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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-04096

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 17 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what support local authorities are receiving to apply for the Woods in and Around Town scheme, and what its position is on whether the available support is sufficient to meet the current demand for access to urban woods that are close to where people live.

Since April 2015 the Scottish Government has provided funding to support the planting of over 1.85 million trees and the creation of more than 925 hectares of new urban woodlands to provide opportunities for people to use and enjoy their local woods.

Around £8 million a year is available to support tree planting and greening projects within the Central Scotland Green Network area.

The Scottish Government continues to work with, and provide funding to a range of partners including local authorities, to support them in responding to demand for better access to unban woods through their expansion and improved management. Examples of this partnership approach include the Clyde Climate Forest and initiatives such as the “Wee Forests” that will play a role in improving people’s health and well-being whilst also delivering on our climate change and biodiversity commitments.

Question reference: S6W-04036

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address the reported survivability bias in the Cancer Patient Experience Survey to ensure that experiences of patients with a less survivable cancer are captured.

The care experience survey programme, of which the Cancer Patient Experience Survey is part of, is due to be under review shortly to allow for the context of COVID-19.

The Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey is run in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support and is designed to be comparable with Cancer Patient Experience Surveys run in England and Wales. A change in methodology, such as altering the sampling frame, surveying people at different stages of treatment or surveying the relatives of those who have passed away, would result in survey results that are not comparable to the English & Welsh survey results. Such a change would require extensive consultation with stakeholders.

In order to capture the experience of patients with a less survivable cancer we are using tools such as Care Opinion and working with our third sector partners to collate best available evidence.

Question reference: S6W-04231

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 15 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether face-to-face breastfeeding support services are available to all women who request them.

Scotland was the first country in the UK to achieve 100% Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative accreditation in Maternity and Community and Neonatal services. Scottish Government has invested in the Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) across NHS Scotland to provide support planning for sustainability. This initiative includes best practice standards for health professionals and services to support women to successfully establish and continue breastfeeding.

We have also provided more than £800k funding to our Third Sector partners over the past three years. This investment is being used to develop their breastfeeding peer support programmes as part of a tiered service of support, including face-to-face contacts.

It is for each NHS Board to plan services to meet the needs of its population including how best to utilise funding, facilities and staff to deliver these services.

Question reference: S6W-04230

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 15 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time for breastfeeding support services was in each month between March 2019 and September 2021.

The Scottish Government recognises the positive health benefits of breastfeeding for mothers and babies and expects breastfeeding support to be available to mothers whenever this is required, particularly in the early days and weeks of a baby’s life.

Information on local breastfeeding services is not held centrally. It is for each NHS Board to plan services to meet the needs of its population including how best to utilise funding, facilities and staff to deliver these services.

We provide £2.3m per year to support the 2011 Maternal and Infant Nutrition Framework Action Plan which includes breastfeeding support, and have provided more than £6m over the past four years to NHS Boards and third sector partners to improve the quality of breastfeeding support.

Question reference: S6O-00374

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the reported findings in The Lancet that having two doses of a vaccine does not prevent the transmission of COVID-19, and how this may impact its COVID passport scheme.

Question reference: S6W-03513

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in the light of the commitment in its Programme for Government to invest in genetic labs and frontline genetics services, what level of investment will be made, and over what time period.

The level of future funding associated with this Programme for Government commitment will not be confirmed until publication of the Scottish Government multi-year spending review, currently expected to be spring of 2022. The Scottish Budget for 2022/23 will be published on 9 December.

However, the Scottish Government has already committed £2.3 million of funding for genomic medicine for 2021–2022. The funding for 2021-2022 will support the extension of ‘The Bridge to a Scottish Strategy for Genomics Strategy’ which increases laboratory capacity and frontline genetic services for rare and inherited disease.

The Scottish Genomics Leadership Group, jointly chaired by Professor David Crossman, Chief Scientist for Health for the Scottish Government, and Susan Buchanan, Director for NHS National Services Division, are our expert group in genomic medicine and are providing advice to the Scottish Government to plan our long-term agenda for genomic medicine in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-03729

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 29 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take, and within what timescale, to ensure that NICE guidelines for patients with cerebral palsy are fully implemented to ensure that everyone with the condition has access to a review by a cerebral palsy specialist once a year.

We are committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with Cerebral Palsy are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from services that are safe, effective and put the person at the centre of their care.

Over the next five years the Scottish Government will invest £4.5 million of funding to implement the aims and commitments of the Neurological Care and Support – a National Framework for Action . These aims include improving the provision of co-ordinated health and social care and support for people with neurological conditions to live on their own terms. Through the Framework, we have supported a number of projects that provide support to patients in order to improve access to services, including cerebral palsy.

NHS Boards are expected to ensure that patients, including those who require cerebral palsy services, have access to a range of professionals to provide the appropriate management of their condition. We would further expect clinicians to have good awareness of guidance relevant to their practice area and apply these taking account of individual circumstances and discussions with the patient, including considering regular reviews for people with cerebral palsy, tailored to their needs and preferences.

We will continue to work with NHS, third sector partners and people with Cerebral Palsy to drive up standards of care.

Question reference: S6O-00309

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has put in place to ensure that COVID-19 vaccine trial volunteers have the same access to public events and travel as other people.

Question reference: S6W-03517

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comments in its Programme for Government regarding the increased demand for genetic and molecular diagnostic testing linked to new advanced medicines, what steps NHS Scotland is taking to identify as early as possible the required tests for any medicine being considered by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC), in order to prevent any delay between the SMC accepting a medicine and it being available to patients.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) liaises closely with colleagues from National Services Division (NSD) in NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) to share intelligence on emerging new medicines that may require a companion diagnostic test. NSD has commissioning responsibility for the Scottish Genetic Laboratories and is currently conducting a review of NHS Scotland genomics services which includes the Scottish genomic test directory and genomics infrastructure. The review is expected to be complete by the end of March 2022.

The SMC also provides early horizon scanning reports to the Molecular Pathology Evaluation Panel on medicines in clinical development and shares information on the anticipated timelines for these medicines to be granted a marketing authorisation and then be assessed by the SMC. The SMC horizon scanning reports are also supporting ongoing work with NSD, the Scottish Genomics Leadership Group and the Scottish Genetics Laboratory Consortium to understand the laboratory capacity requirements for current and future medicines requiring a companion diagnostic test.

Question reference: S6W-03514

Asked by: Sandesh Gulhane, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 October 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 October 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the commitment in its Programme for Government to invest in genetic labs and frontline genetics services, what process it will undertake to establish what new tests should be made available in Scotland.

The National Services Division (NSD) in NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) have commissioning responsibility for the Scottish Genetic Laboratories. NSD are currently conducting a review of NHS Scotland’s genomics services which will include reviewing the Scottish genomic test directory and genomics infrastructure. The review is expected to be completed by the end of the 2021–2022 financial year.

The outcomes from the review will be considered by the Scottish Genomics Leadership Group, chaired jointly by Professor David Crossman, the Chief Scientist for Health for the Scottish Government, and Susan Buchanan, NSD Director, who are supporting the Scottish Government in ensuring appropriate planning and robust decision-making processes are in place for genetic testing availability in Scotland.