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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-11464

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 1 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service's target to conduct its investigation and advise the next of kin of the outcome within 12 weeks of the initial report of the death in at least 80% of cases following a sudden or unexplained death, what (a) percentage and (b) number of final post mortem reports were not issued within 12 weeks in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022 to date.

COPFS aims to conduct its investigation and advise the next of kin of the outcome within 12 weeks of the initial report of the death in at least 80% of cases.

Reporting years 2020-21 and 2021-22 saw increases in deaths reported to COPFS of 44% and 40% respectively, reflecting a combination of factors including, but not restricted to, excess deaths attributable directly to COVID-19, local GPs having less contact with patients in the community and being unable to certify deaths, and changes in the process of dealing with and reporting deaths in the community.

The number of cases requiring further investigation, because no cause of death was immediately apparent, has therefore increased, with 7085 post-mortem examinations instructed in 2021-22, an increase of 742 on the previous year. The following table shows the numbers and percentage of deaths requiring further investigation for the last two reporting years and the first two quarters of the current year.

Progress against the published performance target is monitored regularly and has improved significantly this reporting year.

In deaths which require further investigation, conduct the investigation and advise the next of kin of the outcome within 12 weeks in at least 80% of cases
	Cases closed within 12 weeks	Cases closed after more than 12 weeks	Total cases closed	Percentage closed within 12 weeks
2020-21 (15,712 deaths reported)	4,667	3,219	7,886	59%
2021-22 (15,308 deaths reported)	4,193	4,266	8,459	50%
2022-23 (to 30 September)	2,871	1,622	4,493	64%

Question reference: S6W-11465

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 1 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6O-00237 by the Lord Advocate on 6 October 2021 (Official Report, c. 3), whether it will provide an update on the work of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to address acknowledged issues in managing post mortem reports.

Significant work has been done by COPFS, toxicologists and pathologists to address this issue. Since the beginning of 2021, there has been no backlog of toxicology reports. In some cases, the toxicology analysis requires to be supplemented by further scientific testing to assist the pathologist in establishing the cause of death. The dedicated team established by COPFS in November 2021 continues to manage the submission of the final post mortem reports which then require to be considered by Procurators Fiscal.

In this reporting year, over 90% of final post mortem reports have been received within 12 weeks of the date of post mortem and the number of reports still to be processed by COPFS has been substantially reduced from a peak figure of almost 2200 in December 2021 to 356 the week commencing 20 October 2022.

Question reference: S6F-01480

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 November 2022

To ask the First Minister what urgent action the Scottish Government is taking to prevent poverty-related malnutrition and food insecurity, in light of reported growing concerns from healthcare workers, school staff and charities about the impact of hunger on people across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-11452

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 26 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve life expectancy in Lanarkshire, in light of the diminishing life expectancies highlighted in the National Records of Scotland report, Life Expectancy in Scotland 2019-2021.

The National Records of Scotland published the latest life expectancy statistics on 22 September 2022. As reflected in these statistics, the pandemic has hit our most deprived communities the hardest, including many in Lanarkshire.

Reducing poverty and inequality sits at the heart of our investment across all portfolios and remain the best way of improving life expectancy. As a result we are mobilising action across government to tackle the underlying causes of inequality in our society.

This includes our commitment to providing free school meals, increasing the number of hours of free childcare, investing in affordable housing and continuing to deliver free prescriptions, concessionary travel and free personal care. Our Programme for Government and COVID Recovery Strategy include further commitments to improve life expectancy and to tackle health inequalities.

Question reference: S6W-11454

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 26 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that retailers do not sell vaping products to under-18s.

We are greatly concerned by reports of children and under-age young people obtaining e-cigarettes or vaping products. Vapes and other nicotine products are part of a range of cessations tools available to existing smokers to help stop tobacco use. They are not a lifestyle accessory for children, young people or adult non-smokers.

There are already regulations in place which restrict the marketing, promotion and sale of vaping products to under 18s. We wrote to all retailers involved in their sale to remind them of their duty at the start of October 2022.

Our recent consultation proposed restrictions on vaping products that strike a balance between protecting all non-smokers from the potential harms of vaping, while still providing existing adult smokers with the information they need to make an informed choice on cessation. We hope to bring forward further regulation in the new year.

We recognise the importance of having a clear public health message for young people around the dangers of vaping. We are working with Young Scot and the Children’s Parliament to bring their voices into our work to develop a bold refreshed Tobacco Action Plan due to be published in Autumn 2023.

Question reference: S6W-11453

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 10 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 26 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many retailers have been (a) charged and (b) convicted in relation to selling vaping products to under-18s.

Question reference: S6W-11373

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 25 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to fund research into heart condition diagnoses for women, in light of public health data that reportedly shows a rise in hospital admissions due to takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

The Women’s Health Plan, 2021-2024, includes a long term action to establish a Women’s Health Research Fund with the aim of closing gaps in scientific and medical knowledge in women’s health for both sex specific and non sex-specific conditions.

The Chief Scientist Office provide funding for the NHS Research Scotland Cardiovascular Network. The role of the Network is to support the delivery of high quality cardiovascular disease clinical research for the benefit of patients in Scotland and is currently providing support for the following clinical study:

Tako Genetics Study - Is There a Genetic Predisposition for Acute Stress-Induced (Takotsubo) Cardiomyopathy?

The Chief Scientist Office directly funds research through its 2 expert committees.

Applications on Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy, and other heart conditions, are welcomed and in common with all other applications would go through a process of independent expert review in order to enable funding decisions to be made.

Question reference: S6W-11329

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 25 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work on reviewing environmental justice and the case for an environmental court, as referred to in its Programme for Government 2021-22.

The Scottish Government will carry out the review required by section 41 of the EU Withdrawal from the EU (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021. This Act requires Ministers to review and consult on the effectiveness of the governance arrangements introduced by the Act, access to justice on environmental matters and whether the establishment of an environmental court could enhance the environmental governance arrangements. The report has to be presented to the Parliament within six months of Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) adopting its first full strategy.

The ESS strategy has recently been laid in the Parliament and is expected to be published shortly, subject to the Parliamentary process. The review is planned to be published and the subsequent consultation to be launched in spring 2023.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a new right to a healthy environment as a part of the planned Human Rights Bill.

Question reference: S6W-11371

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 25 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it plans to take to raise awareness of takotsubo cardiomyopathy and other heart syndromes in women, in light of public health data that reportedly shows an increase in women being hospitalised with this syndrome.

Question reference: S6W-11372

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 25 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what actions are being taken to raise awareness of heart health for women, as outlined in the Women's Health Plan for 2021-24.