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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-24250

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent non-communicable diseases (NCD), in light of a recent report by a group of cross-party MSPs and NCD Alliance Scotland calling for further action on NCD prevention.

The Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to our Public Health agenda as well as the range of priority actions that we have set out in relation to various health harming products, including tobacco, alcohol and less healthy food.

We know people living in poverty have poorer health outcomes and are at a higher risk of NCDs. In 2022-23, we invested an estimated £3 billion across a range of programmes targeted at low income households - with £1.25 billion directly benefitting children. This includes over £213 million on the Scottish Child Payment, over £169 million on School Meals, and £33.5 million Whole Family Wellbeing Funding.

In addition, we recently consulted on increasing the current rate of Minimum Unit Price from 50 pence per unit to 65 pence. We have consulted as part of a UK-wide consultation on raising the age of smoking and further restrictions on vapes. We are also committed to legislation to restrict the promotion of less healthy food and drink where they are sold to the public. Our new and ambitious Cancer Strategy and Cancer Action Plan for Scotland was published in June 2023, which outlines 11 ambitions and 8 outcomes.

Question reference: S6W-24022

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered expanding the Health Infrastructure Investment Plan to include funding for a new medical centre in East Calder.

Question reference: S6O-02983

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what safeguarding training NHS boards are required to provide to non-clinical staff who are handling interactions with members of the public.

Question reference: S6T-01726

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to ensure that all people who were potentially wrongfully convicted as a result of the reported Horizon scandal are supported in coming forward if they wish for their conviction to be overturned.

Question reference: S6W-23937

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the provision of magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) from NHS Tayside and the subsequently reported removal of the cross-border referral of Scottish essential tremor patients to NHS England services, what plans it has to redirect any funding towards aiding a national commission for MRgFUS services across NHS Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-02940

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of the proposed closure of 29 police stations across Scotland on antisocial behaviour.

Question reference: S6W-23363

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to improve the reporting and recording of Islamophobia in schools, colleges and universities.

The Scottish Government is clear there is no place for Islamophobia or racism in our schools, colleges or universities. Discrimination or prejudice of any kind is unacceptable and must be addressed quickly whenever it arises.

A consistent and uniform approach to recording and monitoring incidents of bullying in schools was introduced in 2019. Guidance for local authorities and schools on recording and monitoring bullying incidents was produced to support the approach. The Bullying and Equalities Module on SEEMiS, the schools management information system, was updated to reflect the new approach. The list of characteristics that can be reported on within SEEMiS includes incidents where race or religion was a factor.

Our Behaviour in Scottish Schools research, which published on 28 November 2023, provides information on the frequency with which staff are dealing with racist incidents towards pupils or themselves. Our work on Racism and Racist Incidents, which is part of the Anti Racism in Education Programme, will provide further guidance for schools on recording and monitoring racist incidents, including incidents of Islamophobia.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) published a report earlier this year, which asks higher and further education institutions to address the most pressing persistent inequalities in the tertiary education system, including islamophobia, by contributing to a set of National Equality Outcomes (NEOs). We expect higher and further education institutions to prioritise, and demonstrate progress against these NEOs, in line with their reporting requirements under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Additionally, in 2021-22, the Scottish Government supported the Fearless Glasgow collaborative in a pilot on the use of Report and Support, an online reporting system for incidents of islamophobia, gender-based violence and other issues, which is now in use at a number of universities across the UK.

Question reference: S6W-23522

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 14 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it has taken to date to implement the recommendations of the Report of the inquiry into Islamophobia in Scotland by the Cross-Party Group on Tackling Islamophobia, in light of it being more than two years since the report was published.

The Scottish Government welcomed the publication of ‘Scotland’s Islamophobia’ – the report into Islamophobia in Scotland by the Cross-Party Group (CPG) on Tackling Islamophobia, and will continue to carefully consider the recommendations made.

The report shines a light on some serious issues faced by our Muslim communities in Scotland and we are committed to ensuring that Islamophobia is not tolerated. The Scottish Government is funding and working closely with organisations working to tackle racist and religious intolerance, as well as improve the lives of minority ethnic and religious communities in Scotland.

I have committed to attend a meeting with the CPG in early 2024 to discuss interventions to tackle Islamophobia in Scotland, including the recommendations within the CPG report ‘Scotland’s Islamophobia’.

Question reference: S6O-02898

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether urban areas will be included in its land reform legislation.

Question reference: S6W-23193

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 11 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of incidents in Scotland of children drowning, in light of data from the 2022 Active Lives Survey reportedly showing that only 34.7% of children from low-income families in some parts of the UK are able to swim 25 metres unaided, compared with 76.4% children from high-income families.

The Scottish Government believes that every child should be given the opportunity to learn to swim, it is a life skill that can save lives.

While the Active Lives Survey relates to England only, we recognise that children living in areas of deprivation may be less likely to be able to swim. We have been working with Scottish Swimming, Education Scotland, sportscotland and Scottish Water to develop interventions and approaches to provide opportunities for children to become confident, safer and competent swimmers. Inclusion has been central to the approach and there is a specific focus on targeting areas within quintile 1 of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. Four Delivery Pilots have taken place to support schools to understand and consider different approaches on how best to support young people to access school swimming. An evaluation, available here , has been published and we will work with Scottish Swimming and sportscotland to utilise the learning from these pilots to consider the best approach for a continued roll out of a national framework for school swimming.

Our Water Safety action plan which focuses on key initiatives to improve education, data, local area water safety planning and incident reviews, was updated in June 2023.