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: S5W-31009

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 27 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what indicators it uses to ensure that the national governance process for stroke care is performing to standard, and what its response is to reported concerns regarding the national guidelines for stroke expiring after 10 years.

Question reference: S5W-31010

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 27 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how Scotland’s stroke improvement plan compares with the leading examples of stroke strategies and plans in other UK and European nations, and what plans it has to refresh Scotland's stroke improvement plan to ensure that the care received by patients in Scotland who survive a stroke is comparable to that received in the rest of the UK and Europe.

Over the past 10 years, the number of people in Scotland dying from stroke has decreased by 35%. This is significant progress but we want to strive for even better outcomes, which is why we continue to implement the Stroke Improvement Plan (2014) and our Programme for Government 2019-20 commits to developing a programme to improve stroke pathways and services, including prevention, treatment and care. The Scottish Government reports annually on how stroke care has performed against the Scottish Stroke Improvement Plan, through the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme Report. This Report is scheduled for publication shortly.

There are various sets of clinical guidelines that clinicians can consider for the management, treatment and care of stroke patients. These should be taken into account when services are being developed although there is no expectation that clinicians in NHS Board areas would base their management on any one set of guidelines. As such, implementation of guidelines is the responsibility of NHS Boards and their operating divisions, reinforced and supported by their clinical governance arrangements.

The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guidelines relevant to stroke are being archived at 10 years in line with SIGN policy. The National Advisory Committee for Stroke is currently working with SIGN to scope out work to review the latest evidence relating to care across the whole stroke patient care pathway. This will include a review of national and international guidelines which have used the most robust methodology. This evidence will inform the Programme for Government stroke commitments including how to describe what a progressive stroke service looks like.

In addition, healthcare professionals working in Scottish stroke services work closely with colleagues across the nations comprising the UK, and also internationally in organisations including the European Stroke and World Stroke organisations to improve care across Scotland for those who have experienced a stroke.

Question reference: S5W-31008

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 27 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards have not yet embedded the 2016 Royal College of Physicians stroke guidelines, or their equivalent, into the care they provide to patients who survive a stroke, and for what reason.

Question reference: S5W-31013

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 26 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve the patient experience and potential accuracy of COVID-19 tests conducted at self-testing stations.

On 17 August we published our revised/updated Testing Strategy: https://www.gov.scot/news/scotlands-covid-19-testing-strategy/ .

The Strategy sets out the circumstances in which people who are asymptomatic would be tested. This includes those identified (via our Test and Protect scheme) as contacts of people who have tested positive, and those working with vulnerable people in high risk settings such as care homes.

This strategy also includes improvements in access to testing and innovation in how we test.

Question reference: S5W-31011

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of an increased number of pedestrians and cyclists, what plans it has to work with Police Scotland to introduce an online reporting tool for road traffic incidents and offences, similar to the one used by the Metropolitan Police in London, in order to improve safety.

The Scottish Government remains committed to achieving our ultimate road safety vision of zero fatalities and a significant reduction in the number of serious injuries on our roads. We are continuing to liaise with a range of key stakeholders, including Police Scotland, as we develop our world-class road safety framework to 2030. Throughout the life of the framework we will be considering a whole range of measures which have the potential to further enhance the safety performance of Scotland’s road network.

Question reference: S5W-30968

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 18 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, provided appropriate social distancing rules are followed, what plans it has to review to 50-person limit on the number of people permitted to attend places of worship as part of the easing of the COVID-19 lockdown measures to allow more people to attend in (a) rural communities that are primarily reliant on the size of their church congregation and (b) large-capacity buildings.

I recognise how difficult it has been for Scotland’s faith communities to be unable to come together in places of worship at this challenging time, and understand the important role of congregational worship in supporting spiritual wellbeing. We do not want any restrictions to last any longer than is necessary but must ensure that people who enter places of worship to undertake congregational activities will be safe.

Our guidance on safe capacities for places of worship reflects evolving scientific and health advice and has been developed in discussion with our faith communities and we will continue to work closely with our faith communities as we move towards fully reopening places of worship as soon as it is safe to do so.

The 50 person limit will be reviewed on 20 August as part of our commitment to review restrictions every three weeks, as outlined in the Framework for Decision Making.

Question reference: S5F-04285

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 August 2020

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking in response to Police Scotland’s reported budget overspend during the COVID-19 crisis.

Question reference: S5O-04462

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 August 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 August 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the additional UK Government funding to support Scotland’s people and businesses through the COVID-19 outbreak.

Question reference: S5W-31036

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S5W-30761

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 July 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 31 July 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there is no specific guidance for niche businesses regarding the lifting of lockdown restrictions, and what its position is on whether the categorisation of businesses in its route map for exiting lockdown should mirror the classification for business rates, and not another categorisation determined by the local authority.

We are making changes at a pace and at a level that we think is right and safe for our current circumstances in Scotland. As we have taken decisions about what sectors and activities to re-open on our route out of lockdown, we have been guided by the principles set out in our Framework for Decision Making.

We are taking a partnership approach to create the conditions for business, trades unions and regulators to share expertise and work together to create safer workplaces. This partnership approach is also being used to develop sectoral guidance and endorse industry specific guidance. On 13 July we published guidance for small and micro businesses, across a variety of industries and sectors, to ensure the safety of staff and customers as they re-open.

We have already published guidance for over 25 specific sectors including manufacturing, labs and research, culture and creative industries, retail, transport, and energy. We will continue to prepare guidance in consultation with relevant stakeholders for sectors re-opening as we move through our Route Map out of Lockdown.

We are also working with partners to develop more comprehensive standalone guidance to provide a detailed set of health protection and Infection, Prevention and Control measures that could be applied to a different types of businesses.