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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-26437

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment has been made of the Redesign of Urgent Care Programme, which was launched in December 2020.

Through the Redesign of Urgent Care (RUC), we have bolstered capacity at NHS24, which has seen staffing levels increase by 65% since 2007 and now operates as a 24/7 service, and are providing more hospital alternatives to prevent unnecessary attendances to A&E.

The combination of services has significantly contributed to reduced attendance at Emergency Departments, with self-presentations between February 2023 – January 2024 down by over 90,000 (around 11%) compared to pre-Covid levels.

The Scottish Government works closely with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) to support delivery of improvement programmes, including the Urgent and Unscheduled Care collaborative, to ensure sustainable ways of delivering services, improving access for patients, and reducing unnecessary demand for services. A Speciality Delivery Group meets regularly to monitor progress and support initiatives which are enhancing the RUC pathway.

Question reference: S6W-26440

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with Police Scotland to disrupt the (a) supply and (b) distribution of super-strong synthetic opioids in Scotland.

The Scottish Government and its partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce - which includes Police Scotland and the National Crime Agency - oversee work to address the threats highlighted in the Scottish Multi-Agency Strategic Threat Assessment.

Decisions around the detection and disruption of drug supply are an operational matter for the relevant law enforcement agencies. I thank those bodies for the vital work they do to take drugs off our streets and dismantle organised crime groups.

While the law enforcement response to drug trafficking is essential, it is also crucial that we tackle the market for drugs. This Government's position is that tackling the drugs emergency requires a concerted public health approach to improve and save lives.

Question reference: S6W-26439

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering a ban on under-18s receiving cosmetic treatments, such as dermal fillers and Botox.

Question reference: S6W-26380

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 16 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates that the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce will publish its recommendations; how many times the taskforce has met since it was established, and when any meetings took place.

The Taskforce is making good progress with the development of its recommended actions and will continue to work until members have agreed a comprehensive action plan. We anticipate the publication of a report later in 2024. Since the establishment, the Nursing and Midwifery has held four ministerial led meetings in April, July, December 2023 and March 2024. The taskforce has also held two official led meetings in June 2023 and March 2024.The Scottish Government publishes the agreed minutes and actions from each meeting on its website: www.gov.scot/groups/nursing-and-midwifery-taskforce

Question reference: S6W-26443

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the waiting time for a colonoscopy once a patient is notified that further investigation is required after returning a bowel screening test.

Our priority is to ensure those people referred for suspected cancer or via screening programmes receive the appropriate diagnosis and treatment safely, based on their clinical urgency. To specifically support scope-based diagnostics, we have published a £70m Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan, including provision of additional endoscopy training places via the NHS Academy to future-proof the workforce and provide additional diagnostic capacity to reduce waiting times.

Question reference: S6W-26298

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 2 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the progress of the Family Justice Modernisation Strategy, published in September 2019, and whether it plans to further reform family justice, including custodial arrangements for children.

The Scottish Government is preparing an update for publication on progress on the Family Justice Modernisation Strategy (the FJMS). I will write to the Member as soon as this is available.

I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26002 on 18 March 2024, which provides an update on implementation of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (the 2020 Act). All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers .

On further reforms in family justice, I assume the member’s reference to “custodial arrangements for children” is to child contact and residence arrangements. Making further progress on implementing the FJMS and the 2020 Act is our priority in relation to child contact and residence. The Scottish Government does not plan any further primary legislation on child contact and residence at this time.

Question reference: S6O-03259

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many visitors to the Scottish Parliament have been asked by security and other SPCB staff to remove badges and other apparel since May 2021.

Question reference: S6W-24717

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many times intrauterine devices have been prescribed to prisoners in the female prison estate in each of the last five years, broken down by type of device.

Question reference: S6W-24714

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many trans (a) women and (b) men have (i) requested and (ii) undergone gender reassignment surgery while in prison in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-24712

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that NHS boards have been asked to pause spending on capital projects, when the National Treatment Centre for NHS Grampian is expected to become operational.

As set out in our draft budget the capital funding position is extremely challenging, with a UK Government cut of some 10% in our capital budget over the next five years. That has inevitably led to some difficult decisions on what capital projects will be progressed.

The Scottish Government will bring forward a revised pipeline of infrastructure investment in the spring, alongside the medium-term financial strategy, at which point we would hope that the fiscal outlook will be clearer.