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-17721

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review the sensitivity of the bowel cancer testing programme to enable an increase in sensitivity from a level of 80 to 20.

The Scottish Government, along with the other UK nations, takes advice on whether or not to introduce any new screening programmes from the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent expert advisory group.

Any changes to the sensitivity threshold the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme (SBSP) currently uses would come from a review of the evidence-base and subsequent recommendations from the UK NSC. These recommendations would also be considered by the Scottish Screening Committee.

Question reference: S6W-17683

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government on what specific date it set out the scope and rationale to the UK Government regarding the proposed exclusion from the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 for the Deposit Return Scheme.

I refer the member to Scottish Government’s publication on 28 February 2023 of the timeline and process for securing an Internal Market Act exclusion for the Deposit Return Scheme: https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/correspondence/2023/02/internal-market-act-correspondence/documents/timeline-and-process-for-securing-an-internal-market-act-exclusion-for-drs/timeline-and-process-for-securing-an-internal-market-act-exclusion-for-drs/govscot%3Adocument/DRS%2BTimeline%2Band%2BProcess.pdf

Question reference: S6W-17679

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will continue to distribute funding to (a) national parks and (b) local authorities, as part of its Edinburgh Process Fund, in 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-17682

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the letter that it indicated that it would send to the UK Government to provide an update on the Deposit Return Scheme, as referenced by the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity in her statement to the Parliament on 20 April 2023.

Question reference: S6W-17525

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what updates it has received from Circularity Scotland regarding whether a standardised invoicing system or multiple invoice systems are being developed for the Deposit Return Scheme.

Circularity Scotland is developing and constructing its administration system that will support the effective operation of the scheme when it launches on 1 March 2024. As Circularity Scotland is a private company, operational matters are a matter for them and it would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to intervene in such commercial arrangements. We continue to work closely with all relevant partners and with businesses to help support a successful launch of the scheme.

Question reference: S6W-17898

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-17358 by Michael Matheson on 4 May 2023, by which date the Digital Prescribing and Dispensing Pathways programme will be rolled out across all NHS boards.

Question reference: S6W-17792

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that the forthcoming 10-year cancer strategy improves survival and outcomes for the less survivable forms of cancer, such as liver cancer.

Our ambitious 10-year cancer strategy, due to be published in early summer, will be under-pinned by action plans which will evolve with the changing cancer landscape. The strategy will take a comprehensive approach to improving patient pathways from prevention and diagnosis through to treatment and post-treatment care.

It will encompass a new earlier cancer diagnosis vision for Scotland and will continue to focus on those cancer types that are the largest burden and have poorer survival, in particular the less survivable cancers, including liver cancer.

Question reference: S6W-17821

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to Phase 1 of ScotRail's procurement programme, what progress has been made towards procuring a new fleet of suburban trains to enter passenger service between 2027 and 2030.

Question reference: S6W-17802

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the survival rate for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer has been in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-17058

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding any impact on Scotland of the reported concerns about the potential use of Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanisms by multinational corporations to sue the UK Government for introducing policies that could threaten their profits.

As with the development of all new trade arrangements, the Scottish Government has sought to engage with the UK Government at Ministerial and official level throughout the negotiation process for accession to the CPTPP to ensure that Scottish interests are identified and taken into account. Most recently, I wrote to the UK Government Minister of State for International Trade, Nigel Huddleston MP, following his confirmation that the UK Government had secured Agreement in Principle to accede to CPTPP. In this correspondence I raised a number of concerns including those around Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).

The Scottish Government’s position, as set out in the Vision for Trade, is that no future Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system should prevent Scotland (and the rest of the UK) from making laws on health, social, environmental and economic matters. Any future ISDS system should be transparent, based on judicial procedures, and permit meaningful representations by all parties with a potential stake in the matter.

We will continue to call on the UK Government to recognise widespread concerns around ISDS, actively consider alternative models of dispute resolution, and to contribute to the development of international best practice.