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-33672

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 10 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the introduction of the telemedicine abortion service has had on costs of abortion provision.

Question reference: S5W-33665

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 10 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many instances of complications or mental health concerns following an abortion were reported in 2019 where a woman took (a) only the second pill at home and (b) both pills at a clinic or hospital.

Question reference: S5W-33667

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 10 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to ensure that women terminating a pregnancy at home in rural locations can access timely care in the event that they haemorrhage.

NHS Boards consider a woman’s access to emergency care in the event that they require hospital treatment if they live in a remote rural area. They will take account of a woman’s location in weighing up the benefits of treatment at home against treatment in a hospital.

The risk of haemorrhage with early medical abortion is normally low, particularly for women having an abortion at an early gestation, and may occur days after the procedure. Access to emergency care in the event of requiring hospital treatment for haemorrhage is the same as for women living in remote and rural areas following other gynaecological procedures, including those who experience a miscarriage at home.

Question reference: S5W-33669

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 10 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many women have received a "Pills by Post" abortion kit from British Pregnancy Advisory Service providers since the changes to abortion procedures on 31 March 2020.

Question reference: S5W-33666

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 10 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) call-outs by emergency services and (b) emergency presentations and/or admissions to emergency departments, hospitals, obstetrics/gynaecology units, paediatric units and early pregnancy awareness units in relation to legal abortions there have been since the changes to abortion procedures on 31 March 2020.

Question reference: S5W-33663

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 10 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has given to (a) procurator fiscals, (b) GPs, (c) local authority burial or cremation departments and (d) registrars on extending their opening hours and availability over the Christmas and New Year period to ensure that funeral directors can continue to arrange and conduct funerals during the pandemic without the bereaved facing delays.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with all sectors involved in care and management of the deceased to identify potential problems and to minimise disruption and delays which could affect the ongoing provision of funeral services over the Christmas and New Year weekends.

The Lord Advocate is constitutionally responsible for the investigation of sudden, unexpected and unexplained deaths in Scotland. That is a function which he exercises independently of any other person, and one that is undertaken on his behalf by procurators fiscal employed within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). It is accordingly not for the Scottish Government to give advice to procurators fiscal. COPFS is satisfied that appropriate arrangements are in place for the forthcoming holiday period to ensure that deaths reported to the procurator fiscal during this time will be considered as expeditiously as possible in order to minimise the impact of reporting on nearest relatives and funeral arrangements that are to be made.

The Scottish Government has not advised GPs to extend their opening hours and availability over the Christmas and New Year period. The normal festive contingencies will be in place with surgeries closed 25 and 28 December and 1 and 4 January. This is the normal period of closure.

It is for burial and cremation authorities to decide when their facilities will be open over the festive period. The Scottish Government and the Inspector of Cremation are working with burial and cremation authorities, funeral director representatives and Regional Resilience Partnerships to ensure the sector has the information it requires to plan appropriately for the festive period. The Scottish Government will continue to work with the sector throughout the festive period to monitor the impact on availability of funerals, as has been the case since the beginning of the pandemic.

The opening hours and configuration of local registrar services remains the responsibility of local authorities. Opening times of registrar offices and availability to register a death remotely are being arranged locally for the festive period, while existing provision for out of hours registration continues to be in place in each local authority area.

Question reference: S5W-33671

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 10 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) meetings, virtual or otherwise, and (b) other electronic communications it has had with the British Pregnancy Advisory Service regarding abortion services in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S5F-04653

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 December 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 December 2020

To ask the First Minister how many staff are employed to answer calls to book COVID-19 tests in Scotland.

Question reference: S5O-04829

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 December 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 December 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether it has met its climate change targets that were set during session 3 of the Parliament.

Question reference: S5F-04620

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 November 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 December 2020

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government plans to mitigate the impact of any reduction in services due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives and mental wellbeing of disabled people.