Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-03599

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will proceed with its reported plans to downgrade the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at University Hospital Wishaw.

Question reference: S6O-03592

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken to consider the impact that Brexit has had on Scottish food and drink exports.

Question reference: S6O-03564

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to maximise value obtained from public sector procurement.

Scotland continues to use public procurement to achieve a vast range of positive economic, social and environmental outcomes making Scotland a better place to live, work and do business.

Latest available figures show that our £16 billion public procurement spend generated around £13.8 billion pounds of economic activity for Scotland and supported around 130,000 full time equivalent jobs.

Spend in Scotland alone was £8.9 billion and, where relevant details are known, 55% of this was with SMEs, and almost half was with businesses in the 60% most disadvantaged areas in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-27823

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether any of the files that were stolen in the recent reported cyber attack on NHS Dumfries and Galloway contained patient data that is normally held nationally.

Patient data is typically held on the IT infrastructure of the Health Board delivering, or having previously delivered, the individuals care. This can include data initially generated by other Health Boards or health and care organisations that is transferred to the NHS Dumfries & Galloway (e.g. referral letters) in order for them to deliver the best quality care.

Only data held on the NHS Dumfries and Galloway IT infrastructure was stolen during this cyber-attack.

Question reference: S6W-27932

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to retain the commitment to active travel spending by 2024-25, as outlined in the Bute House Agreement.

Since 2021, we have seen year on year increases confirming record breaking funding in Active Travel. However, the significant pressures on public finances, including the failure of the outgoing UK government to provide more capital funding for Scotland in its Spring budget, means that there are real challenges in progressing our ambitions to invest in infrastructure, particularly for my portfolio. Consequently, difficult decisions about how and where to invest our capital for transport projects had to be made and continue to be kept under review.

Nonetheless, the Active Travel budget for 2024-25 was confirmed as £220m, a 16% increase on 2023-24. While the Bute House Agreement came to an end in April 2024, the Scottish Government remains committed to delivering on our ambition to increase investment in and participation in walking, wheeling and cycling.

Question reference: S6W-27826

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported comments that “it is important to note that the incident remains contained to NHS Dumfries and Galloway and there have been no further incidents across NHS Scotland as a whole,” whether any information stolen in the cyber attack is contained to only NHS Dumfries and Galloway patients.

The patient data stolen during this incident was contained within the NHS D&G IT infrastructure. The vast majority of data related to people who are currently registered as NHS Dumfries and Galloway patients. However, some people currently registered as patients elsewhere will also have interacted with NHS Dumfries and Galloway in recent years, for example receiving treatment while travelling or on holiday, and it is possible that information relating to them may also have been stolen.

In addition, data controlled by National Records of Scotland was also stolen. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-27770 on 22 May 2024 for more information. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers .

Question reference: S6W-27825

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether any data that has reportedly been published on the dark web in the recent cyber attack on NHS Dumfries and Galloway contains any patient information, which would normally be held nationally, and, if so, what data was published.

Patient data is typically held on the IT infrastructure of the Health Board delivering, or having previously delivered, the individuals care. This can include data initially generated by other Health Boards or health and care organisations that is transferred to the NHS Dumfries & Galloway (e.g. referral letters) in order for them to deliver the best quality care.

Only data held on the NHS Dumfries and Galloway IT infrastructure was stolen during this cyber-attack.

Question reference: S6W-27957

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 12 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many people (a) in receipt of welfare benefits and (b) on low incomes have accessed the Digital Start Fund to date.

(a) The eligibility criteria for the Digital start fund required applicants to meet at least one of the following conditions:

? Unemployed

? In receipt of a low income benefit such as Universal Credit

? Employed on an income of £16,000 or less

? Experience two or more barriers or disadvantages as defined by Scottish Government’s European Structural and Investment Funds Participant Guidance .

SDS, who administered the fund, do not hold the data necessary to determine how many participants met each of these specific criteria.

(b) Over three years, the Digital Start Fund supported 468 individuals with 380 candidates completing training. Their employment status when starting the training is broken down as follows:

? Year One: unemployed individuals 55.7%; employed 28.7%

? Year Two:unemployed individuals 71.3%; employed 18.3%

? Year Three: unemployed individuals 50.9%, employed 35.3%

Question reference: S6W-27956

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 31 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of students studying computing science at Higher level in each of the last three years were female.

The SQA publish information on the number of entries to Higher subjects by male and female candidates on the attainment statistics pages of their website: Attainment Statistics - SQA

Based on this the percentage of entries to Higher computing science by female candidates in each year between 2021 and 2023 can be found in the following table.

Table: Percentage of entries to Higher computing science from female candidates, 2021 - 2023

	2021	2022	2023
Higher Computing Studies	17%	19%	19%

Question reference: S6W-27876

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 12 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when East Kilbride will have an all-day, four-train-per-hour "turn up and go" assisted travel service.

ScotRail’s passenger assist service provides assistance to those who need help when travelling on the ScotRail network. Passengers who require assistance when travelling can turn up and use the help point to request assistance. For those who want peace of mind assistance cab be booked in advance with one hour’s notice, which compares favourably with the 2 hours required by other GB Train Operating Companies.

Currently ScotRail operates a half hourly service on the East Kilbride route, with additional services operating at peak times which gives four trains per hour. ScotRail keeps its services under continued review to ensure its services meet passengers requirements as much as possible.

Chamber and committees