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-18850

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 16 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are being taken to ensure healthy sandeel populations, which serve as a key source of food for Scottish seabirds.

Given the importance of sandeel to the wider ecosystem and the subsequent benefit in aiding long-term sustainability and resilience, it remains an overarching Scottish Government position, which is reflected in Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy, not to support fishing for sandeel in our waters.

There are several measures in place for the protection of sandeel stocks through the network of Marine Protected Areas. Furthermore, the Northeast UK closed area in sandeel management area 4 has been in place since 2000 and, the UK has not allocated sandeel quota to UK vessels since 2021.

However, recognising a commitment to consider what additional measures could be put in place to manage the sandeel fishery, in May 2023 I announced that the Scottish Government will be undertaking a public consultation this summer on potential measures to manage fishing for sandeel in Scottish waters. I refer the member to the answer to S6W-18244 on 19 May 2023. 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 .

Question reference: S6W-18364

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many GP surgeries there are; what percentage of those have dedicated mental health professionals, and how many (a) additional mental health professionals in GP surgeries have been recruited under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 and (b) mental health professionals in total are based in GP surgeries, as of 1 May 2023.

There were 905 general practices in Scotland at 1 April 2023( General practice list size and demographics information - General practice data - General practice - Our areas of work - Public Health Scotland ).

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the percentage of general practices with dedicated mental health professionals; or on the total number of mental health professionals based in GP surgeries.

However, at 31 st March 2022, nearly 80% of GP practices across Scotland had access to a Mental Health Worker under either the Primary Care Improvement Fund (PCIF) and/or Action 15. Under Action 15, an additional 958.9 whole time equivalent (WTE) mental health roles had been filled by the end of the commitment in March 2022, including 356.1 WTE posts in GP practices. The final Action 15 figures up to 01 April 2022, were published on 12 July 2022 ( Mental health workers: quarterly performance reports - gov.scot(www.gov.scot).

We have allocated over £107 million since 2018-19 to enable recruitment to these posts and will continue to provide the necessary funding to ensure that these posts are protected in 2022-23 and beyond.

Under the PCIF, a total of 259.9 WTE mental health workers had been recruited at March 2022 ( Primary Care Improvement Plans: Summary of Implementation Progress at March 2022 ). PCIF data to March 2023 will be published in summer 2023.

There are also mental health professionals directly employed by general practices in addition to those employed under the PCIF and Action 15. These professionals are not separately identifiable within the published GP in-hours workforce survey results . We expect numbers to be relatively small.

Question reference: S6O-02368

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to propose a parliamentary debate on sewage.

Question reference: S6W-18365

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many A&E departments there are; what percentage of those have dedicated mental health professionals, and how many (a) additional mental health professionals in A&E departments have been recruited under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 and (b) mental health professionals in total are based in A&E departments, as of 1 May 2023.

The A&E departments across NHS Scotland currently include:

30 large consultant-led Emergency Departments; and
60 minor injuries units and community units.

At the end of the Action 15 commitment of the Scottish Government’s Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027, an additional 179.2 whole-time equivalent mental health professionals were recruited to A&E settings.

The Scottish Government does not currently collect the requested data on the total number of mental health professionals based in A&E departments. While data regarding the number of staff in post is available for specific mental health professional groups in NHS Scotland, this cannot be broken down by settings such as A&E.

Question reference: S6F-02214

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 05 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 June 2023

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

Question reference: S6W-18067

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 5 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it costs to install a sewage overflow monitor.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water I have asked them to respond. Their response is as follows:

The cost of providing an overflow monitor can vary between £3,000 and £20,000 per location. Whilst the equipment itself is relatively inexpensive, the associated costs of securing access to the overflow chamber can be expensive with costs for traffic management, safe access and rescue coverage and 3rd party agreements potentially being high for some locations.

Question reference: S6W-17840

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 25 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent civil servant staff roles in the Scottish Government are dedicated to delivering universal breakfast provision in all (a) primary and (b) special schools, and how many individual civil servants this is divided between.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing plans to deliver free breakfasts to all primary and special school children. Understanding the need from children and families for breakfast provision and planning how to respond to that forms part of several civil servant roles within the Directorate for Children and Families. Civil servants operate flexibly across a range of policies and programmes according to the specific requirements of the work at any time. For example, Directorate officials routinely engage with stakeholders, such as providers and partners in school age childcare early adopter communities, to discuss this policy.

Question reference: S6W-17887

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many endoscopies were performed in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-17886

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the average wait time is for a patient to see a gastroenterologist.

The latest available information at national level relates to the position at 31 December 2022:

Ongoing waits: For those patients still waiting for a new outpatient appointment in Gastroenterology, the median wait was 130 days and 9 out of 10 waits (90th percentile) had lasted no longer than 382 days.

Completed waits: For those patients seen as an outpatient in Gastroenterology, the median wait was 58 days and 9 out of 10 waits were no longer than 509 days.

Question reference: S6W-17892

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will sign up to Crohn's and Colitis UK's campaign pledges, which are set out on its campaigns website.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring those living with Crohn’s or Colitis are able to access the best possible care and support and that they benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

Whilst the Scottish Government has not signed the campaign pledges, we continue to support the Crohn’s & Colitis UK campaign for earlier diagnosis. In March 2023 we launched an awareness campaign to help increase awareness of Crohn’s and Colitis symptoms and signpost to reliable information so people feel empowered to seek help from a medical professional when needed. We engaged with Crohn’s & Colitis UK to ensure the campaign was complementary to their own.

We will continue to improve services for people with the condition through the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP). MPPP has a specific workstream continuing to promote improvements in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) care for patients across Scotland in partnership with third sector and people with lived experience. Scotland’s national IBD Steering Group has identified priority areas for work over the next two years. This includes consideration of referral pathways and models of IBD care to drive a more standardised and equitable service across Scotland.

To specifically support scope based diagnostics, such as endoscopy, we have published an Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal plan backed by £70m. The plan focuses on key areas such as: Balancing Demand and Capacity; Workforce Training and Development; Infrastructure; and Innovation and Redesign. While endoscopy capacity remains challenged, patients referred on our most urgent pathways continue to be prioritised for scope-based diagnostic tests.

Financial Year	Endoscopy procedures
2017-18	298,348
2018-19	308,437
2019-20	300,078
2020-21	162,122
2021-22	240,119