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: S6O-03944

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what conversations it has had with its international development partners regarding building resilience to increasing humanitarian crises.

Question reference: S6O-03963

Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it collaborates with local authorities to monitor teacher numbers and staffing needs across council areas.

Question reference: S6O-03955

Asked by: Evelyn Tweed, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the justice secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding police action to tackle raptor persecution, in light of reports of a dead golden eagle being found recently in the Stirling constituency.

Question reference: S6O-03941

Asked by: Roz McCall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to encourage library usage in the Mid Scotland and Fife region.

Question reference: S6O-03884

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 6 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of payments under the Basic Payment Scheme had been made to farmers by 15 October 2024.

Question reference: S6W-30963

Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve waiting times for endoscopy appointments.

Significant additional activity is already underway following the allocation of £30 million funding to target reductions to the national backlogs that built up throughout the pandemic. This includes over 40,000 extra diagnostic procedures.

The Scottish Government has also helped develop the Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan. This plan focuses on key areas such as: Balancing Demand and Capacity; Workforce Training and Development; Infrastructure; and Innovation and Redesign.

This plan has so far delivered four mobile endoscopy units across Scotland, providing 5-6 additional endoscopy rooms, and a Dyce facility to provide additional endoscopy procedures for NHS Grampian. Additionally, the national endoscopy surveillance framework, introduced in February 2022, has been implemented in all Health Boards.

Question reference: S6W-30966

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 5 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29790 by Jim Fairlie on 25 September 2024, whether it anticipates that it will achieve its commitment to spend £250 million on peatland restoration by 2030.

Question reference: S6W-30809

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many seven-day emergency readmissions there have been in each year since 2016, broken down by NHS board.

Table 1 provides information on the number of emergency readmissions within 7 days of a prior hospital discharge. The data are broken down by financial year (2016-17 to 2023-24) and NHS board of residence, in Scotland.

Table 1: Emergency Readmissions within 7 days of a prior hospital discharge by NHS Board, Scotland 2016-17 to 2023-24

NHS Board	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	5,058	5,470	5,506	5,233	3,947	4,501	3,970	4,435
NHS Borders	1,269	1,233	1,242	1,174	815	834	1,299	1,531
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	1,454	1,560	1,593	1,654	1,241	1,367	1,480	1,595
NHS Fife	3,915	4,744	4,716	4,547	3,467	4,310	4,493	5,181
NHS Forth Valley	2,524	2,576	2,529	4,254	3,270	3,588	3,558	3,514
NHS Grampian	4,766	5,031	5,045	5,661	4,236	4,719	4,974	5,349
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	13,518	11,469	11,723	12,078	8,858	9,927	9,857	10,477
NHS Highland	2,735	3,423	3,894	3,779	2,877	3,474	3,820	4,005
NHS Lanarkshire	8,011	7,858	8,234	8,565	5,826	7,378	8,178	7,953
NHS Lothian	8,191	8,317	8,726	9,551	8,012	7,842	6,795	7,822
NHS Orkney	145	153	193	174	150	171	175	138
NHS Shetland	147	162	181	183	154	134	148	176
NHS Tayside	3,835	3,704	3,588	3,986	3,241	3,923	4,583	5,332
NHS Western Isles	307	321	332	392	251	264	304	265
NHS Scotland	55,875	56,021	57,502	61,231	46,345	52,432	53,634	57,773

Source: Public Health Scotland (SMR01)

Question reference: S6W-30780

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what support is currently available in circumstances where NHS wheelchair and special seating provision may not be able to meet the needs of a patient.

Following an assessment by a healthcare worker, the NHS will provide the necessary equipment to support the clinical needs of a patient free of charge. This includes the provision of a wheelchair. Seating is also provided to individuals free of charge following an assessment. For those living in a care home (residential and nursing), it is the responsibility of the care home to purchase and provide seating to their residents.

However, should an individual choose to purchase other forms of equipment which is not available on the NHS or not assessed by the healthcare worker as required for their needs, they may be able to do so by using their Self-Directed Support (SDS) budget, if the equipment clearly meets an identified personal outcome in their support plan.

Another option is support via Adult Disability Payment. The key intent of Adult Disability Payment is to provide individuals with payments to help mitigate the costs they incur because of a disability or long-term condition. This means individuals can use it to pay for things such as care, access to community resources, transport, social activities, and any other goods or services of their choosing, including aids or equipment.

Question reference: S6W-30779

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what work has taken place in recent years to determine whether a formal mechanism should be put in place to allow NHS boards to partially fund privately purchased wheelchairs through a personalised budget or voucher scheme.

Following a clinical assessment, the NHS will always provide the necessary equipment to support the healthcare needs of a patient. This includes the provision of a wheelchair.

However, should an individual choose to purchase a wheelchair which is not available on the NHS, they may be able do so using their Directed Support (SDS) budget, if the wheelchair clearly meets an identified personal outcome in their support plan.

Another option is support via Adult Disability Payment. The key intent of Adult Disability Payment is to provide individuals with payments to help mitigate the costs they incur as a result of a disability or long-term condition. This means individuals can use it to pay for things such as care, access to community resources, transport, social activities, and any other goods or services of their choosing, including aids or equipment.