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-17546

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 05 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has paid to private contractors for the purposes of public relations since 1 January 2022, broken down by (a) firm and (b) contracting department.

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-17675

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 what monitoring it puts in place for funding allocated to national parks and local authorities from its Edinburgh Process Fund.

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-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-18160

Asked by: Rona Mackay, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Angela Constance on 18 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide an update on the progress of the implementation of the recommendations from the Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issues in Relation to Policing.

I am pleased to announce the publication of the Scottish Government’s fifth Thematic Progress Report on implementation progress following Dame Elish Angiolini’s Final Report.

It shows that 58 of the non-legislative recommendations are now complete leaving only 10 still in progress. A further 2 recommendations will be kept under review and 2 are being progressed in other areas of Scottish Government. This marks the transition of focus from the non-legislative work to those recommendations that require legislation to implement.

These improvements are laying foundations to deliver further transformative change ensuring there are robust, clear and transparent mechanisms in place for investigating complaints or other issues of concern in relation to policing in Scotland.

I commend Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland for their dedication to this important work.

The report can be accessed here: http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781805257912

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-17794

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West 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, further to the answer to question S6W-16923 by Kevin Stewart on 19 April 2023, at which train stations does ScotRail charge for toilet use, and how much revenue has ScotRail received from charging for toilet use in each year since 2019.

Currently, there are charges in place for the use of toilet facilities at Inverness, Fort William, Aberdeen, and Glasgow Queen Street stations.

ScotRail advises that the revenue from each requested station toilet facilities since 2019 is as follows:

Fiscal Year Data

Inverness

Fort William

Aberdeen

Glasgow Queen Street

Total

1 April 2018-31 March 2019

£24,682

£21,705

£2,324

£91,500

£140,211

1 April 2019-31 March 2020

£34,016

£19,212

£11,399

£19,802

£84,428

1 April 2020-31 March 2021

£1,315

£213

£423

£1,952

1 April 2021-31 March 2022

£16

£3,628

£65,611

£69,255

1 April 2022-31 March 2023

£27,547

£8,035

£2,755

£84,861

£123,197

ScotRail advises that due to operational issues relating to the toilet facilities at Aberdeen Station between 1 st April 2020 and 31 st March 2022, revenue was not taken hence why no figure was provided.

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-17800

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 steps it is taking to ensure that everyone diagnosed with ovarian cancer has access to the best possible support.

The Scottish Government is currently working in partnership with Macmillan to improve the services offered to cancer patients, including those diagnosed with ovarian cancer, through the Transforming Cancer Care Programme (TCC).

This joint partnership with Macmillan is worth £18 million, and is the first of its kind in the UK. The programme looks to ensure that every cancer patient in Scotland has access to specialist key support workers, who can provide emotional, financial and practical support to those who need it most.

Further to this, the Single Point of Contact (SPoC) approach was introduced in the 2020 National Cancer Plan.

The SPoC ensures cancer patients have dedicated person-centred support that can discuss their specific circumstances. This will help ease any anxieties related to their care and treatment plans, and relay the support available to them and their families.