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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 40828 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-13486

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the aim set out in the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care in Scotland, whether it has increased paramedic training numbers by 32%, bringing the total student numbers for 2022-23 to 941.

Question reference: S6W-13954

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13474 by Kevin Stewart on 13 January 2023, what information it holds on how many social care staff (a) have and (b) have not received a "robust and supportive induction" since the launch of the National Induction Framework on 1 February 2022.

This answer is not centrally held, however, the SSSC advises that although the National Induction Framework resource is presented as open access (in order to ensure maximum accessibility), and therefore analytics are anonymous, they can advise that the number of visits to the site is 10,852 with total interactions (including visits) standing at over 30,300.

Although visits to the site are not individually identifiable, since the launch of the framework in February 2022, there have been 3,100 interactions through TURAS, the NES/Health platform.

More information can be found here:

https://sssclrs.uk/dashboards/6239f16c3f75d206d3162a42/6239f19d3f75d206d3162a72/NIF---Analytics

Question reference: S6W-13917

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what policy review it has undertaken in relation to children with autism and their assessment for other conditions and co-morbidities, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Significant policy review in relation to neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and attention deficit disorder (ADHD) was undertaken through the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce which reported in 2019. The Taskforce recommended that the Scottish Government should develop a neurodevelopmental service specification for use across services in Scotland. The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme Board and the subsequent Joint Delivery Board took responsibility for developing these principles and standards of care.

In September 2021, the Scottish Government published the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People which sets out seven standards for service providers to ensure that children and young people who have neurodevelopmental profiles with support needs receive the support that they require.

The Specification is purposefully inclusive and includes support for those who may be identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The Specification states that comorbidity and coexistence of a range of neurodevelopmental needs is common and that all children and families should experience joined up support, based on the single child’s plan, with professionals from different agencies working together to provide the range of support the child or young person needs.

Question reference: S6W-13899

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05156 by Maree Todd on 10 January 2022, on what date the National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain last met.

Question reference: S6W-13925

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many buildings have had works undertaken by the relevant local authority under the Town and Country (Planning) (Scotland) Act 1997 in each year since 1997, broken down by the local authority and cost of the project.

Question reference: S6W-13813

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what safety and maintenance checks are required for community-based defibrillators.

Question reference: S6W-13503

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has launched a new National Leadership Development Programme for all different staff levels within health and social care organisations, and, if this is the case, how (a) much has been spent on the programme, (b) many staff have used it and (c) it will influence culture change in the sector.

In my statement to parliament in November last year I stated I had recently launched Leading to Change, the Scottish Government’s national leadership development programme, for health, social work and social care. More information can be found on the website: Leading to Change | Leadership Development | NHS Scotland

a) The budget for Leading to Change is £978,000 for year 2022-23.

b) We have conducted user research to ascertain the programme’s reach and to ensure it fully meets the user needs. As of 9 January the following data applies:

Website ; 7,774 users, 30,731 page views - 3rd October 2022 (launch) to 9th January 2023 (18:00);
1983 people signed up to distribution list - 3rd October 2022 (launch) to 9th January 2023 (18:00);
10,238 registered users on the Leading to Change app - 3rd October 2022 (launch) to 9th January 2023
Twitter 5,569 followers as at 9th January 2023 (accounts were @ProjectLiftScot pre 3rd October 2022)
964 colleagues attended 11 events - 3rd October 2022 (launch) to 9th January 2023
107 colleagues on longer term leadership development programmes delivered or co-delivered by Leading to Change between Sept 22 – 09 January 2023 (some programme began before the launch date)
178/200 available Leadership Live subscriptions (22 pending) 3rd October 2022 (launch) to 9th January 2023

c) By ensuring we invest in leadership development we are supporting our valuable front line services to create the conditions and culture that are critical to delivering better outcomes for the people who use our services. Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the core of the Leading to Change programme with tailored and targeted interventions being delivered to increase and support the diverse workforce.

An update on the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care will be published later this year.

Question reference: S6W-13517

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to improve the parity of (a) data collection design and (b) data quality across the health and social care workforce.

In March 2022 the Scottish Government published the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care in partnership with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. Following publication of the strategy, the Scottish Government has established a Workforce Data Information and Intelligence Improvement Programme to support further improvement in data collation, quality and evidence triangulation. This programme is focused specifically on improving the quality and granularity of existing data sets, alongside considering the requirements for gathering new or different data to support better decision making, workforce and service planning.

Question reference: S6W-13464

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has set targets to recruit (a) nurses and (b) medics to meet its commitment to 1,500 new staff for National Treatment Centres (NTCs) in the period up to and including 2027, and, if so, what these targets are.

The Scottish Government is providing a range of recruitment support, as well as training and development activity to assist Health Boards with securing the right mix of new and experienced staff for their NTCs.

Detailed plans relating to the size and composition of the workforce for each NTC site has been or will be developed by the relevant territorial NHS Board and submitted to the Scottish Government as part of the wider planning and approval process for the site in operation.

Question reference: S6W-13500

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) staff there have been in each year since 2007.