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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-25228

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 4 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the availability of qualified stonemasons to repair and maintain traditionally built homes, in light of Edinburgh College no longer delivering a stonemasonry apprenticeship.

The Scottish Government has been exploring the workforce demand for skilled stonemasons through engagement with the stonemasonry short life working group led by Historic Environment Scotland. The working group was set up to look at stonemasonry and traditional skills provision in Scotland with a view to identifying sustainable models of stonemasonry training for future delivery.

Additionally, Historic Environment Scotland ran a stonemasonry consultation in early 2023 to inform understanding of the size, shape and resilience of the stonemasonry sector in Scotland. The stonemasonry working group have since provided their report of findings and recommendations to Ministers for their consideration.

Regarding the cessation of stonemasonry apprenticeship training at Edinburgh College, the then Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development and I met Historic Environment Scotland in recent months to discuss stonemasonry and we await their proposals to address the skills issues in the sector.

Question reference: S6W-25536

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 1 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to reduce waiting times for ambulances sent by NHS 24.

NHS 24 do not send ambulances to patients. If NHS 24 receive a call from a patient that is deemed to be an emergency, it is passed to a SAS call handler within the Ambulance Control Centres (ACC).

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with the Scottish Ambulance Service and Health Boards to ensure a continuous focus on responding to the most critically unwell patients as quickly as possible.

We continue to invest in supporting the Service and patients, including a record number of additional staff (1388) since 2020. Our £50m funding investment this year is being used, in part, to recruit a further 317 additional frontline staff across the country.

We have also set out a number of principles that health boards should aim to achieve in order to safely reduce handover times at the front door of hospitals. This is an important piece of work that will reduce the pressure on hospital and ambulance services.

Question reference: S6W-25240

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 26 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how often it monitors and reviews the decisions taken by NHS boards on safeguarding training for non-clinical staff who interact with patients.

The Staff Governance Standard, which is applicable to all staff employed in NHSScotland, requires health boards to appropriately train and develop staff, as well as provide a safe working environment. The Scottish Government monitors compliance annually to ensure health boards, as employers, are meeting this standard. This includes providing the necessary training for staff according to statutory requirements.

Question reference: S6W-25207

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent to date on the legal process that began in 2022 between Transport Scotland and the developer, Ambassador Living, regarding the dispute over the use of Ferrymuir Gait to access the Forthview housing development.

Question reference: S6O-03055

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding actions that can be taken to preserve energy networks following periods of bad weather.

Question reference: S6W-24440

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 25 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the funding set out in the NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026 has been allocated to improving child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in the (a) NHS Lothian and (b) West Lothian Council area.

Table One shows the funding allocated to NHS Lothian for improving child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in 2021-2022 and for a broader range of Mental Health Services, including CAMHS, from 2022-2023. Allocations for the current financial year, 2023-2024 have not yet concluded.

It should be noted that allocations from 2022-2023 onwards were made from the Mental Health Outcomes Framework, which bundled a number of funding streams to allow NHS Boards flexibility to meet local priorities against the stated outcomes. The total allocation can be utilised to support improvements in CAMHS, psychological therapies, eating disorder care, primary care and children and young people’s neurodevelopmental services, as well as ongoing innovation and service reform. It is therefore not possible to provide a specific figure for funding allocated to CAMHS improvement from 2022-23 onwards.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the final allocations to specific Integration Joint Boards. NHS Lothian will be able to advise on the funding received for CAMHS in the West Lothian Council area resulting from their delegation arrangements.

Table One:

Financial Year	NHS Lothian Allocation
2021-2022	£5,702,137
2022-2023	£9,154,511

Question reference: S6O-03043

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to ensure that pupils can interact with museums as part of their education to help address racism and the legacy of colonialism.

Question reference: S6W-24439

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 22 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the funding set out in the NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026 has been allocated to improving audiology services in the (a) NHS Lothian and (b) West Lothian Council area.

We published the NHS Recovery Plan in August 2021, which sets out our plans for health and social care over the next 5 years, backed by over £1 billion of funding. The second annual progress update was published on 6 December 2023: NHS recovery plan: progress report 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Whilst Scottish Ministers are responsible for determining the strategic policy of the NHS in Scotland, it is NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally who have responsibility for service delivery and patient treatment. The Scottish Government welcomes the recently published Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland report and we fully recognise that there is work to be done to improve audiology care across the country.

We are continuing to work closely with NHS Boards, Independent Providers and the Third Sector to develop fully integrated and sustainable audiology care and treatment located closer to the local communities being served. This includes the roll out of a Third sector-NHS partnership after-care service RNID Near You.

Question reference: S6W-24374

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to take to bring the Ferrymuir Gait access issue to a final conclusion.

Question reference: S6O-03009

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it holds Social Security Scotland to account to ensure that it is fulfilling its responsibility to help claimants, who request support, to provide supporting information, including obtaining it on their behalf.