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-24737

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to replace the vessels that currently serve the Gourock to (a) Dunoon and (b) Kilcreggan ferry route, and, if so, whether it will provide details of this.

Ministers are very clear about the importance of supporting ferry services, including those that link Gourock, Dunoon and Kilcreggan.

The Gourock Dunoon Kilcreggan Infrastructure and Vessels Programme is complex and work is underway to develop resilient vessel and port design options. This work is linked to the wider Islands Connectivity Plan, which will set out a long-term investment programme for vessels and ports across our ferry network. Any investment in new vessels and infrastructure will be subject to consideration of a business case considering value for money and affordability.

Question reference: S6W-24776

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23731 by Fiona Hyslop on 4 January 2024, how many members of staff in the subsidy control team will work on exploring the case for the direct award of the CHFS3 contract to CalMac in the period up to 31 August 2024.

Question reference: S6W-24596

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 January 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what time-sensitive targets it has for bringing waiting times for any NHS service into line with relevant standards.

Waiting times for planned care services is one of many metrics that contributes to the monitoring of performance and effectiveness across NHSScotland.

There have been several changes to waiting time targets and standards over the last 30 years. The Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011 established a 12 week Treatment Time Guarantee (TTG) written into legislation for eligible patients who are due to receive planned inpatient or day case treatment from 1 October 2012. The Act states that eligible patients must start to receive that treatment within 12 weeks (84 days) of the treatment being agreed. This guarantee is based on completed waits where a patient is removed from the list after being admitted for treatment.

To support the above guarantee, from 31 March 2010 no patient should wait longer than 12 weeks for a new outpatient appointment at a consultant-led clinic. More information on this can be found on the Public Health Scotland website section on waiting times .

More recently, in July 2022 new targets were set out for NHSScotland to address the impact of the pandemic on long waiting times for planned care. Public Health Scotland publish progress against these targets quarterly: Stage of treatment waiting times - Inpatients, day cases and new outpatients quarter ending 30 September 2023 - NHS waiting times - stage of treatment - Publications - Public Health Scotland

Question reference: S6W-24672

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to equip ambulance crews with a video link to hospitals.

Question reference: S6W-24779

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23728 by Fiona Hyslop on 8 January 2024, whether it will set out details of the re-profiling of the budget for the small vessel replacement programme from 2023-24 to 2027-28, and whether it can confirm if this accounts for any capital expenditure required to upgrade shoreside refuelling facilities.

Question reference: S6W-24775

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23734 by Fiona Hyslop on 4 January 2024, whether the “external specialist technical, legal and financial advisors” worked on the design of the consultation document for the next Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract, which was published on 15 December 2023.

Question reference: S6W-24772

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when its first meeting with representatives of the trade unions to discuss a potential Teckal-compliant direct award of the CHFS3 public ferry contract is due to take place.

Question reference: S6W-24769

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23732 by Fiona Hyslop on 4 January 2024, when the last such discussion took place between Transport Scotland and the Department for Transport, and what information it can provide on who represented the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-24692

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 January 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to ensure that Scotland is fully prepared for any potential future pandemic.

We are working to ensure lessons identified from our policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic are put in place and that policy across government is better able to respond to the next pandemic. This includes clear responsibilities for preparedness and response; to include NHS resilience, Scottish Resilience (through SGORR), and cross-Scottish Government policy consideration of our existing plans, drawing on learnings including the UK Chief Medical Officers Technical report on the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK and Public Health Scotland’s National Incident Management Team reporting.

We are working with the UK Government and other administrations to strengthen the capabilities and countermeasures required to address future pandemics, including retaining stockpiles of PPE and the purchase of vaccines and medicines. We have established a Standing Committee on Pandemic Preparedness which provided interim recommendations on future pandemic preparedness in August 2022. We anticipate that the Standing Committee on Pandemic Preparedness will provide its final report in the summer 2024 for consideration.

We are committed to responding to both the UK and Scottish Covid-19 inquiries, as learning lessons from the pandemic is vital to prepare for the future.

Question reference: S6O-03080

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted an analysis of the potential impact that its 2024-25 Budget will have on primary care services.