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-31414

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the evidence in the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee report, Remote and Rural Healthcare Inquiry, how many people training in allied health professional roles it estimates have been required to move out of rural and remote areas to complete their training, in each year since 2021.

Question reference: S6W-31416

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19806 by Michael Matheson on 31 July 2023, whether it will provide an update on how many GPs have been recruited by NHS (a) Highland, (b) Western Isles, (c) Orkney, (d) Shetland and (e) Grampian through the Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM) programme in the 2024 recruitment round, and how many of them remain in post.

The first cohort of 52 ScotGEM students graduated in summer 2022 after completing the four year course. Of these, 45 undertook Foundation training in Scotland with 42 completing their required foundation year 2 (FY2) in August 2024; a small number opted to go less than full time. Of those 42 individuals, 10 have chosen GP training and have taken up GPST 1 posts in Scotland, with two of these in the North which contains the areas denoted by the question, as follows:

a) Highland - 2 trainees

b) Western Isle – 0 trainees

c) Orkney – 0 trainees

d) Shetland – 0 trainees

e) Grampian – 0 trainees

Question reference: S6W-31415

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendations in the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee report, Remote and Rural Healthcare Inquiry, what steps it will take to ensure that people training in allied health professional roles within rural and remote settings are able to remain in their place of work to complete their training.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with partners including Higher Education Institutions, Health Boards, Skills Development Scotland, and the Scottish Funding Council on skills development, employability and widening access to NHS Scotland careers. As part of this work part time, distance learning and earn as you learn models of education, which may benefit rural and island areas, are currently being explored by the Allied Health Professions (AHP) advisory group that oversees the implementation of the AHP Education and Workforce Policy Review recommendations.

The Scottish Government, in collaboration with the Centre for Workforce Supply and the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care is developing a model of sustained ongoing direct support for employers across health, social care, social work and children’s services in rural and island areas to overcome barriers to recruitment and retention The direct support model will consist of three key elements including a Rural and Island Recruitment Forum, a Living Library and a Recruitment Toolkit.

Question reference: S6W-31429

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the evidence in the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee report, Remote and Rural Healthcare Inquiry, what its response is to the statement that the current GP contract is “impossible for remote and rural practices to deliver and was not geared towards supporting the delivery of an independent contractor model in a remote and rural context”.

The 2018 GP contract included a programme of service redesign to ensure that arrangements for GP services better met the needs of the whole system and the needs of communities; it makes no new requirements of remote and rural GP practices. The 2018 GP contract is intended to reduce current risks to practice stability and sustainability by addressing some of the key risk factors relating to rising workload, premises and employment of staff. This in turn intended to make the partnership model more attractive to newer generations of GPs.

The Scottish Government established the Remote & Rural Working Group chaired by Professor Sir Lewis Ritchie in response to the concerns of rural GPs about the 2018 contract. The group produced the Shaping the Future Together report in January 2020 and various actions were undertaken as a result.

Question reference: S6W-31391

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 28 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government on which meeting dates its representatives (a) have and (b) have not attended meetings of the Digital Economy Skills Group.

Question reference: S6O-04050

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jackson Carlaw (on behalf of the SPCB) on 28 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what consideration has been given to reviewing its parental leave policies.

In accordance with the Reimbursement of Members’ Expenses Scheme the SPCB is responsible for setting and maintaining minimum terms and conditions for the employment of staff by MSPs and for the terms and conditions of parliamentary service staff. I can confirm that the SPCB plans to review the terms and conditions of staff employed by MSPs early in the New Year. The SPCB regularly benchmarks its terms and conditions with other employers to ensure that they continue to support the objective of attracting and retaining staff.

Question reference: S6O-04074

Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it will ensure that all appropriate roads have a safer speed limit of 20mph by 2025.

Question reference: S6O-04077

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to update planning guidance for battery energy storage systems.

Question reference: S6O-04078

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve rail services for passengers in the Mid Scotland and Fife region.

Question reference: S6O-04075

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to maintain and grow supported businesses.

Parliament dissolved ahead of election

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