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-33790

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address any issues related to lower energy performance certificate (EPC) ratings in (a) homes in rural areas compared with homes in urban areas and (b) older homes compared with newer builds.

We provide uplifts in our heat in buildings delivery schemes to help meet additional challenges faced by homeowners in rural and island communities.

The Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan offers an uplift of £1500 to the grant funding available for energy efficiency measures in remote rural areas and islands.

The Warmer Homes Scotland scheme operates a national customer price model to ensure equal access to grant funded installation of energy efficiency improvements across Scotland, including in rural and island areas.

Both our Area Based Schemes and the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund provide an uplift to reflect higher delivery costs in more remote areas, of 11% in rural areas and 22% in remote rural/island areas.

We will work with Historic Environment Scotland, and other key stakeholders to find the best solutions for older and more traditional buildings. We are considering the development of an assessment tool which could provide owners with information on the types of heating systems and energy efficiency measures appropriate for traditional buildings or those with protected characteristics.

We published a Government Response to our consultation on Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) reform on 21 January. We will lay regulations later this year which will push ahead with reforms to the infrastructure and assessor market operational framework for EPCs.

Question reference: S6W-33537

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what role telemedicine plays in rural healthcare, and how its use has changed in the last five years.

Telemedicine is essential to supporting care across Scotland. Access to services has shifted significantly over the past 5 years and we expect this to continue as we roll out improved ways to engage with health and social care services. Digital services are supporting people across Scotland to reduce unnecessary travel whilst also saving time, cost and uncomfortable journeys.

A range of different services have been scaled up including over 2 million NHS Near Me video appointments, over 100,000 people using Connect Me for remote health monitoring at home and exponential increase in access to Digital Mental Health Therapies across Scotland all supporting rural access. The NHS Near Me closure report highlights that the highest uptake of Near Me usage is seen predominantly in rural Health Boards.

Question reference: S6W-33535

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many emergency air ambulance call-outs have been made to rural areas in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-33686

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on rolling out new technologies within community optometry services, and how any such technologies are being implemented in rural settings.

All referrals to the hospital eye service from community optometry are electronic and enable the attachment of retinal images and other examination results to aid the triaging of the patients. In addition, since the initial onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Scottish Government has facilitated the use of technology to support remote consultations under General Ophthalmic Services which is likely to be of particular benefit to patients living in rural areas. The cloud-based national Electronic Patient Record is also being used by community optometrists providing the Community Glaucoma Service - an important technological initiative supporting safe and high quality care.

Question reference: S6W-33695

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to provide affordable optometry services in low-income rural areas.

Question reference: S6W-33688

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to address any workforce shortages in community optometry, and how it is supporting the training of new practitioners.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any workforce shortages in community optometry. NHS Scotland commissioned and published a National Ophthalmic Workforce Review report in May 2023 which is available at: https://www.nhscfsd.co.uk/media/pjwntap4/national-ophthalmic-workforce-review-may-2023.pdf

The Scottish Government is working with Higher Education Institutions to deliver a new UK-leading Master's optometry undergraduate degree. This will support all optometry graduates from 2029 to have the opportunity to qualify with Independent Prescribing.

Question reference: S6W-33692

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that community optometry services are integrated with other primary care services.

Question reference: S6W-33693

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the effectiveness of community optometry services in detecting and managing preventable blindness.

As well as a sight test, a routine NHS eye examination in Scotland provides a comprehensive eye health assessment, tailored to meet the needs of the patient. This helps with early detection of a range of sight-threatening conditions and some general medical conditions.

Where the optometrist suspects the patient has a sight-threatening condition, where clinically appropriate they will refer the patient to the hospital eye services. Data on such referrals can be found in the Public Health Scotland report referred to in answer to question S6W-33638 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

Question reference: S6W-33528

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS Scotland facilities in rural areas are accessible by public transport, and what steps are being taken to improve accessibility.

Scottish Government does not hold information centrally on public transport to health facilities.

The Scottish Government's Transport to Health delivery plan aims to ensure access to healthcare facilities is fully considered within regional and local planning, including planning for our rural communities.

Our vision is that all disabled people can travel with the same freedom, choice, dignity and opportunity as other citizens. The Accessible Travel Framework launched in 2016, is focused on improving the overall journey experience for disabled people by removing the barriers which prevent them travelling.

The delivery plan for 2024-2026 has been published in early October 2024. This covers delivery for the final two years of the Framework, and includes Transport to Health as a workstream.

Question reference: S6W-33536

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the current average response time is for emergency medical services in rural areas.