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: S6F-03333

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 09 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2024

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking in response to the reported rise in hospice care costs, including to ensure that employees in that sector have pay parity with NHS staff.

Question reference: S6F-03321

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6F-03322

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2024

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-29605

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 9 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it will next publish its Housing Statistics for Scotland Quarterly Update.

Question reference: S6W-29603

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 9 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when its Travelling Cabinet will next meet in the Highlands and Islands region.

Question reference: S6W-29456

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 02 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 9 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21297 by Emma Roddick on 25 September 2023, which of the recommendations that were made by the expert group to "measure, track and evaluate progress made in eradicating racism in Scotland' it has followed.

The Scottish Government is determined to play our part in eradicating racism, inequality and injustice – and in building a better, fairer world.

On the recommendation of the Anti-Racism Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racism Infrastructure (AIGG), a public procurement process has commenced to identify a host organisation for the Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland (AROS). The tender process closed on the 2nd September and tenders are currently being evaluated. The contract award is scheduled to take place at the end of October and the contract will commence in January 2025.

AROS will support the development of a detailed workplan to track and measure progress being made with the Scottish Government’s antiracism commitments, including relevant Key Performance Indicators. Working in partnership with partners, including third sector organisations and communities, AROS will develop robust governance and accountability mechanisms to ensure effective oversight of the workplan and strategic objectives that will drive anti-racism change.

Question reference: S6W-29465

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 9 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many fines it has issued in relation to fishing in restricted areas within Marine Protected Areas since 2020.

Since 2020 Marine Directorate have issued thirty Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) totalling £95,000 in relation to suspected fishing in restricted areas where the fishing method involved was prohibited. Of those thirty incidents, four were specifically within Marine Protected Areas which are protected by a Scottish Statutory Instrument implemented under powers provided by the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and/or the Inshore Fishing (Scotland) Act 1984.

Fines totalling £20,000 were issued for these four cases, one of which was paid and no further action taken. The remaining three cases, following non-payment, were subsequently reported to Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) for consideration of prosecution. Two of these cases were convicted in court and fined £2,000 and £5,000 respectively. The third case has recently been submitted to COPFS and has not as of yet proceeded to trial.

In addition to these four cases where Fixed Penalty Notices were issued by Marine Directorate, One further case was not offered an FPN and was referred directly to the Procurator Fiscal resulting in a conviction and fine of £2,075.

Question reference: S6W-29377

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 9 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much brokerage it expects NHS Borders to owe before it returns a financial balance.

NHS Borders are escalated to Level 3 of the NHS Support and Intervention Framework for finance. To date NHS Borders have £20m outstanding brokerage from years 2019-20 to 2022-23.

Scottish Government continue to work with NHS Borders to create a credible and realistic path to balance. This is an ongoing exercise due to ongoing pay negotiations, high inflation and increased demand for services, but the Board will be expected to repay all outstanding brokerage when it has reached financial sustainability.

Question reference: S6W-29260

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported failure to meet national standards of stroke care, as outlined in the most recent Scottish Stroke Improvement Plan annual report, and what its plan is to ensure that people who experience a stroke are able to get access to appropriate and evidence-based care to improve their outcomes.

The Scottish Stroke Care Standards are designed to drive effective service delivery and improve patient outcomes. Monitoring of performance against stroke standards through the Scottish Stroke Care Audit allows us to identify where challenges are being faced in the delivery of high-quality stroke care and implement quality improvements.

We recognise the standards are challenging and continue to expect Health Boards to identify aspects of their stroke services which do not meet these standards and to work to improve their standards of care locally.

We continually assess the delivery of evidence-based stroke care, as recommended in the Progressive Stroke Pathway, via the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme Board review process. This allows for an evaluation of Board performance, identification of areas of challenge and the formulation of local action plans to improve the delivery of stroke care.

Question reference: S6W-29242

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to NHS boards regarding the positioning of pharmacies that offer supervised methadone supply.