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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-14054

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 26 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners from HMP and YOI Cornton Vale have already been relocated ahead of its closure, and to which establishments they have been relocated.

Question reference: S6W-14053

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 26 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which sites prisoners at HMP and YOI Cornton Vale are to be relocated to in the interim before HMP and YOI Stirling is opened.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Cornton Vale currently holds two distinctly separate population groups. Peebles House accommodates women who have achieved a Low Supervision category, while Ross House accommodates the women with the highest care needs.

The women currently living in Peebles House have taken part in individual discussions supported by SPS, NHS and Social work colleagues to identify the most appropriate location during the transition period. The identified locations for these women are:

HMP & YOI Polmont
The Lilias Centre Community Custody Unit
The Bella Centre Community Custody unit

In order to ensure continuity of care for the women currently living in Ross House with the highest needs, special arrangements are being made to accommodate these women in HMP & YOI Polmont.

Question reference: S6T-01111

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it steps it is taking to ensure teachers are equipped to discuss and address the issue of extremist online misogyny with pupils.

Question reference: S6W-13429

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 23 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its commitment to "collate new or better use existing data sources" in relation to secondary breast cancer.

The National Cancer Quality Steering group have overseen the development of a newly proposed QPI on 'Recurrence Following Breast Cancer Treatment' in 2022. This proposal contains 3 parts - i) local recurrence (or new cancer) following conservation surgery; ii) local recurrence (or new cancer) following mastectomy; and iii) any recurrence (or new cancer) in same breast, axilla or distant site after surgical treatment.

This QPI, along with the other revisions have recently been subject to a public engagement exercise and all comments received via this process are due to be discussed at a further Breast Cancer QPI Formal Review meeting later in January prior to final agreement.

Further to this, the Scottish Government continues its dialogue with Public Health Scotland, NHS England and the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership alongside breast cancer specialists and the charity Breast Cancer Now regarding data collection for secondary breast cancer.

Question reference: S6W-13403

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent steps it has taken to improve the accuracy of data collected around secondary breast cancer.

Secondary breast cancer – breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body – is recorded on the Scottish Cancer Registry if it has occurred when the diagnosis is first made. The Scottish Cancer Registry uses a variety of sources of information to confirm stage at diagnosis and the quality of this work is assessed through audit and external quality assurance.

Public Health Scotland is part of an ongoing JRC-ENCR (Joint Research Centre – European Network of Cancer Registries) short life working group to improve and standardise collection of information on cancer recurrence. The aim of this work is to improve collection of secondary cancers that occur some time after the initial diagnosis. This will add to the information about secondary breast cancer at the time of diagnosis.

Several new and better sources of data on secondary cancers are being integrated into the national cancer intelligence platform at Public Health Scotland (PHS). For example, Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy data for the whole of Scotland are now collated at PHS and these include information on whether treatments for breast cancer are for primary or secondary disease.

The National Cancer Quality Steering group have overseen the development of a newly proposed QPI on 'Recurrence Following Breast Cancer Treatment' in 2022.

Question reference: S6W-13402

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will carry out a national audit of secondary breast cancer, in light of NHS England's reported national metastatic breast cancer audit, announced in May 2021.

Question reference: S6W-13185

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the expected timetable for its proposed The Promise Bill.

Question reference: S6W-13186

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that adults are (a) recognised and (b) included in any changes made to implement The Promise to care experienced people and their families.

The Scottish Government is committed to keeping The Promise by 2030. It is recognised that the experience of growing up in care can impact you for all of your life. Providing the right support to people with care experience through our Whole Family Wellbeing approach and the range of work identified in the Promise Implementation Plan including trauma informed training, corporate parenting, education and employment.

The Implementation Plan sets out our commitment to ensure the voice of people with care experience is at the heart of the work we do to keep The Promise.

Question reference: S6W-13187

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will work with local authorities to engage directly with care experienced people on implementation of The Promise to care experienced people and their families.

Question reference: S6W-13184

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 17 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the delegation of roles and responsibilities for ensuring that it keeps The Promise to care experienced people and their families, and whether it will make this available in an easy-read format to ensure accessibility.

Keeping the Promise requires a collective approach across all of our services, including care, health, education and justice. The Scottish Government requires to lead from the front, working with partners across local government and third sector, to bring the transformational change required. The actions and commitments we will take are set out in our Promise Implementation Plan published in March 2022.

The Promise Oversight Board includes members with lived and professional experience and is responsible for holding Scotland to account on whether the Promise is being kept.

The Promise Scotland has been established to support organisations across Scotland to Keep The Promise. The Promise Scotland published its set up year report in July 2022. This includes a helpful timeline of work undertaken from the point The Promise Scotland was established.

The Scottish Government has published a child friendly version of the Promise Implementation Plan, developed with the support of Who Cares? Scotland and other stakeholders which is available on the Scottish Government website .