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-34910

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will report on the impact of the Respiratory Care Action Plan at the end of the strategy’s life span.

Question reference: S6W-34916

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards its commitment in the Respiratory Care Action Plan to work in partnership with key stakeholders including the third sector and the Digital Health and Care Institute (DHI) to ensure that people with respiratory conditions have access to tools, resources and information that support them to manage their own condition.

We continue to support a digital first, but not digital only approach across many of our respiratory programmes. Recommendations within the pulmonary rehab work have suggested widening access to online self-management tools and this is something we are actively considering.

NHS Inform provides information about respiratory conditions and other long-term conditions. The service offers information, advice and self-management tools on how to live well with their condition as well as including links to additional support and information provided by third sector partners.

Our updated Quality Prescribing Guide for Improvement keeps the person with respiratory conditions at the centre of their treatment and disease management and offers practical advice and options for tailoring care to the needs and preferences of individuals. A core component of this has been to create user friendly digital tools for both people living with lung conditions and healthcare professionals.

Question reference: S6W-34921

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it estimates NHS Scotland has spent each year on respiratory medicine, including diagnosis, treatment and care, since the publication of the Respiratory Care Action Plan.

The information requested is complex and not held centrally.

All information on prescribed and dispensed items are published and categorised by the British National Formulary chapter, in both monthly open data files and as part of the annual Dispenser Payments and Prescription Cost Analysis which was last released on 8 October 2024. This can be accessed on the Public Health Scotland website at Dispenser payments and prescription cost analysis - Financial year 2023 to 2024 - Dispenser payments and prescription cost analysis - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-34915

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards its commitment in the Respiratory Care Action Plan to work with people living with respiratory conditions to better understand the barriers to accessing appropriate mental health support.

We understand that the provision of tailored mental health support remains challenging in some areas of respiratory care. We continue to work closely with health psychologists and other key stakeholders to determine how better support can be provided to people living with respiratory and other long-term conditions.

We have invested £51 million in our Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults since 2021, with approximately 3300 grants made to local projects across Scotland in the first two years alone.

A further £15 million was announced on 25 March 2024 for Fourth year of the Fund which means the Scottish Government has made £66 million available since 2021, the funding supports people facing socio-economic disadvantage, people- living with a long-term health condition or disability, older people and people disadvantaged by geographical location.

We also continue to provide a range of resources and raise awareness of how to support mental wellbeing through expanding the range of practical mental wellbeing resources available on our Mind to Mind, Parent Club and Young Scots mental wellbeing websites to complement other supports available in person and by phone.

Question reference: S6W-34974

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided to tackle marine litter in each of the last five years, and what funding is planned in the draft Budget 2025-26.

Since 2021 the Scottish Government has made funding available to projects relevant to the issue of marine litter through Marine Fund Scotland Marine and fisheries grants - gov.scot Information on the funding provided each year for such projects is publicly available via Marine Fund Scotland: grants awarded - gov.scot.

Funding to be available in the 2025-26 financial year through the fund has not yet been announced.

Question reference: S6W-34975

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will make marine litter that is collected by communities cleaning up shorelines exempt from Scottish Landfill Tax.

The Scottish Landfill Tax is a cornerstone of Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan, encouraging the prevention, reuse and recycling of waste and helping keep valuable resources circulating in the Scottish economy. Exemptions are available in several circumstances including when clearing up illegally or improperly deposited material.

The Scottish Landfill Tax (Exemption Certificates) Order 2015 states that exemption certificates are available to the following bodies/persons:

waste regulators, in the case of Scotland this is SEPA;
waste collection authorities, such as a local government council or local authority; or
any other body or person, insofar as the body or person exercises waste removal powers under any other enactment.

Community groups can work with any of these eligible bodies to apply for an exemption certificate for collected marine litter provided they:

exhaust all avenues to identify and retrieve costs from the responsible person who made the original unauthorised disposal; and
are satisfied that there are no practical alternatives to landfill for the material.

The details of the application can be provided by the community group, as per the requirements detailed on the Revenue Scotland website, and emailed to Revenue Scotland by a partnered eligible body.

Question reference: S6W-34973

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle marine litter in (a) Scotland and (b) Loch Long, Arrochar.

The Scottish Government is tackling marine litter with actions detailed in our Marine Litter Strategy, which aims to address the amount of litter entering the marine environment, to achieve ecological, economic and social benefits. Our Strategy and action plan was refreshed in September 2022 and focuses on the most problematic types of marine litter including fishing and aquaculture gear, sewage-related debris, and plastic pellets. The Strategy drives forward our work and co-ordinates the efforts of our stakeholders and partners, working at a national and international level to help tackle this global problem.

At a Scotland-wide level, our many actions to prevent litter include: improving the management of end-of-life fishing and aquaculture gear to reduce litter and improve recycling rates, contributing to our circular economy; working across the four nations to ban the sale of wet wipes containing plastic; and developing international solutions to prevent spills of plastic pellets, which can be found on beaches and risk the health of marine wildlife. Litter removal actions include: funding the KIMO Fishing for Litter scheme, to assist the correct disposal of litter caught in fishing nets; and funding the Keep Scotland Beautiful Upstream Battle project, removing litter along rivers.

At a regional level such as Loch Long, we continue to work with key partners relating to the River Clyde catchment and west coast locations including Arrochar. The Upstream Battle project enables communities, businesses, and schools on the River Clyde to develop local solutions to reduce littering, and also support its clean-up. Litter is reduced and intercepted before it reaches the sea, and citizen science outputs will inform further riverine litter policy. We are engaging with Glasgow City Council to consider more options to increase litter removal from the River Clyde which we know is a major source of litter at Loch Long.

Question reference: S6O-04349

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for Dumbarton Castle.

Question reference: S6T-02340

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 17 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking, in light of reports by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine that the number of people waiting in A&E for over 12 hours is almost 100 times higher than in 2011.

Question reference: S6W-34295

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 10 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to consult with charities and healthcare providers (a) as part of any evaluation of the current cancer strategy for children and young people and (b) on the development of any future dedicated cancer strategy for children and young people.

The implementation and evaluation of the Collaborative and Compassionate Cancer Care The Cancer Strategy for Children and Young People in Scotland 2021–2026 is managed by the Managed Service Network for Children and Young People with Cancer (MSN CYPC).

The MSN CYPC works collaboratively with a range of stakeholders in the delivery of children and young people’s cancer services across Scotland. This approach will continue in informing any future national cancer strategy, beyond 2026.