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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: S6O-04046

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will consult MSP staff trade unions before deciding on uprating the Staff Cost Provision in the 2025-26 financial year.

Question reference: S6O-04022

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported disproportionately lower levels of social security uptake among ethnic minority groups.

Question reference: S6O-03988

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what ongoing discussions the finance secretary is having with ministerial colleagues and officials regarding the planning of portfolio budgets in the lead up to the publication of its Budget for 2025-26.

Question reference: S6W-30964

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 7 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that emergency care is maintained for patients requiring air ambulance services, in light of any issues created by the issuance of CAP1264 by the Civil Aviation Authority.

The Scottish Government (SG) is aware of the Civil Air Publication to address the design requirements and options for new heliports located at hospitals in the United Kingdom. Any new recommendations will, of course, be considered by Health Boards and organisations with responsibility for maintaining helicopter landing sites.

The SG is also aware that HM Coastguard Search and Rescue has paused helicopter landings at a number of landing sites across the UK.

Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) and Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance aircraft continue to land at helicopter landing sites across Scotland. Should a helicopter landing site not be available for use by one of these assets then another suitable site will be identified. A SAS vehicle will transfer a patient and clinical team to the appropriate receiving medical facility.

Question reference: S6W-29825

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its proposed Adults with Incapacity Bill as outlined in its Programme for Government 2024-25, whether it plans to consult on each of the recommendations contained under Recommendation 13.3 of the final report of the Mental Health Law Review, which relate to amending the power of attorney scheme.

Question reference: S6O-03797

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to bring down processing times for the Adult Disability Payment, in light of the most recent high level statistics from Social Security Scotland indicating a reversal in the previous reduction to processing times.

Question reference: S6W-29669

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to open the £10 million Changing Places toilet fund, in light of the reprofiling of the commencement of the fund, as detailed in the letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government to the Convener of the Finance and Public Administration Committee, published on 3 September 2024.

Question reference: S6W-29668

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is still committed to investing £10 million in Changing Places toilets by the end of the current parliamentary session, in light of the reprofiling of the commencement of the Changing Places toilet fund, as detailed in the letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government to the Convener of the Finance and Public Administration Committee, published on 3 September 2024.

The Scottish Government is committed to investing in Changing Places Toilets in order to increase the number of these facilities across the country, allowing people easier access to events and outdoor venues.

As you will be aware, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government’s statement to Parliament on 3 September outlined the challenging financial situation faced by the Scottish Government following the UK Chancellor's July statement. She confirmed that spending controls are in place to make sure the entire Scottish Government budget is being managed prudently. These additional controls set out that any activity undertaken, or commitment made, that generates expenditure in 2024-25 must only proceed if it is truly essential and unavoidable. “Unavoidable” means if the Scottish Government would otherwise breach its legal obligations, or fail to provide essential support to emergency situations, or cause significant economic damage across Scotland. The scale of the savings required means that these exceptional measures are being applied across the whole Government, with all policy areas having to think about what this means for them.

This means that whilst the Scottish Government had set out the intention to make CPT funding available across financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26, unfortunately it is no longer possible to launch the fund in the current financial year. However, funding will be reprofiled into future years.

Question reference: S6W-29670

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 06 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, prior to the announcement by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, in her letter to the Convener of Finance and Public Administration Committee, that the Changing Places toilet fund would be reprofiled, what work it had undertaken to prepare for the fund to open at the start of 2025, as previously committed to by the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport.

A range of work has been undertaken to prepare for the opening of the Changing Places Toilets fund. This has included scoping work, internal discussions and meetings with key stakeholders. We are working closely with PAMIS (Promoting a More Inclusive Society) and will continue to engage with wider interests, including the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Changing Places Toilets, as we finalise the details of the fund.

Question reference: S6O-03747

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to a recent report from the Scottish Health Equity Research Unit, which highlights that "core outcomes related to inequalities and health are not improving significantly and some are getting worse".