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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-10618

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 07 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether dental patients whose registrations have been placed in abeyance are included in Information Services Division Scotland statistics, and, if so, what impact would excluding them have on figures for the proportion of the population registered with an NHS dentist, broken down by NHS board.

Patients placed in abeyance are included in the official NHS dental registration and participation statistics published by Information Services Scotland (ISD).

The following table shows the number (and percentage) of people registered with NHS General Dental Services, as at 31 March 2017, and the impact on these figures, excluding those people in abeyance:

Patients registered with NHS General Dental Services, as at 31 March 2017; by NHS Board of patient

All Patients

Excluding Registrations

in Abeyance

NHS Board	Number	% of population	Number	% of population
Scotland	4,974,136	92.0	4,930,121	91.2
Ayrshire & Arran	350,333	94.5	349,233	94.2
Borders	93,572	81.7	93,146	81.3
Dumfries & Galloway	131,350	87.9	130,807	87.5
Fife	321,328	86.8	317,004	85.6
Forth Valley	278,342	91.4	276,052	90.7
Grampian	463,613	78.8	460,231	78.3
Greater Glasgow & Clyde	1,107,036	95.3	1,100,230	94.7
Highland	263,889	82.0	254,043	78.9
Lanarkshire	614,642	93.6	612,499	93.3
Lothian	776,382	88.2	773,724	87.9
Orkney	17,109	78.3	16,737	76.6
Shetland	20,641	89.0	20,611	88.8
Tayside	364,484	87.7	363,291	87.4
Western Isles	22,154	82.4	17,197	63.9
Unknown	149,261	n/a	145,276	n/a

Source: ISD Scotland

Background notes

1. Registrations in abeyance are those with a dentist that resigned on or before 31^st March 2017.

2. Dentists have up to 3 months following the completion of treatment to submit claims. Some forms may be still to be admitted which may affect registration and attendance data.

The effect across Scotland is marginal with around 44,000 patients out of a total count of approximately 4.97 million affected (0.9 per cent).

Question reference: S5W-10681

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 31 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the number of anti-depressant prescriptions issued in each of the last three years by each NHS board.

This information is available in Medicines for Mental Health, Years 2004-05 - 2015-16 data, published online by Information Services Division of NHS National Services Scotland at http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Prescribing-and-medicines/Publications/data-tables.asp?id=1753#1753.

In addition, the Scottish Government has published Key Information on the use of Antidepressants in Scotland which can be found online at: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0045/00456540.pdf.

Question reference: S5O-01207

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 September 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what support it can offer to companies affected by the downturn in the North Sea oil and gas industry that are not based in the north east.

Question reference: S5W-09972

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 June 2017
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 30 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Royal Bank of Scotland regarding the impact of job losses recently announced by the company.

Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise officials have been in contact with the Royal Bank of Scotland on the subject of their recent announcement. We have been informed that RBS will do everything it can to support those affected and we will look to see positive action being taken including redeployment into new roles where possible.

The Scottish Government will continue to engage with RBS and we will do everything we can to provide support and help to those affected in Scotland by job losses through the Finance Sector Jobs Taskforce and, if required, our initiative for responding to redundancy situations Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE).

Question reference: S5W-10623

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 30 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it gathers on the number of domestic cats in Scotland, and what impact reported increases in this number will have on (a) pet cats and (b) the long-term future of the Scottish wildcat.

Free-ranging domestic cat numbers are being monitored in wildcat priority areas through survey work conducted by Scottish Wildcat Action. This survey work is too recent to establish whether there have been changes in the domestic cat populations in those areas. The Scottish Government is unaware of any historic long-term data on domestic cats of sufficient quality to allow assessment of population trends in Scotland and it is difficult to predict what effect an increased domestic cat population would have on pet cats.

One of the main threats to Scottish wildcat is hybridisation with domestic cat, with survey work and genetic analysis confirming widespread hybridisation. An increase in the domestic cat population within the range of the wildcat could result in a corresponding increase in the risk of further hybridisation with wildcats.

Question reference: S5W-10622

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 30 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report, Proposal for Additional Control Measures on Domestic Cat Ownership in Scotland as a Conservation Action to Protect the Scottish Wildcat, by Anna Meredith.

Question reference: S5W-10594

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 04 August 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it will next publish figures on delayed discharges for mental health patients.

NHS Information Services Division publish the Delayed Discharge in NHS Scotland census on a monthly basis (http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Health-and-Social-Community-Care/Publications/data-tables2017.asp?id=1968#1968), showing the total numbers of patients who are delayed in their discharge from hospital in Scotland. Information is shown by NHS Board, local authority, reason, duration and location of delay, but is not broken down by specialties.

Question reference: S5W-10516

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 28 July 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding whether the Inquiries Act 2005 prohibits the UK Government from establishing a statutory inquiry without the permission of the Scottish Ministers.

As provided for in section 27 of the Inquiries Act 2005, Scottish Ministers expect to be consulted in relation to the Terms of Reference of any statutory inquiry if they are to include anything that will require the inquiry to determine any fact, or to make recommendations, wholly or primarily concerned with Scottish matters. In addition, the Scottish Ministers expect that the responsible UK Minister would also consult them should they consider giving any permission for the Chair of any inquiry to require the production of evidence, documents or other information that is wholly or primarily concerned with a Scottish matter; or production of evidence, documents or other items by Scottish Ministers.

Question reference: S5W-10512

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 28 July 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 24 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government under what circumstances all of the documents in the court book of the Penrose Inquiry into contaminated blood will be made available to the UK inquiry.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) holds the record of the Penrose Inquiry. The record was transferred to NRS at the end of the Inquiry, as required under Section 16(3) of The Inquiries (Scotland) Rules 2007.

The Penrose Inquiry record includes all documents from the Courtbook evidence database. Courtbook was used to share evidentiary material with the legal representatives of core participants in the Inquiry, and for the display of documents during the Inquiry’s public hearings. The Penrose record at NRS also includes further administrative records from the Inquiry, and an archived version of the website. While much of the Penrose Inquiry record could be made available regardless of the type of inquiry, the Scottish Government and NRS would need confirmation on what type of inquiry was being taken forward before it could determine whether some of the information, such as witnesses’ personal data, could be shared with the UK inquiry. Many documents in Courtbook are currently available on the Inquiry's archived website.

Question reference: S5W-10465

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 July 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15 August 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it last published a strategy to tackle eating disorders, and what plans it has to publish a new one.

Scottish Government actions to improve the mental health and wellbeing of Scotland’s population have been set out in previous mental health strategies, and most recently in the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027. Delivery of these strategies will have impacted positively either directly or indirectly on the care and treatment of those living with an eating disorder.

In the current Strategy we are committed to developing a digital tool to ensure young people with an eating disorder are able to access support in a way that reflects digital lifestyles. We are also committed to a number of actions around prevention and early intervention and improving access to treatment and joined up accessible services. For example we are working with partners to improve access to child and adolescent mental health services; to improve access to psychological therapies as an evidence based treatment for eating disorder and other mental health conditions; and to improve responses for those in distress; These, and other actions, will all impact positively on those living with an eating disorder.

We have no current plans to publish a stand-alone eating disorder strategy, recognising instead the benefits of the overall strategic approach set out in the Mental Health Strategy 2017-27.