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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-12416

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to introduce training places funded through the Student Awards Agency Scotland for career-changers who wish to retrain as allied health professionals.

A national oversight group responsible for a review of AHP Education and Workforce Review has recently concluded its work. The collaborative group involving a wide range of AHP stakeholders including professional bodies, HEIs and NHS Boards have produced a number of recommendations. Workforce and recruitment and education delivery models have been considered and, although I will not pre-empt the recommendations of that group, I look forward to receiving the suite of recommendations the group has put forward regarding the future of training and development of AHP staff.

Question reference: S6W-12417

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce bursaries for those training for or studying allied health professions.

Question reference: S6W-12415

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are plans to develop a training and development fund specifically for the allied health professions.

A national oversight group responsible for a review of AHP Education and Workforce has recently concluded its work. The collaborative group involving a wide range of AHP stakeholders including professional bodies, HEIs and NHS Boards is due to report their recommendations to the Scottish Government. I will not pre-empt the recommendations of that group but look forward to receiving the suite of recommendations the group has put forward regarding the future of training and development of AHP staff.

Question reference: S6O-01646

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when its prospectus, Building a New Scotland, will include a detailed plan regarding the economic practicalities of introducing a border with the rest of the UK.

Question reference: S6W-11873

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 15 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what planning and preparation is taking place to ensure that Scotland can adopt HPV self-sampling in the national cervical screening programme as soon as it is recommended by the UK National Screening Committee.

The Scottish Government is committed to exploring the implementation of HPV self-sampling, and acknowledges that it has the potential to increase uptake levels and reduce barriers to cervical screening.

The UK National Screening Committee (NSC) recognises the potential benefits of self-sampling but have concluded that there is currently insufficient evidence to recommend implementation. Studies are underway to gather further evidence, but it is not yet known when the NSC may make a positive recommendation. Additionally, it is unclear when the work to assess and validate a test for HPV self-sampling in the UK will complete.

As introducing a new screening test into the National Screening Programme is inherently complex, a working group has been convened to assess potential models and understand any required changes to the screening programme to support an initial roll-out. This work is being informed by the emerging evidence from UK and global research, including the study undertaken in Dumfries and Galloway which provided self-sampling test kits to women between 25 and 64 who had not taken up the offer of attending for cervical screening. The results of this study showed the potential benefits of self-sampling, but also underlined the need to carefully consider how any eventual roll-out is targeted.

Question reference: S6W-11877

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 15 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10776 by Kevin Stewart on 20 September 2022, on what date it will launch the formal public consultation period on the proposed Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill.

Question reference: S6O-01529

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the social justice cabinet secretary has had with ministerial colleagues on any potential impact on levels of personal debt of the inclusion of individual consumers under the Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Bill.

Question reference: S6O-01417

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support the rural economy in areas impacted by long-term population decline.

Question reference: S6W-09954

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what investment it is making in public transport in (a) Patna and (b) other villages in Scotland to ensure that residents are able to travel to and from nearby towns and major cities at times convenient to them.

The Scottish Government is aware of the importance of rural bus services for villages across the country and are committed, in partnership with operators and local authorities, to looking at ways of ensuring that those living in or visiting Patna, as well as all other towns and villages across Scotland, are provided with effective and accessible public transport.

Since the end of January children and young people under the age of 22 in Scotland have been able to travel for free by bus. Around half of Scotland’s population are now eligible for free bus travel including those aged over 60, under 22 and eligible disabled persons. The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 provides an enhanced suite of options for local transport authorities to improve bus services according to their local needs.

The Scottish Government’s Community Bus Fund will support local transport authorities to explore the options in the Act, and to improve public transport in their areas – £1 million is allocated in the 2022-23 Scottish Budget for development of the Community Bus Fund. The Scottish Government have provided up to £210 million in funding to support bus services during the pandemic and are providing £100 million in to support bus services this year including additional recovery funding.

Additionally, the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2), which sets the priorities for transport spending over the next 20 years and has been developed in conjunction with stakeholders across the country, includes several recommendations which are relevant to rural areas and will have a positive impact on improving public transport connectivity to nearby towns and major cities. The draft report was published on 20 January this year for a three month consultation period. Feedback is now being considered and the final report is due later this year.

Question reference: S6W-09952

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether spectating at sporting events can be an important and significant part of some people's lives, and what it is doing to ensure that public transport services work to ensure that such events can be enjoyed by all.

Spectating at sporting events is important to the people of Scotland and brings benefits in terms of enjoyment, stress reduction, socialisation and camaraderie with community, friends and family. Public transport has a role to play in enabling fans to get to and from sporting events, especially families and young people. The extension of free bus travel to all children and young people under 22 makes public transport more affordable, helping to improve access to such events while enabling them to travel sustainably early in their lives.

In Scotland we take a modal corridor approach to strategic transport issues for the last two decades. The Scottish Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2) makes recommendations on the strategic corridors and TS continues to work hard with local and national partners to provide such connectivity; and local authorities have a key role to play too.

Transport Scotland engages with transport operators on decision making for meeting spectator requirements. With the introduction of Scotrail’s Fit for the Future timetable from 20 July 2022, reliability of rail service to sporting events has improved as driver availability has improved. Transport Scotland will monitor public transport offerings for sporting events.