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-11064

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 3 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, following the reported cancellation of a planned trip by the First Minister to the UN General Assembly taking place from 20 to 26 September 2022 in New York, whether another minister is attending in the First Minister’s place, and, if so, which minister.

Question reference: S6W-11063

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 3 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what overseas visits are planned by the First Minister for the remainder of 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-11015

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will direct the Water Industry Commission for Scotland to only take regulatory actions that are compatible with Scottish Water being able to deliver levels of water charges that are acceptable to Scottish Ministers at a time of high inflation.

Question reference: S6W-11014

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider giving Scottish Water additional functions to (a) consult Consumer Scotland and have specific regard to its views on the affordability of water charges in advance of proposing a scheme of charges in any given year prior to submitting its annual scheme of charges to the Water Industry Commission and (b) advise Scottish Ministers of its considerations in this regard and publish them.

Consumer Scotland already has a statutory role and actively engages in the scrutiny arrangements underpinning the delivery of Scottish Water’s investment programme to ensure that Ministers’ objectives are being delivered. As a member of key strategic stakeholder groups Consumer Scotland advocates on behalf of customers on key industry policy issues, including on questions of affordability. Scottish Water’s Board must consider questions of affordability in finalising its Scheme of Charges; there are currently no plans to give Scottish Water additional functions in relation to charge setting.

Question reference: S6W-11010

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has issued specific policy requirements or explicit directions to the Water Industry Commission or Scottish Water to statutorily require the Commission to set, and Scottish Water to raise, a specific minimum amount of funds from charges during the 2021-27 regulatory period.

Question reference: S6W-11009

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will take action to require the Water Industry Commission for Scotland to (a) have regard to the affordability by householders and businesses of any water charges scheme that Scottish Water proposes, (b) consult on and publish the factors that will be considered relevant to judging affordability and (c) seek the agreement of Consumer Scotland on any affordability considerations to be applied.

The regulatory framework for the Water Industry requires the Scottish Ministers to issue to Scottish Water and the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) a statement of policy regarding Scottish Water’s charges under a charges scheme in respect of each regulatory period, and a parallel statement setting out Ministers’ Objectives. Following that, the WICS deliver a Final Determination setting out the level of finance required to allow Scottish Water to meet those Objectives. In line with Ministerial Directions, Scottish Water’s board are bound to consider matters of affordability and will take those into account in setting charge levels. WICS has no power to require Scottish Water to raise a minimum amount of revenue or to set minimum levels of charges

Question reference: S6W-10530

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 1,500 new clinical and non-clinical staff for National Treatment Centres, as committed to in the NHS recovery plan, have been recruited to date.

The Scottish Government is committed to the recruitment of a minimum of 1,500 additional staff to support the operation of Scotland’s National Treatment Centres (NTCs) and is supporting a range of activity to achieve this.

The recruitment data we are currently collating is management information and not suitable for publication. However, we are committed to exploring how this data can be published at a future date following with the opening of Centres in Fife and Forth Valley in early 2023.

Question reference: S6W-10532

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2022

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) collects and analyses data relating to the provision of further and higher education in Scotland. Table 1 below highlights data from SFC showing both the recommended and actual intakes to pre-registration nursing and midwifery programmes, broken down by year from 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22. Nursing and Midwifery at the Open University in Scotland (OUiS) were funded through the SFC for the first time in 2021-22. As such figures for the SFC Early Statistics Collection are only available in 2021-22 and have been provided separately in Table 2.

Table 1

Academic Year	Intake Target (FTE)	Actual Intake (FTE)	Difference (FTE)
2019-20	3,913	3,873.8	-132.2
2020-21	4,104	4,576.3	370.3
2021-22	4,309	4,410.5	87.5

Table 2

Academic Year	Intake Target	Actual Intake	Difference
2019-20	93
2020-21	102
2021-22	110	96.0	-14.0

Question reference: S6W-10527

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many Early Cancer Diagnosis Centres have been opened to date, and how many new medical and nursing staff have been recruited to work in these centres.

Three Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services (RCDS) – formerly known as Early Cancer Diagnostic Centres (ECDC) – have been opened in NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Dumfries and Galloway and NHS Fife. An interim report on the rollout of RCDC's is expected shortly and are actively considering further rollout of Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services.

All Boards have recruited both medical and non-medical staff to manage the new referral pathway for patients with non-specific symptoms, including navigators who support patients from the point of referral.

Recruitment for clinical services is the responsibility of individual Boards and it is therefore for them to provide specific details.

Question reference: S6W-10529

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the remaining Early Cancer Diagnosis Centres will be opened, and how many additional medical and nursing staff will be employed in each of these locations.

The University of Strathclyde has been commissioned to undertake critical evaluation of early adopter sites to inform wider roll-out, ensuring learnings from the first three Services are embedded, working towards equitable access across NHS Scotland, as set out in the NHS Recovery Plan.

In the meantime, officials are working with Boards to open additional early adopter sites.

Recruitment will be undertaken by the host Board, and will be dependent on their locally agreed pathway and resourcing requirements.