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-14049

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates the Scottish Prison Service will publish its revised mental health strategy for people in custody.

Question reference: S6W-14055

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether any new staff will be recruited in 2023 to support the delivery of climate change initiatives, and, if so, at what grades, and in what numbers.

Question reference: S6W-14051

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of capacity at prison facilities for the purpose of relocating HMP and YOI Cornton Vale prisoners during the interim period between the prison’s closure and HMP and YOI Stirling’s opening.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS continually monitor both the prison population and the number of available spaces for all those in our care. The current women’s estate, excluding HMP & YOI Cornton Vale provides 349 single room spaces as follows:

HMP Edinburgh 92
HMP & YOI Polmont 117
HMP & YOI Grampian 48
HMP Greenock 52
The Lilias Centre 24
The Bella Centre 16

The current average number of Women in SPS care is 282.

Question reference: S6W-14076

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) Police Scotland vehicles have been involved in car accidents and road traffic collisions and (b) officers have required hospitalisation as a result in each year since 2013.

Question reference: S6W-13982

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to provide 24-hour digital access to health and social care services through asynchronous communication with patients.

We are currently developing a variety of asynchronous communication pathways across health and care in Scotland. Digital health and care developments provide a form of asynchronous communication including the Remote Health Pathways Programme (including the use of Connect Me), My Diabetes My Way, Renal Patient View, Dynamic Scot and vCreate Neuro. Email can also be used in a range of different ways to facilitate asynchronous communication with patients and, depending on local priorities and circumstances, individual Health Boards and local providers of health services continue to implement asynchronous appointments.

The forthcoming Digital Front Door will also help people to conduct more health and care transactions online. Over time people will be able to self-manage their conditions and communicate with their health and care providers through the application.

Question reference: S6W-13941

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has ceased publication of monthly reports on its expenditure over £25,000, since the last publication date of December 2021.

Question reference: S6W-13935

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many psychiatrists are currently in specialist training to work with children and young people.

Question reference: S6W-14081

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what economic support it will make available to areas that were not successful in their bid for a green freeport, including in relation to the Clyde area bid, and what discussions it has had (a) with the UK Government and (b) specifically in relation to the Clyde area bid, with Inverclyde Council on this matter.

The Scottish Government and the UK Government are working together to provide feedback to all those who submitted Green Freeport bids. That process is under way. In fact officials are meeting members of the Clyde Green Freeport bidding coalition today. Officials from both governments also stand ready to work with the unsuccessful bidding coalitions to consider whether and how it might be possible to build on aspects of their plans, outside the Green Freeports programme, to deliver jobs and growth in their respective regions.

Question reference: S6W-14097

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Digital Health and Care Strategy, how it has increased access to evidence-based digital mental health treatments, products and services.

We have significantly increased access to digital mental health treatments, products and services since the first cCBT treatment was rolled out in 2017. We now have 27 different computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) treatments available across all NHS Boards. In 2022 we launched Mind to Mind, a wellbeing site with short videos from advice from clinicians and people with lived experience of mental health services and links to support services. The majority of appointments using Near Me, the video conferencing service available across NHS Scotland, are for mental health and offer people access to support if they are unable or prefer not to attend in-person services.

This increase in cCBT treatments has been gradual, with products being piloted with a small number of Boards before national rollout. From 1 treatment in 2017 this increased to 12 in 2020 to reflect higher demand for digital support during lockdown. This increased to 21 treatments in 2021 including two new products that could be accessed by anyone in Scotland via a link, rather than requiring a referral from a GP or mental health professional. We continue to explore more options around self-referral and the role cCBT treatments play in offering mental health support that is accessible at any time.

Question reference: S6W-14056

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether any new staff will be recruited in 2023 to support the delivery of the Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, and, if so, at what grades, and in what numbers.