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-26396

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many children and young people have been referred to gender identity services in each year since 2013.

The Sandyford Young People’s Gender Service, based in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, is the only gender identity clinic in Scotland providing care to those aged under 17 years. This service offers a range of support to young people and their families and accepts referrals from across Scotland.

The information requested is not held centrally. This is a matter for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde as the responsible Health Board.

Question reference: S6W-26577

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent administrative support posts provide support to consultants across the NHS.

The information requested on how many full-time equivalent administrative support posts provide support to consultants across the NHS is not centrally available.

Since Sept 2007, administrative services have increased by 21.5% or by 5,316.9 WTE, from 24,737.2 WTE as at Sept 2007 to 30,054.1 WTE as at Dec 2023.

Support to clinical staff, up 45.4% since Sept 2007 to 9,600.5 WTE as at Dec 2023.

Further Information on the administrative services workforce, can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at: 05 March 2024 Workforce | Turas Data Intelligence (nhs.scot)

Question reference: S6W-26574

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how often the call wait time for the NHS 24 111 service has been over one hour long in the last year.

Question reference: S6W-26556

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the compulsory microchipping of pet cats.

The Scottish Government’s Code of Practice for the Welfare of Cats recommends that all cat owners should consider neutering and microchipping their pets as the best way of being reunited with their rightful owners, should they be separated.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission’s (SAWC) Responsible Cat Ownership Working Group is currently considering responsible cat ownership including microchipping and we will carefully consider the SAWC’s report and its recommendations once published before taking further action.

Question reference: S6W-26576

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how many phone calls are made to the NHS 24 111 service because patients have been unable to secure an appointment with their own GP.

Question reference: S6W-26531

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to meet the Climate Change Committee’s reported recommendation that the annual rate of transport emissions reduction will need to be almost four times higher from 2021-30 than it was from 2012-21, in order to meet the sector’s contribution to the Scottish Government’s 2020 Climate Change Plan update.

The Scottish Government is grateful for the latest advice from the Climate Change Committee. We have always been clear that meeting the legislated 2030 target – agreed by Parliament on a cross party basis - will be extremely challenging, and may not be feasible. Scotland is already half way to net zero and continues to decarbonise faster than the UK average.

On the 18th of April, Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy, outlined plans for a package to accelerate our actions to achieve net zero by 2045, which include a timeline for implementing demand management, to help us achieve our much needed target to reduce car usage.

We will carefully consider the report’s recommendations and provide a Scottish Government response in due course.

Question reference: S6W-26209

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 25 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many cancer nurses have been employed in each year since 2011-12, broken down by NHS board area.

Question reference: S6W-26398

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the discussions and scoping by NHS National Services Scotland and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to consider current and future national provision of gender identity services will conclude.

The Scottish Government has commissioned NHS National Services Scotland to work with a wide range of clinical and other stakeholders to consider how best to meet the needs of the population in terms of young people’s gender healthcare services for NHS Scotland. This work is ongoing, and aims to define the scope of a specialist service in Scotland.

The Scottish Government anticipates that an outline service specification based on this work will be presented to NHS Strategic Planning Board for Scotland for consideration later this year.

Question reference: S6W-26630

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether carbon impact is a material consideration when selecting contractors to carry out restoration work funded through Peatland ACTION.

All restoration work funded through Peatland ACTION is subject to Sustainable Procurement Duty outlined in Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 . Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (legislation.gov.uk)

Operational decisions on procuring contractors to carry out restoration work are made by respective Peatland ACTION delivery partners.

For further information on their selection criteria please contact NatureScot, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Forestry and Land Scotland, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority or Scottish Water.

Question reference: S6W-26549

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will explore options to address the reported rise in van traffic, which "has risen faster than that of any other vehicle type in the past 20 years", in light of the Climate Change Committee’s recommendation in its 2023 Report to Parliament.

The Scottish Government is grateful for the latest advice from the Climate Change Committee and remains fully committed to delivering net zero by 2045. As published alongside the statement to the Chamber on the Climate Change Bill, we will develop measures to accelerate the switch from ICE to zero emission vans and other vehicles in order to help reduce ICE van kms, with the intention of achieving early progress with the largest companies while ensuring appropriate support mechanisms for smaller businesses and independent traders.

We will carefully consider the report’s recommendations in relation to van traffic and provide a response in due course.