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-02596

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2023

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reports that some young people are leaving school struggling to read.

Question reference: S6F-02575

Asked by: Anas Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-02574

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2023

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6F-02577

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2023

To ask the First Minister when the Scottish Government will publish the results of the A96 Corridor Review.

Question reference: S6W-22850

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to make BSL a core subject in primary schools.

Modern Languages is one of the eight core curricular areas within Curriculum for Excellence, and British Sign Language (BSL) is one of the languages that can be provided within a school’s language offer to their pupils. While it is the responsibility of local authorities and schools to choose the specific languages covered within their language curriculum, the Scottish Government is taking a range of steps to promote and support BSL learning.

Since 2013, Scottish Government has provided more than £50 million in funding to local authorities and partners to support the teaching of additional languages in schools. For example, in relation to BSL specifically, a digital resource pack to support the delivery of BSL learning inschools was developed by Highland Council and was adopted by many local authorities. In addition, the Scottish Government funding to the University of Strathclyde and the Scottish National Centre for Languages supported a programme of online BSL lessons for primary pupils.

Surveys of local authorities asking which languages are offered by their schools showed that the number of primary schools offering BSL has more than tripled between 2019 and 2021.

Question reference: S6W-23020

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22357 by Gillian Martin on 2 November 2023, whether it will provide a breakdown of how the funding will be allocated.

Our recent announcement of up to £500 million in commercial and grant investment will support market certainty, helping to create a highly productive, competitive economy, providing thousands of new jobs, embedding innovation and boosting skills. We are working closely with our partners in the Enterprise Agencies and the Scottish National Investment Bank to develop an approach that will allow us to respond at pace to market needs.

Decisions on spending for 2024-25 and future years are subject to the outcome of the Scottish Budget process and associated approval by the Scottish Parliament.

Question reference: S6W-22971

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the launch of Pancreatic Cancer UK’s report, Faster. Fairer. Funded., what assessment it has made of the merits of implementing an optimal care pathway for pancreatic cancer.

The Scottish Government awarded the Scottish HepatoPancreatoBiliary Network funding of £653,000 over two years to redesign the pancreatic and liver cancer pathways. The Pathway Improvement Project is now live across all health boards.

This pilot is the first of its kind across the UK. It aims to provide a nationally more efficient, standardised patient centred pathway for cancer patients, with earlier diagnosis, referral and management decisions following a Realistic Medicine approach.

The funding comes to an end in March 2024 and an evaluation of the pilot’s achievements against these aims will be completed to inform decisions about future funding.

Through the Detect Cancer Earlier (DCE) Programme, the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) continue to design and support the implementation of optimal cancer diagnostic pathways. As reflected in the Cancer Strategy, lung, head and neck and colorectal cancer have been identified as the first tranche, following an extensive evidence review with clinical experts. Once developed, this exercise will be repeated to determine the next optimal cancer pathways to be developed for NHS Scotland.

In the meantime, work continues to establish Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services (RCDS) across NHS Scotland – interim evaluation shows that HPB is one of the most common cancers being diagnosed through the new fast-track diagnostic pathways. There are currently five RCDSs in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-22776

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22060 by Jenny Gilruth on 6 November 2023, whether it has measured the impact and outcomes of the 2016 Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy prior to considering revising it; if so, how it measured this, and where the results of any measurements have been published, and, if no such measurements of outcomes have been undertaken, for what reason it decided not to do this, and whether it will set out its rationale for revising a strategy for which the impact has not been measured.

The 2016 Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy set out a series of national actions and local expectations to support local authorities in the development of their local digital learning and teaching offer. As set out in the strategy Education Scotland have ongoing engagement with local authorities, providing advice, support and professional learning and we know that many local authorities have made significant improvements in their use of technology in education in recent years.

Since publication of the 2016 strategy, both the technology and level of system maturity have moved on significantly, particularly following the pandemic. With a range of new and emerging technologies available, it is crucial that we continue to work with local authorities to ensure digital learning and teaching remains of a high standard now and in the future.

The refreshed digital strategy for education will build on existing practice and learning from the pandemic to support the ongoing evolution of the role of technology in Scotland’s education system.

Question reference: S6W-22982

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken, since March 2023, to review the current law on abortion.

The 2023 Programme for Government set out that the Scottish Government will begin a review of abortion law, within specified limits, following the Scottish Parliament’s consideration of the legislation on safe access zones.

The review will aim to identify potential proposals, by the end of this parliamentary term, for reforms to ensure that abortion services are first and foremost a healthcare matter. In addition, initial scoping work to prepare for this review has started.

The Scottish Government has, since March 2023, been supporting Gillian Mackay MSP on her Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Bill which was introduced into Parliament on 5 October 2023.

Question reference: S6W-22179

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether Scottish Prison Service guidelines on the management of trans prisoners are compliant with its policy of gender self-identification that is open to every person over the age of 16 with a Scottish birth register entry or who is ordinarily resident in Scotland.