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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-10980

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08911 by Michael Matheson on 15 June 2022, what steps it took to ensure that, in making comparisons between average water charges in England and Wales and those in Scotland, the average prices were calculated on the same basis.

Question reference: S6W-10982

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08912 by Michael Matheson on 15 June 2022, how it reconciles the uplift in Scottish Water charges of 1.5% a year above inflation and the revised figure of 1.8% above the rate of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation that would be required to achieve expected income levels with the figures of 2% and the more than CPI+2%, respectively, which are quoted as required in the letter from the Water Industry Commission for Scotland to Scottish Water of 3 February 2022 regarding water charges for 2022-23, and the figure of CPI+3% that Scottish Water states in its Board Paper 11/22, which was released under FOI.

As set out in the response to S6W-08912, the Final Determination explained that the Commission would expect that its charge caps would allow Scottish Water’s annual revenue in the final year of the current regulatory control period to be no less than £1,392m (as set out in page 10 of the Final Determination). This level of revenue was based on assuming an average charge cap of 1.5% a year above inflation over the regulatory control period 2021-27.

The Final Determination set a maximum amount of charges of CPI + 2% on average for each year of the regulatory control period. As set out in the Final Determination, the difference between the CPI + 2% and the CPI + 1.5% each year on average was to cover any additional costs that Scottish Water incurs in selecting an investment option that has a higher net present value than the lowest financial cost option, after allowing for externalities such as carbon, natural and social capital. This is the allowance of £132m set out in pages 9 and 15 of the Final Determination. This money would only be used where such projects had been thoroughly appraised. The minimum revenue expectation did not take account of this allowance.

Question reference: S6W-11159

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 10 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason doctors in Scotland reportedly pay higher pension contributions than doctors in England and Wales, and what it plans to do to address this issue.

We are still modelling potential structures based on updated scheme membership data and plan to engage with the Scheme Advisory Board on these shortly. The previous proposals we consulted on put forward broadly similar rates for lower earners to those in the contribution structure implemented in England and Wales.

When developing the structure, protecting lower earners from large increases in contribution rates is a key driver but has to be balanced against the legal imperative to begin to reduce the very highest rates and flatten the contribution structure. The biggest challenge in comparing against the rates in England and Wales is that there is a bigger yield shortfall to recover in the Scottish scheme, principally due to workforce demographics.

Question reference: S6W-11164

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has been approached by any director of pharmacy in relation to amending regulations to make it easier to withhold remuneration from pharmacies that opt to close without an adequate reason for doing so.

Question reference: S6W-11161

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to undertake a consultation on pension arrangements for doctors.

Question reference: S6W-11169

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce a power for NHS boards to take over failing pharmacies.

Question reference: S6W-11167

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether pharmacies that close can still receive non-activity-based payments, and how much these are per day.

All payments as part of the national contractual framework are published annually. The latest iteration can be found at SHOW - Scotlands Health On the Web - Publications, including payments for non-activity based services delivered as part of the Pharmaceutical Services Remuneration Global Sum.

Health Boards can recover remuneration in line with the measures available as set out in the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 and the National Health Service (Discipline Committees) (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

Question reference: S6W-11163

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of reports of locum pharmacists in Scotland being offered work elsewhere in the UK by a large pharmacy chain at the same time that the company was closing branches in Scotland due to a shortage of staff.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any practice by pharmacy chains offering work to Scottish locum pharmacists in other parts of the UK while agreeing to closures across the Scottish pharmacy network.

Neither the Scottish Government or Health Boards are responsible for the terms or contractual arrangements put in place between pharmacy businesses and those who provide a pharmacy locum service.

Question reference: S6W-11158

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review the 4.5% pay offer to doctors, in light of a British Medical Association (BMA) survey finding that 78% of respondees would be willing to take some form of industrial action in order to deliver improved pay.

The Scottish Government along with the BMA and other stakeholders provide evidence to the Doctors and Dentist Review Bodies (DDRB) who make an independent recommendation on pay uplifts for medical and dental staff across the UK.

We take part in this process in good faith and in the knowledge that the DDRB make independent recommendations which can be above or below what participants are seeking. This year, the DDRB have recommended a pay award which we have implemented in full for all Medical and Dental staff.

Question reference: S6W-11162

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 September 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 6 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the British Medical Association's (BMA) reported view that 10% of the GP workforce could retire by the end of 2022 due to the "punitive" pension system in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is aware of the impact that the UK Government’s pension annual and life time allowances policy is having on the GP workforce in Scotland. There is limited action we can take to mitigate the impact as issues relating to pensions are a reserved matter. We have written to the UK Government on a number occasions to urge them to take action, and we have highlighted our concerns about the risks to delivering in-hours general practice as well as out of hours services.