- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting NHS boards to expand community audiology and optometry services, and what assessment it has made of the impact this has had on rural areas over the past five years.
Answer
There is presently no national community audiology service. We are sponsoring the RNID ‘Near You’ scheme in partnership with the NHS in five Health Board areas. Benefits include locally-recruited staff, trained volunteers, savings of circa 500 clinical hours and 4,600 patient miles per year, and provision of domiciliary care.
Remote consultations are now part of free universal NHS funded eye examinations. The Government is also in the process of rolling out new enhanced services including the Community Glaucoma Service. No specific assessment has been made of the impact this has had on rural areas, but these commitments support patients being treated closer to home.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what initiatives are in place to support rural healthcare professionals in accessing training and professional development opportunities.
Answer
Healthcare support workers in Scotland, by agreement from their employers, can enrol on the HNC in Healthcare Practice at their local college and can then progress to the nursing degree programme currently provided by the Open University, enabling them to remain in the workforce in their local Board area whilst studying. The Scottish Government provides a salary backfill payment to employers to compensate for time away from the workplace for both the Open University and HNC programmes.
NHS Education for Scotland (NES) are also delivering training opportunities for healthcare professionals in rural and island areas. This includes the NES Rural GP Fellowship, which not only supports GPs to develop the skills required to work in rural areas but provides them with direct experience of working in rural and island areas across rural and island Health Boards.
Through the Scottish Government funded National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care, 30 practitioners have undertaken the MSc in Rural Advanced Practice in 2023 and 2024, supporting career development, increasing equity in education and supporting the sustainability of primary healthcare services. The Centre will continue to develop new rural specific recognised qualifications to address skills gaps and drive innovation.
Furthermore, tailored to meet the current and future needs of NHS Scotland with a focus on rural medicine, healthcare improvement and developing interest in General Practice, ScotGEM offers a unique four-year programme where students are eligible to apply for a Scottish Government funded ‘Return of Service’ bursary of £4,000 per annum which commits them to working for NHS Scotland for the corresponding number of years following graduation. The Scottish Government also pays the tuition fees for eligible students, offering an attractive package for potential applicants.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 27 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported rise in youth vaping rates, including any targeted campaigns aimed at rural areas.
Answer
Within our 24/25 Programme for Government we committed to working across the four nations on banning the sale of single use vapes (SUV) as well as the UK Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
SUV’s have been linked to a rapid increase in the number of young people vaping, particularly due to their low price. The SUV ban will be implemented from 1 June 2025 in line with the rest of the UK.
If passed the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, will restrict the promotion, advertisement and brand sharing of vapes.
Our Scotland-wide ‘Take Hold’ marketing campaign educated parents, carers and children about the dangers of vaping and increased the awareness of the harms and risks of nicotine addiction. It also contained a school toolkit.
We continue to work with Young Scot to support young people to understand the risks of using tobacco and nicotine products, and raise awareness of available cessation services and avenues to support young people to stop smoking/vaping.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how it keeps emergency response times in rural areas comparable to emergency response times in urban areas.
Answer
It is the responsibility of the Scottish Ambulance Service to ensure that response times are as quick as possible, regardless of geography.
The Scottish Ambulance Service completed a full review of Demand and Capacity across Scotland at the end of 2019 which involved looking at demand data and resources to predict current and future demand and map out the levels of staff and vehicles required across different parts of Scotland. The outcome of the review saw an increase in resourcing and staffing in both urban and rural areas across Scotland.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 27 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many full-time equivalent civil servants were employed at grade (a) A3, (b) A4, (c) B1, (d) B2, (e) B3, (f) C1, (g) C2 and (h) C3, in (i) 2021-22, (ii) 2022-23, (iii) 2023-24 and (iv) 2024-25, and what the numbers are projected to be in 2025-26.
Answer
The below table shows the distribution of FTE by grade, within Scottish Government Core, for the dates requested.
SG Core FTE by Grade 21-22 to 24-25 |
| | 31-Mar-22 | 31-Mar-23 | 31-Mar-24 | 30-Sep-24 |
A3 | 411 | 369 | 303 | 276 |
A4 | 449 | 449 | 385 | 375 |
B1 | 1,155 | 1,145 | 1,119 | 1,053 |
B2 | 1,733 | 1,838 | 1,738 | 1,725 |
B3 | 2,021 | 2,127 | 2,188 | 2,316 |
C1 | 1,447 | 1,581 | 1,748 | 1,824 |
C2 | 707 | 732 | 795 | 833 |
C3 | 124 | 114 | 112 | 119 |
Following the presentation of the 25-26 Budget in Parliament, the Scottish Government are considering the impact of this for workforce projections in 25-26. These workforce projections will be regularly monitored, reviewed and updated over the course of the financial year to ensure services are delivered effectively and affordably for the people of Scotland. The total workforce for the Scottish Government has reduced in each of the last two financial years by 0.4% and 3%. To date the Scottish Government have prioritised the reduction of contingent workers, including more expensive contractors, and have done so by 40%. The 25-26 Budget included a commitment to a reduction in the number of permanent civil servants in the core Scottish Government in the 25-26 financial year.
