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-02704

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) will provide an update on the progress of the Vaccination Transformation Programme (VTP) and (b) anticipates that the VTP will be completed by April 2022.

The Scottish Government is continuing to support Health Boards to develop and implement their plans to transfer routine vaccination delivery from GPs under the Vaccination Transformation Programme. Health Boards are making progress at varying stages, with some Boards having already completed the transfer of vaccination services. The Scottish Government and Health Boards have agreed that the programme will be completely rolled out by the deadline of April 2022.

Question reference: S6W-02593

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) there have been since the start of the pandemic where the patient had previously tested positive for COVID-19, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-02538

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by the then Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing on 4 June 2008 that "I have also made it clear to the Scottish Ambulance Service that it must take action to eliminate rostered single manning. The Scottish Government's policy is clear: traditional accident and emergency ambulances should be double-crewed, with at least one member being a paramedic, unless there are exceptional circumstances. In too many instances, particularly in the Highlands, practice is not living up to that policy...I have therefore asked the Scottish Ambulance Service to provide me with an action plan demonstrating how it intends to achieve the elimination of single-manning. I expect to receive that action plan by the end of this month", whether the commitment to no longer have single-crewed ambulances has been met and, if not, by what date it will be.

Ambulances are not single-crewed other than in exceptional circumstances, such as short notice unplanned staff absences, and every effort is made to double crew ambulances through rostered and relief staff, overtime or ambulance bank staff. Scottish Ambulance Service Technicians are able to deliver high quality care to patients, but where a paramedic skill set is required, paramedics will be tasked to calls.

The Scottish Government has been working closely with the Scottish Ambulance Service to reduce single-crewing wherever possible. Prior to COVID-19, we had a plan in place with the Service to reduce instances of single crewing. This resulted in instances of single crewing falling to 0.9% in quarter 1 of 2019/20.

Unfortunately as a result of COVID-19 there has been occasions where single crewing has had to be used as a result of late notice staff abstractions, however we are continuing to work with the Scottish Ambulance Service to reduce this where possible.

Question reference: S6W-02423

Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the advice being issued to participants in the Valneva vaccine trial, related to their vaccination status.

The Scottish Government is grateful to everyone who has volunteered for COVID-19 vaccine trials in Scotland. The clinical trials participants have made an important contribution in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

The Scottish Government are committed to ensuring that these participants are not disadvantaged. Work is ongoing to ensure that vaccine status is correctly presented on the coronavirus vaccine database.

An interim letter was sent to study investigators to send on to participants, including those in the Valneva study, on 15 July advising how they can provide vaccination status. An updated letter is currently being prepared and will be sent out in the coming weeks.

The digital application to record the COVID-19 vaccine will be available from 30 September. Clinical trial participants who have received a licenced product and are un-blinded will be able to access the application. Other clinical trial participants will not have access to the application at this time. However, other measures are in place to provide proof of vaccination.

This includes a letter of support and subsequently participants will receive a hard copy Record of Vaccination which contains security features and 1-D barcode. This Record of Vaccination can be used across the UK. In due course, this will be replaced by a QR Record of Vaccination with a QR code.

Participants should receive a record of vaccination status and do not have to do anything. If they have not received it or have lost it, they should contact their Principal Investigator.

General advice is on the NHS Inform pages at https://www.nhsinform.scot/covid-19-vaccine/after-your-vaccine/get-a-record-of-your-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-status and https://www.nhsinform.scot/clinicaltrialparticipants .

Question reference: S6W-02503

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the average time has been to see a dementia specialist in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-02958

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out in legal fees by each local authority in each year since 1999.

Local authorities are independent corporate bodies with their own powers and responsibilities, separate from the Scottish Government. As such, the information requested is not held by the Scottish Government and would have to be obtained directly from individual local authorities or from COSLA.

Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics is an annual publication providing a comprehensive overview of financial activity of Scottish local authorities in 2019-20 based on authorities' audited accounts.

Question reference: S6W-02857

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the anticipated breakdown by (a) role and (b) starting year of the 320 additional staff that it has committed to delivering to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) workforce by 2026.

The breakdown of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) workforce is published on a quarterly basis through the NHS Education for Scotland (NES) CAMHS Workforce publication. This data can be found on the NES Turas Data Intelligence platform and provides a breakdown of staffing per NHS Board in CAMHS, including breakdown of professional role.

In May 2021, we allocated £16.4 million to support NHS Boards to implement the National CAMHS Service Specification. In addition, on 14 September, we announced £10.83 million funding to further support the implementation. Through this funding, NHS Boards have started to recruit additional staff to implement the Specification and to build professional capacity to support children and young people with neurodevelopmental support needs. NHS Boards will recruit a variety of staff in different roles, based on individual service needs.

Question reference: S6W-02871

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what training has been provided to staff in its Clinical Priorities Unit in relation to engaging with people on issues such as disabilities, equality measures, fairness and human rights, including with people with long-term conditions, and when any such training was provided.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all our staff have the necessary training/skills to fulfil our commitments to equalities and diversity and dealing with specific groups of stakeholders. Diversity and inclusion capability building, including learning and development, for Scottish Government staff is set out in our Mainstreaming Equality Outcomes Report 2021. In July 2021, we launched new mandatory diversity and inclusion training. This aims to ensure everyone working within the Scottish Government develops and maintains a foundational level of knowledge about inclusion and supports individual self-reflection and personal development.

Question reference: S6W-02878

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with BT regarding the removal of its obsolete network of KX and KX+ series of telephone boxes in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-02858

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to recruit the 320 additional staff that it has committed to delivering to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) workforce by 2026.

In May 2021, we allocated £16.4 million to support NHS Boards to implement the National Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Service Specification. In addition, on 14 September, we announced £10.83 million funding to further support the implementation. Through this funding, NHS Boards have started to recruit additional staff to implement the Specification and to build professional capacity to support children and young people with neurodevelopmental support needs.

The Scottish Government is not responsible for the recruitment of NHS staff. It is NHS Boards’ responsibility to recruit workforce. The Scottish Government has provided guidance to NHS Boards, through the National CAMHS Service and Neurodevelopmental Specifications, on the appropriate roles and professionals expected to be employed within Boards.