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-14387

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support children and young people transitioning to adult services for diabetes.

Question reference: S6W-14572

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 9 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether it plans to extend the contract for the MS Ambition beyond the current contract end date of 31 March 2023.

Question reference: S6W-14413

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to improve the timely inputting into relevant systems of the details of any patients with diabetes, across all levels of social deprivation, who have foot ulcers.

Question reference: S6W-14351

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 9 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many tribunals there are; how (a) much funding and (b) many staff each has in 2022-23, and in which year each was established.

There are three types of tribunals which operate in Scotland. Scottish tribunals which deal with devolved issues and have specific jurisdiction in Scotland (such as the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland) and tribunals which deal with reserved issues but have specific Scottish jurisdiction and structures (such as the Pensions Appeal Tribunal for Scotland), these are administered by the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service. Other tribunals exist which deal with reserved issues and have Great Britain wide structures administered by His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (such as the Employment Tribunal). The Scottish Government can only comment on those administered by the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service.

As at 1 February 2023, the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service administer the Scottish Tribunals (consisting of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland and the Upper Tribunal for Scotland), the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland, the Lands Tribunal for Scotland, and the Pensions Appeal Tribunal for Scotland. The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland is split into six Chambers.

The respective funding, staffing and year established for each of these tribunals is listed in the following table.

Tribunal		Funding*	Number of staff in post as of 1st February 2023	Year established
Created by Tribunals (Scotland) Act December 2014
Upper Tribunal for Scotland**		£7,413	0	December 2016
First-tier Tribunal for Scotland	Housing and Property Chamber	£4,157,686	61	December 2016
	Health and Education Chamber	£388,545	4	January 2018
	Social Security Chamber^	£3,361,006	26	November 2018
	General Regulatory Chamber †	-£6,096	5	January 2018
	Tax Chamber	£116,693	2	April 2018
	Local Taxation Chamber	£750,414	11	Commences April 2023
	- Council Tax Reduction Review Panel	£104,790	2	October 2013, functions transfer into the Local Taxation Chamber April 2023
Other Tribunals
Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland		£9,343,829	70	October 2005
Pensions Appeal Tribunal Scotland		£399,470	4	Present form since 1943 (in existence since 1919)
Lands Tribunal for Scotland"		£95,302	2	October 1970 (originally legislated 1949)
*Funding is for operational funding (direct running costs) and does not include overheads.
** Does not include judicial resource costs of £93,299 transferred to the Judicial Office for Scotland.
^staff posts and funding includes additional 11 staff to transfer in from His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service on 1st March 2023.
† Costs within the General Regulatory Chamber are recharged to local authorities.
" Does not include salaried tribunal members.

Question reference: S6W-14372

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of people with type 1 diabetes have been recorded as having a diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) episode, in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S6W-14451

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 9 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to any artwork that it owns, how many pieces are (a) on public display, (b) on private display and (c) in storage.

Most SG owned artwork is on display in Government buildings, with access limited to SG staff and contractors and accompanied visitors. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14450 on 9 February 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-14398

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of people with diabetes with an average blood glucose (sugar) level (HbA1c) greater than 75mmol/l have been recorded as having attended structured education, in each year since 2007.

Question reference: S6W-14465

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 9 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made to meet the 2030 target to widen fair access to Scotland’s universities.

This Government firmly believes that every child growing up in Scotland, regardless of their background, should have an equal chance of attending university and participating in higher education.

To date we have made progress on work to support fair access to higher education. The number of full-time first degree students entering university from the most deprived areas in Scotland is at a record high; latest Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) statistics show that 5,595 Scots entered university in the academic year 2021-22 (an increase of 80 students on the previous year). This is a 41% increase since the establishment of the Commission on Widening Access by this Government.

We have exceeded the Commission on Widening Access target to have 16% of full-time first degree entrants from the most deprived areas at university by 2021, with 16.5% of the 2021-22 cohort coming from the most deprived areas in Scotland. In his final report published on 31 May 2022, the previous Commissioner for Fair Access stated that Scotland continues to “set the pace in terms of fair access to higher education among the UK nations” and that it has been “an unambiguous success.”

We know we have more to do, however, and that is why we have recently appointed a new Commissioner for Fair Access, Professor John McKendrick. Professor McKendrick brings to the role a wealth of experience related to tackling poverty and inequality in Scotland, including work supporting children and young people in education. This appointment will help drive forward progress towards the 2030 target, and towards ensuring students from deprived areas receive opportunities to achieve their potential by having fair access to higher education.

Question reference: S6W-14406

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to improve linkages between diabetes and pregnancy clinical systems.

Question reference: S6W-14416

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what training and education on diabetes is available to all healthcare professionals, and what percentage of healthcare professionals have received that training, broken down by body.

This information is not held centrally. However, the Scottish Diabetes Education Advisory Group (SDEAG) has been working with undergraduate medical education partners in order to ensure that appropriate education on diabetes is included in the curriculum. The Inpatient Sub-Group of the Scottish Diabetes Group has also been working to improve the ‘Think, Check, Act’ training module hosted by Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

The Type 2 Prevention Framework has also provided opportunities for several professional groups to participate in continued professional development, including training on trauma informed care and the psychological impact of overweight and obesity on diabetes management.