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Current Status:
Withdrawn
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what recent steps it has taken to (a) increase the number of GPs nationwide and (b) improve access to face-to-face GP appointments.
Answer
(a) The Scottish Government remains fully committed to increasing the number of GPs by 800 by 2027.
In November 2024 we published a General Practitioner Recruitment and Retention Action Plan, available online at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/general-practitioner-recruitment-retention-action-plan-2024-2026/documents/
A key action in this plan is to retain newly qualified GPs in Scotland by expanding the current fellowship offer to support early career GPs on completion of their GP training. We have also commissioned NHS Education for Scotland to work with the profession to redesign the current GP Retainer Scheme to make it more flexible to support GPs at times in their career when it is needed. We have created 70 additional GP Speciality Training posts since 2022, with a further 30 to be added in 2025.
(b) The Scottish Government discusses access to general practice with the representatives of the profession. It is important that patients see the right person at the right place at the right time to treat their condition, this may not always need to be a GP. However, where clinically necessary, the option to have a face to face consultation should always be available.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-33091 by Ivan McKee on 14 January 2025, what the primary purposes are for which the cars in its fleet are used.
Answer
Pool cars are allocated to specific areas who have a business need for their use which cannot be met by public transport or other sustainable methods of travel. This includes conducting legislative and compliance inspections, animal and horticulture inspections, delivery of equipment and the transportation of Ministers.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Allan on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of which actions in the Scottish Biodiversity Delivery Plan 2024-2030 are specifically targeted to restore and manage species-rich grasslands.
Answer
The Scottish Biodiversity Strategy (SBS) notes that “Scotland’s uplands (above the limits of enclosed farmland) comprise a range of habitats including … species-rich grasslands” and that there has been a substantial long term decline in species-rich grasslands. The SBS Delivery Plan is intended to drive the restoration and improvement of habitats across Scotland, many of which are not mentioned explicitly.
Objective 1 of the Delivery Plan: Accelerate Restoration and Regeneration includes as a Priority Action: Introduce a programme of ecosystem restoration. There are five species-rich grassland habitats on the current Scottish Biodiversity List, and action 20.1 - revision of the Scottish Biodiversity List - is also therefore relevant. Other actions relevant to species-rich grasslands, include:
Ref: | Action |
2.5 | Develop upland-specific, best practice guidance on measures for upland restoration to regenerate peatlands, increase nature woodland cover, manage grazing, protect certain target species and priority habitats and increase habitat heterogeneity |
2.9 | Marine & coastal ecosystem restoration – machair and other grasslands |
5.3 | Explore how best to support optimal herbivore densities to enhance biodiversity outcomes in the uplands. |
11 | Actions to implement Nature Networks |
21.1 | Species on the Edge – great yellow and moss carder bumblebees, marsh fritillary, Scottish primrose, etc.. |
21.3 | Species with identifiable human pressures (especially specialists and arctic alpines) |
21.4 | Genetic diversity mapping – as Scotland is on the edge of the range of habitats it is likely to host unique genetic variants and the potential for useful traits in wild relatives of utilised species. |
21.6 | Better biodiversity data – will help with understanding the condition of species-rich grassland In areas outside designated sites. |
21.7 | Publish Plant biodiversity strategy - grasslands are specifically mentioned |
28 | Public Awareness and engagement to improve public awareness of climate-biodiversity issues and our connectedness to nature |
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has proposed reducing the Young Patients Family Fund by £700,000 in its draft Budget 2025-26, and what its response is to reported concerns that this sets a precedent for further reductions to the support that children and young people with cancer, and their families, may need.
Answer
The Young Patients Family Fund (YPFF) is designed to support the families of all babies, children and young people from birth to age 18 who require inpatient care in Scotland, regardless of diagnosis.
The YPFF is a demand-led fund and the Scottish Government has ensured full funding against demand in each year since its launch on 26 July 2021. The 2025-26 budget has been set based on expected demand levels and the Scottish Government remains committed to provide full funding for the YPFF in 2025-26.
Other financial support is available to children and young people with a cancer diagnosis and their families for travel to hospital via the patient travel expenses reimbursement schemes. Under those schemes, patients and authorised escorts can reclaim reasonable costs of travel associated with attending a hospital appointment, in line with eligibility criteria and medical requirements.
