Answer
Whilst the Scottish Government sets the strategic direction for the NHS in Scotland, operational matters including staffing and the recruitment of graduates is the responsibility of health boards as autonomous institutions.
Whilst graduates can apply to join the NHS and care providers in their local area upon graduation, vacancies can fluctuate geographically each year. Alongside this, staff turnover can also vary, making recruitment of newly qualified nurses more challenging in individual health board areas. Such variations can be difficult to predict on occasion.
The Scottish Government is not aware of any evidence which suggests that significant numbers of graduate nurses are unable to secure permanent positions at this point.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 13 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Public Health Scotland stopped providing data in its Cancelled planned operations release that illustrated the difference in current levels of operation activity and operation activity pre-COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer
Public Health Scotland continues to provide data regarding planned procedure activity prior to March 2020 in the monthly Cancelled Planned Operations release which can be accessed at Cancelled planned operations - Month Ending 30 April 2025 - Cancelled planned operations - Publications - Public Health Scotland. The ‘Cancellations data’ file provides the information needed for comparisons of time periods May 2015 to April 2025 by month and therefore able to illustrate the difference in current levels of operation activity and operation activity pre-COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of PHS’ obligations under the UKSA Code of Practice for Statistics (found at About the Code – Code of Practice for Statistics), PHS continually review outputs to ensure they adhere to all the pillars contained within the Code of Practice. This states that “statistics and data [should be] useful, easy to access, remain relevant, and support understanding of important issues.” Upon review, the Cancelled Planned Operations summary has been adapted to align with these principles.
More specifically, in line with the principles of “Relevance to Users” and “Innovation and Improvement” the Cancelled Planned Operations commentary now reflects and highlights current trend patterns within 3 years from the latest release. The aim of the revised time trend highlighted within the summary is to meet the user need of improving access to latest trends and highlights important current information. The risk of including too much of a historic time trend in the summary chart is that it becomes more difficult to interpret these current trends. Nevertheless, the continuation of the provision of the longer time trend within the accompanying data tables, including activity prior to March 2020, allows the user to access the data if they wish to do so.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what the current average waiting times are for treatment for gynaecological cancers and how these compare with the waiting times for treatment for other types of cancer.
Answer
Latest statistics published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) in March 2025, includes data on cervical and ovarian cancer waiting times, between 1st October and 31st December 2024.
This data shows that 96.6% of women with cervical cancer and 98.4% of women with ovarian cancer are receiving their first treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat. This compares with 94.7% for all other cancer types. This is a median wait of 14 and 13 days respectively, with 4 days being the median for all other cancer types.
51.7% of women with cervical cancer and 73.3% of women with ovarian cancer are receiving their first treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral of cancer. This compares to 73.5% for all other cancer types. This is a median wait of 62 and 50 days respectively, with 49 days being the median for all other cancer types.
Scottish Government is continuing to take action to improve waiting times, with £14.23 million of the £106 million planned care funding made available in 2025-26 across NHS Scotland, directed towards Cancer Waiting Times.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how it is addressing any gap in information provision for people with gynaecological cancers, in light of reported findings that they are less likely to receive the information required to care for themselves at home.
Answer
Scottish Government continues to work with ‘NHS inform’ to review and update their cancer information provision to best meet patient needs. Their website contains specific gynaecological cancer information, including cervical, ovarian, vaginal, vulval and womb.
Scottish Government is also committed to ensuring that people impacted by a cancer diagnosis, including those with gynaecological cancers, receive person-centred and holistic care.
We are working in partnership with Macmillan to improve the service we offer patients with cancer through the Transforming Cancer Care Programme (TCC). This joint partnership with Macmillan is worth £27 million and is the first of its kind in the UK, providing specialist key support workers who offer emotional, financial and practical support to people with cancer.
We are also supporting the roll out of the Improving the Cancer Journey (ICJ) model to every Health and Social Care Partnership, ensuring 100% of adults diagnosed with cancer (within agreed criteria) will be invited or referred to an ICJ service to speak to a link officer who will complete a Holistic Needs Assessment and generate a care plan to meet their needs.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve the care experiences of people with gynaecological cancers, in light of reported findings that they are less likely to rate their overall cancer care positively compared with the national average.
Answer
I refer the member to the question and response to S6W-37656 on 10 June 2025.
As acknowledged, individuals have an opportunity to rate their cancer experiences through the Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey (SCPES). The 2024 survey results highlight that 95% of people are positive about their overall experience.
Whilst this indicates that we are progressing towards our aim and ambition of putting people with cancer at the heart of all decisions and actions involving them, Scottish Government understands that there are still areas in which we can improve further, including for people with gynaecological cancer.
Our Framework for Effective Cancer Management has recently been refreshed to include Patient Voice and User Experience as a key element of the framework ensuring that patient feedback to improve cancer pathways is continuously reviewed.
We continue to invest in initiatives that support earlier and faster diagnosis and drive person-centred and holistic care to improve patient experience. NHS Boards are responsible for the delivery of their services, and we engage on an ongoing basis with them to identify and develop new actions or approaches that will improve the experiences of those diagnosed with cancer.
All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 3 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Minister for Business raised the issue of investment by Chinese companies in offshore wind infrastructure in Scotland during his recent trip to China.
Answer
In any meetings relating to offshore wind, I encouraged investors to continue engaging with Scotland’s economic development agencies.
The UK Government is responsible for national security, the regulation of international trade, elements of critical national infrastructure including energy, and the application of the NSIA. We continue to engage closely with the UK Government to understand the security implications of potential foreign investment in energy-related infrastructure.
