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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: S5W-22896

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 8 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-22254 by Christina McKelvie on 28 March 2019, for what reason it has decided not to quantify the historic implications of slavery for Scotland as a whole, and whether it will encourage other public bodies to carry out this work.

Whilst we are determined to learn from our past and the role Scotland played in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, our efforts at the present time are focused on ensuring we deliver positive outcomes for the minority ethnic people of Scotland now. This work is being carried out through the Race Equality Action Plan and Race Equality Framework which sets out our approach to promoting race equality and tackling racism and inequality between 2016 and 2030.

Question reference: S5W-22885

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 29 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 8 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that abortion care meets the needs of women who are disabled, have ME or are refugees, and LGBTI people, as recommended in the Engender report, Our Bodies, Our Rights.

The Scottish Government believes all women in Scotland should have access to clinically safe and legal abortion services, within the limits that are currently set down in law, should they require it. It is our view that abortion care should be part of standard healthcare provisions, free from stigma. We continue to work with NHS boards on the provision and further improvement of abortion services across Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that abortion services in Scotland are all-inclusive and accessible to all individuals, regardless of disabilities, age, gender, sexual orientation and ethnicity. Services should meet the needs of individuals in a person-centred and respectful way.

Question reference: S5W-22691

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 7 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the evidence given by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport to the Public Petitions Committee on 24 January 2019 regarding petition PE1690 (Official Report, c. 30), what further information it can provide regarding the training module for GPs that is being developed by NHS Education for Scotland, and whether it will take account of the views and experiences of people with lived experience of the condition.

The NES Practice Based Small Group Learning (PBSGL) membership (including GPs, GP nurses, and pharmacists in Scotland) has selected ME as a module for NES to develop and produce in 2020, aligned to the production of the new NICE guideline also due in 2020. It is appropriate to produce this module informed by the NICE guideline to ensure the training module reflects current research findings.

PBSGL modules are designed to meet the learning needs of primary care clinicians. The first step in developing the educational content of the module will be for a small number of primary care clinicians to take part in an online focus group to identify the clinical challenges and learning needs of Scottish primary care. In addition to this, there is often a resource page in the module for use by PBSGL members, which usually contain a range of website sources, including information from charities, third sector organisations and other information clinicians may find useful.

Question reference: S5W-22795

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 3 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Health Protection Scotland issuing a health alert following the discovery of poisonous toxins in samples of heroin circulating across the country since February 2019.

Scottish Government continue to monitor this situation closely. Health Protection Scotland (HPS) are working closely in collaboration with NHS Health Boards in the affected areas and Police Scotland.

HPS have issued a Scotland wide briefing note to alert frontline workers in healthcare and addiction services to the possibility of further cases. Health Protection Scotland have also worked in collaboration with Public Health England to issue an alert through the Early Warning and Response System operated by the European Centre for Disease Control to alert Member States to the potential for further cases and to ascertain whether other Member States have detected any similar events.

Question reference: S5O-03197

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment the finance secretary has made of the contribution that immigration makes to Scotland's economy.

Question reference: S5W-22659

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS boards have used mobile medical testing units in the last 12 months, and how much was spent on such units in each of the preceding three financial years, broken down by board.

Question reference: S5W-22658

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on NHS boards using mobile medical testing units provided by private companies, such as Vanguard Healthcare.

It is for individual Health Boards to determine how best to deliver services to meet the needs of their local population, ensuring that quality care and patient safety remains the priority. One advantage of such testing units is that they allow Boards to deploy additional capacity quickly and effectively.

For example, under the Waiting Times Improvement Plan, NHS Highland have received funding to contract for a Vanguard theatre to support them to tackle long waiting patients. The unit became fully operational from mid-March 2019 and will enable multiple teams to provide treatment to patients in key specialties such as ENT, General Surgery and Urology.

Question reference: S5W-22646

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 1 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many homeless households were assessed as having no local connection to the assessing local authority in each of the last three years, and what the outcomes were for these households.

The following table gives the outcome for closed cases where the household was assessed as having no local connection to the assessing local authority for each of the last three years.

Outcome	2015- 2016	2016- 2017	2017- 2018
Moved to alternative accommodation	320	415	320
LA tenancy	455	490	545
Private rented - assured tenancy	130	105	175
Hostel - local authority	0	0	5
Hostel - RSL	5	5	5
Hostel - other	5	5	0
Returned to previous-present accommodation	215	270	255
Moved-in with friends- relatives	160	235	195
Tenancy with voluntary organisation other than above	0	5	5
RSL (Housing Association) tenancy	380	415	400
Private rented - short assured tenancy	55	50	40
Women's refuge	5	5	0
Residential care - nursing home	0	5	0
Home Ownership - Shared Ownership	0	0	0
Home Ownership - Bought own home via other means	0	5	5
Supported accommodation or Support Housing	15	15	30
Sheltered Accommodation	0	0	0
Shared Property - LA	0	0	0
Shared Property - Private Rented Sector	0	0	5
Lodger	0	0	5
Prison	55	40	25
Hospital	5	5	0
Other (known)	155	190	195
Not known	535	450	525
All	2505	2700	2735

Source: HL1 dataset as at 12-12-2018

Question reference: S5W-22657

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 1 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what health and safety controls exist to ensure that mobile medical testing units meet the required standards, and who is responsible for ensuring that they do.

When a Health Board provides healthcare services, whether they be from permanent or modular portable buildings, the primary responsibility for ensuring the safety of staff, patients and visitors lies with the Board. The Board must ensure that services and equipment are tested in accordance with the appropriate legislation prior to use and as part of their normal maintenance routines. Boards also have access to guidance produced by Health Facilities Scotland and others to help them in discharging their responsibilities.

Question reference: S5W-22645

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 12 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 29 April 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether homeless people or local authorities and other organisations arranging accommodation for homeless people, will be required to pay a transient visitor levy for stays in (a) hostels and (b) B&Bs.

The Scottish Government will consult this year on the principles of a locally determined tourist tax, prior to introducing legislation that would allow local authorities to introduce such a tax if they consider it appropriate for local circumstances. We recognise the need to ensure a local authority choosing to use this discretionary power will not undermine the provision of accommodation for homeless people and will seek views on this in our consultation.