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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: S4W-29678

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 26 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress the Detect Cancer Early Programme is making in meeting its objectives.

Question reference: S4O-05616

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 March 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it will make a final decision on a deposit return scheme for beverage containers.

Question reference: S4W-29680

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 22 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage more clinicians to participate in breast cancer research.

To ensure there is sufficient clinician time to plan and undertake research, the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Research Strategy launched in October 2015 committed to investing £12.7 million per annum to health boards through a researcher support budget to meet the time of staff conducting research.

The NHS Research Scotland Career Researcher scheme was launched in 2011 to support NHS-funded clinical staff in developing a research career within their NHS post. The award provides funding for protected time to contribute to, conduct and lead clinical research. In 2015-16, the Scottish Government provided funding of £1.64 million to support this scheme.

The Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office and Breast Cancer Now have jointly committed a total of £450,000 to be made available for Scottish-led research in breast cancer. This funding covers translational research, defined as having a clear potential pathway to patient benefit.

Question reference: S4O-05552

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 February 2016
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 11 February 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of the consequences of any variation in the Scottish rate of income tax in 2016-17.

The Scottish rate of income tax for 2016-17 has to be applied equally across all the existing tax bands.

A Scottish rate at a level other than 10p, therefore, would either see an increase or a decrease in the tax bills of all those liable to pay income tax. For the tax year 2016-17, this will be everyone with income over £11,000.

Similarly, a rate at a level other than 10p would generate either less or more revenue for the Scottish Government's budget.

Question reference: S4W-29186

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 20 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the outcome of Operation Alexander in December 2015, what plans it has in 2016 to prioritise the targeting of shops that sell new psychoactive substances.

Operation Alexander is a co-ordinated enforcement operation by local authority trading standards services against new psychoactive substance suppliers. Further action is a matter for local trading standards authorities.

The Scottish Government are working closely with the UK Government on the detail of the UK-wide psychoactive substances bill which is due to become law in April 2016. The legislation will make it an offence to produce, supply, offer to supply, possess with intent to supply, import and export psychoactive substances. The Bill will also create an offence for possession of psychoactive substances within a custodial setting.

Question reference: S4W-29187

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 20 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it provided for Operation Alexander in December 2015, which targeted shops selling new psychoactive substances.

The Scottish Government did not directly fund Operation Alexander. The Scottish Government provided funding of £21,450 to Trading Standards Scotland to assist in removing barriers in tackling new psychoactive substances (NPS). This included the development of an operational toolkit and guidance, as recommended by the expert review group. The funding has also been used to build a national intelligence picture of NPS suppliers. In addition, the funding helped meet the costs of the forensic analysis of seized products during Operation Alexander.

Question reference: S4W-29188

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 20 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out the effectiveness of its strategy in dealing with new psychoactive substances.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with the sector to review a range of interventions to tackle new psychoactive substances (NPS) and the dangers they pose. The NPS Evidence Group is comprised of key stakeholders from a range of sectors including health, enforcement, academia, and the third sector, amongst others.

The Scottish Government established an expert review group in August 2014 to consider the powers available in Scotland to tackle the sale and supply of NPS. The group published its report on 26 February 2015. The report makes six recommendations which we are taking forward. The full report can be accessed via this link: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/02/3802.

The Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs, Paul Wheelhouse MSP, led a parliamentary debate on 29 September 2015, where an update was given on progress to implement the NPS Expert Review Group recommendations. Members supported the motion. The Official Report from the debate can be accessed via this link: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=10118.

A NPS cross party working group has been established and chaired by Paul Wheelhouse, MSP. The group have been asked to build upon the existing cross party census and to work together to address the challenges NPS present. The group are examining the current work underway and are contributing ideas to a range of themed work on NPS. The group are due to publish a report in February 2016.

Question reference: S4W-29189

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 January 2016
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 20 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action NHS boards take to collate data on hospital admissions caused by the ingesting, inhaling or injection of new psychoactive substances and what analysis it has carried out to determine whether this information has been recorded adequately.

NHS Scotland patient recording systems do not currently include a code to capture new psychoactive substance (NPS) use. Collection of data on NPS prevalence and harms within the NHS, therefore, is limited. These problems are not restricted to Scotland, but are common across Europe and internationally, where the systematic collection of data on NPS in healthcare settings is scarce.

The NPS Evidence Group have acknowledged the importance of data on NPS use from emergency departments. They are exploring options on how to improve the collection of NPS data within the NHS.

Question reference: S4O-05241

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 January 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 January 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and what issues were discussed.

Question reference: S4W-28864

Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 December 2015
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 21 December 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the question S4W-28639 by Maureen Watt on 2 December 2015, how much recurring funding has been provided to NHS boards, and what proportion of this has been spent on new hepatitis C therapies.