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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-03531

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 since it came into force on 1 April 2024.

Question reference: S6W-27437

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has held discussions with (a) local authorities and (b) COSLA regarding updating the Supporting transgender young people in schools guidance, in light of the findings of the final report of the Cass Review, which was published in April 2024.

Question reference: S6W-27438

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the Storm Babet Ministerial Taskforce has met in 2024, and what was discussed.

The Storm Babet Ministerial Taskforce has met twice in 2024, on 17 January and on 13 March, and three times in 2023, on 16 November, 29 November, and 13 December. Taskforce members discussed flood recovery actions undertaken by the Scottish Government and by affected councils, including flood recovery grants for households and businesses, the Homelessness Prevention Fund, and the floodbank support scheme for farmers affected by the storm.

During the meeting on 13 March, members agreed that the response to Storm Babet had now moved into the medium-term recovery phase and that future discussions would focus on community recovery and work to consider the long-term future of the flooded site in Brechin.

Question reference: S6W-27434

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 22 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress towards publishing Scotland's first Flood Resilience Strategy in 2024.

The Scottish Government launched a public consultation on the Flood Resilience Strategy on Tuesday 21 May. The consultation will run for 12 weeks and seeks views on our approach to improving flood resilience and what actions are needed in the long term to make our places more flood resilient.

Over the consultation period officials will hold a number of public engagement workshops. The consultation will close in mid-August and a report analysing the responses will be published thereafter. The Flood Resilience Strategy is due to be published in Autumn 2024.

Question reference: S6W-27435

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made any recent assessment with clinicians of the effectiveness of BMI as an indicator of health, especially in relation to the diagnosis of eating disorders.

NHS Scotland uses the internationally accepted categories for BMI to categorise people’s weight in relation to their health. BMI should not be used as a single defining measurement but as part of a holistic assessment alongside other criteria to help inform best treatment options for patients.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken specific assessments of use of BMI in diagnosing eating disorders. However, clinicians are aware of its limitations in relation to eating disorders diagnosis and this is reflected in the National Specification for the Care and Treatment of Eating Disorders in Scotland.

In the National Specification, it is stated that assessment of an eating disorder should not be based on single measures such as BMI. Instead the full set of symptoms and individual circumstances should be considered. The National Specification was consulted on earlier this year and the consultation results are currently being analysed with the aim to publish the final National Specification document later this year. The implementation of the National Specification will be supported by the National Eating Disorders Network.

Question reference: S6W-27440

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress towards implementing the Women's Health Plan since the Second Annual Report on Progress was published in January 2024.

The Women’s Health Plan sets out the Scottish Government’s ambition for Women’s Health which is that ‘women and girls enjoy the best possible health, throughout their lives’ - this ambition is not limited to the lifespan of the current Plan.

The current iteration of the Women’s Health Plan comes to a close in August 2024 and a Women’s Health Plan Final Report on Progress is intended for publication in the Autumn.

In the interim, Women’s Health Champion Professor Anna Glasier provides a regular update on the progress of the Women’s Health Plan through her quarterly blog: https://blogs.gov.scot/health-social-care/category/womens-health-champion/

Question reference: S6F-03166

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 May 2024

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that no NHS board has implemented placental growth factor-based testing for pre-eclampsia, in light of it having been recommended in March 2023 by the Scottish Health Technologies Group.

Question reference: S6T-01985

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent BMA Scotland survey, which found that 30 GP practices consider their position to be "precarious" following the pausing of the GP Sustainability Loan Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-26653

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 29 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of the Mental Health and Capacity Reform Programme, including whether, as part of this programme, any decisions have been taken in relation to changes to the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.

We will shortly be publishing an initial delivery plan for work being taken forward under the Mental Health and Capacity Reform Programme. The plan will set out a range of actions that are either underway or planned in the period up to April 2025, against the priorities identified under the Programme. One of the priorities, as noted in our initial response to the Scottish Mental Health Law Review, is to consider Mental Health Law reform.

Question reference: S6W-26855

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 23 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to NHS boards to introduce tests to detect nitazenes in patients attending hospital with an overdose.

There are standard procedures in place in hospitals across Scotland for treating patients who present with an overdose, regardless of the substance involved.

Scottish Government has supported the introduction of a new surveillance study, operating from the accident and emergency department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Glasgow which aims to establish a robust toxicology surveillance system in the emergency department. A Surveillance Study of Illicit Substance Toxicity (ASSIST) has been in operation since 2022 and explores the feasibility of reporting characteristics and the causes of patients attending hospital as an emergency due to illicit substance use.

The information this study provides has been vital for informing services, staff, drug organisations and those who use drugs about changes in the drug supply through the PHS quarterly RADAR reports. In addition, its findings have also informed public health alerts, such as those issued by PHS in relation to new substances of concern in the drug supply, specifically nitazenes. This project received funding of £212,304 in 2023-24.

A key feature of the agreed funding for the second year of ASSIST was to demonstrate how the study could be replicated in other emergency departments across Scotland to ensure the same information could be gathered and shared elsewhere.