- Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking through its draft Budget 2025-26 to increase local access to thrombectomy for people who have had a stroke in Dumfries and Galloway.
Answer
The delivery of a national thrombectomy service has already received over £38m of investment. Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary and Galloway Community Hospital are both now able to refer suitable patients for thrombectomy procedures.
We have recently provided funding for thrombectomy nurse posts in spoke sites with high rates of ischaemic stroke, including in NHS Dumfries and Galloway, and this will support maximising access to thrombectomy across Scotland.
Work is ongoing to establish how the £16 million funding announced in the Scottish budget, once scrutinised by the Scottish Parliament, will be best used to maximise the number of patients able to benefit from thrombectomy.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 10 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on the
implementation of MyNHS Digital, and what assessment it has made of its
potential impact on patient care.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34287 on 27 January 2025. 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/written-questions-and-answers
We are bringing forward delivery to December 2025, starting in Lanarkshire. Further detail will be contained in the Operational Improvement Plan in March 2025.
A robust equalities impact assessment is underway, and benefits will be proactively tracked as per good practice for a digital service development. This will be crucial in achieving the intended benefit of giving people more control of their care and allow us to continually assess the impact on patient care.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what guidelines it has regarding the provision of media training to (a) ministers and (b) civil servants, including how costs are approved and monitored.
Answer
On appointment, all Ministers are offered media training options as part of their induction. Civil servants who may carry out media interviews in the course of their duties can request media training through the Scottish Government’s Communications Division. Courses are provided by Communications Division staff at no additional cost. Executive Agencies are responsible for their own training provision and information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what it plans to do to tackle the reported rising number of uterine cancer diagnoses.
Answer
The rise in reported number of uterine cancer diagnoses can largely be attributed to an increasing ageing population and is in-line with a long-term trend of increasing number of uterine cancer diagnoses over time. It is encouraging to see that the majority of cases diagnosed in Scotland (64%) were found at the earliest stage (Stage I) where there is a greater chance of positive outcomes.
Obesity is one of the single largest modifiable risk factors for uterine cancer. We have published our Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan setting out ambitious and wide-ranging actions to deliver our vision of a Scotland where everyone eats well and has a healthy weight, reducing their cancer risk.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 10 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline a timetable for the cancer strategy for children and young people beyond the current strategy’s designated period, which ends in 2026.
Answer
The implementation of the Collaborative and Compassionate Cancer Care The Cancer Strategy for Children and Young People in Scotland 2021–2026 is managed by the Managed Service Network for Children and Young People with Cancer (MSN CYPC) into 2026. Scottish Government is working with the MSN CYPC to consider the development of any future children and young people’s national cancer strategy approach required ahead of the strategy end date in 2026.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what enforcement measures are in place to address road traffic offences on each trunk road, including any specific measures on the A90 and its section north of Dundee.
Answer
Enforcement of road traffic offences is the independent responsibility of Police Scotland. Alongside general enforcement activity by Police Scotland, there is also the operation of safety cameras in some stretches of trunk roads.
The Scottish Safety Camera Programme supports enforcement through national operational prioritisation and deployment of safety camera resources in accordance with the Scottish Safety Camera Programme Handbook. Safety Camera enforcement locations can be found at Safety Camera Locations — Police Scotland Safety Cameras.
Average speed cameras on the A90 became operational over a 51 mile stretch between Dundee-Stonehaven in Oct 2017, including 15 cameras in each direction. Prior to their installation 3 in 5 drivers were exceeding the speed limit on the A90, that is now 1 in 100.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 10 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what the average time taken for Police Scotland to report a speeding offence to the procurator fiscal (a) is and (b) has been in each year since 2018.
Answer
Since April 2023, the Scottish Government has published the median journey time from offence date to verdict date, and the median times for each of the stages the criminal justice system, including the median police known to Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) report. The most recent data covering 2023-24 is reported in the Journey times in the Scottish Criminal Justice System: 2023-24 bulletin. The bulletin provides the median police known to COPFS report by crime type for the main 5 crime groups.
The median police known to COPFS report for speeding offences can be extracted from the data used to compile the Journey times in the Scottish Criminal Justice System interactive dashboard, an interactive tool which complements the information available in the published bulletin. The median police known to COPFS report times for speeding offences have been extracted and are shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Median police known to COPFS report time for speeding offences.
Median police known to COPFS report time for speeding offences |
Financial Year | Median time (days) |
2017-18 | 48 |
2018-19 | 47 |
2019-20 | 51 |
2020-21 | 43 |
2021-22 | 65 |
2022-23 | 77 |
2023-24 | 86 |
Source: Journey times in the Scottish Criminal Justice System interactive dashboard.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 10 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many cat’s eyes are installed on the A90, broken down by the (a) section north of Dundee and (b) other sections.
Answer
There are a total of 24,910 cat's eyes (road studs) on the A90. Of these 24, 273 are located north of Dundee and 637 south of Dundee.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what the average cost of media training sessions for (a) ministers and (b) civil servants has been in each year since 2018.
Answer
Since 2016, all media training for Ministers or civil servants has been provided by Scottish Government Communications Division staff at no additional cost. Executive Agencies are responsible for their own training provision and information is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 10 February 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to consult with charities and healthcare providers (a) as part of any evaluation of the current cancer strategy for children and young people and (b) on the development of any future dedicated cancer strategy for children and young people.
Answer
The implementation and evaluation of the Collaborative and Compassionate Cancer Care The Cancer Strategy for Children and Young People in Scotland 2021–2026 is managed by the Managed Service Network for Children and Young People with Cancer (MSN CYPC).
The MSN CYPC works collaboratively with a range of stakeholders in the delivery of children and young people’s cancer services across Scotland. This approach will continue in informing any future national cancer strategy, beyond 2026.