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-26029

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether the £237.5 million of Barnett consequential funding arising from the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget statement on 6 March 2024, as a result of the NHS productivity plan, will all be spent on the NHS in Scotland.

HM Treasury’s costing for the NHS productivity plan shows funding starting in 2025-26. Therefore no consequentials are expected in 2024-25 in relation to the plan, and the position is only expected to become clear at the next UK spending review.

The Health consequentials of £237 million for 2024-25 arising from the Chancellor’s Spring Statement are less than the £470 million in-year Health funding received for 2023-24 and less than is needed given the pressures faced.

While we are considering the outcome of the UK budget and what it means for NHS Scotland we are committed to passing on frontline health consequentials and have indeed gone further than consequentials in our investment in this budget.

Question reference: S6F-02918

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 March 2024

To ask the First Minister what urgent action is being taken to address long waits in A&E departments, in light of reports that over 7,300 patients waited for more than a day in 2023, with some waiting much longer.

Question reference: S6W-25805

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 11 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received a proposal for a 2023-24 pay offer from the Care Inspectorate, and, if so, when any such offer will be approved.

The Scottish Government has received the Care Inspectorate pay offer proposal for 2023-24. The Care Inspectorate has since made a pay award offer for financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 during week commencing 19 February 2024.

The Care Inspectorate’s recognised trade unions agreed to ballot their members on this offer. The results of the trade union ballots are expected in the second week of March. Should the offer be accepted, the Care Inspectorate intends to pay their staff the first element of the 2023-24 award in their March 2024 salaries.

Question reference: S6W-25804

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 11 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns that the Care Inspectorate has not yet made a formal pay offer to employees for the 2023-24 financial year.

I understand that there has been reported concerns regarding the pay deal offer from the Care Inspectorate. I can confirm that the Care Inspectorate made a pay award offer for financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 during week commencing 19 February 2024. The Care Inspectorate’s recognised trade unions agreed to ballot their members on this offer.

The results of the trade union ballots are expected in the second week of March. Should the offer be accepted, the Care Inspectorate intends to pay their staff the first element of the 2023-24 award in their March 2024 salaries.

Question reference: S6W-25806

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 11 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Care Inspectorate employees are reportedly still waiting to receive a 2023-24 pay offer, in light of employees of similar organisations, including Scottish Government civil servants, having already received pay offers for this financial year.

Question reference: S6W-24940

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the workforce review in oncology.

Question reference: S6W-24941

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the workforce review in oncology will be published.

Question reference: S6W-25007

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many GP practices currently provide an online booking system for patients.

The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2018 provide that:

A contractor must provide its registered patients with—

1. an online appointment service;

2. an online repeat prescription service; and

3. an online repeat prescription information service,

in a manner which is capable of being electronically integrated with the computer systems of the contractor’s practice and using appropriate systems authorised by the Health Board.

Health Boards are responsible for contracting with GP practices. The Scottish Government does not hold information about how many practices currently provide online booking systems.

Question reference: S6T-01788

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 February 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the reported recall of 150,000 women who were wrongly excluded from cervical cancer screening since 1997.

Question reference: S6W-24343

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how its Budget recognises the part that social care plays within Scotland’s communities as an investment in the overall health of the nation.

We have protected and prioritised additional investment into social care despite the extreme pressure the Scottish Government is under as a result of the ongoing impacts of Covid, Brexit and inflation, and UK Government spending decisions, this years Budget has managed to increase the social care and integration budget by over £1 billion compared to 2021-22, exceeding our commitment to increase funding for social care by 25% over the life of the Parliament.

Social care workers delivering direct care in commissioned services will see their pay increase to a minimum of £12 per hour from April 2024 thanks to an additional £230 million investment. This represents a 10.1% increase from the £10.90 minimum rate that was introduced in April 2023, and a 14.3% increase in the last two years.

We acknowledge the importance of social care as an investment in the health of the Scottish population, this is why we continue to work closely with Health and Social Care Partnerships to support people out of acute settings and back into the community or home as quickly as possible using a 'Home first' approach.