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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-30437

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether mental health screenings should take place at routine epilepsy appointments to help identify any possible issues at an earlier stage.

We want all people with epilepsy to be able to access the best possible care and support. Since October 2020 we have committed almost £650,000 towards projects which specifically improve the health and wellbeing of people with epilepsy.

In 2022-23 Scottish Government funded Epilepsy Scotland to work with NHS Lothian in piloting mental health screening and intervention for people with epilepsy.

We are working hard to improve support for those whose mental health is affected by long term physical health conditions, such as epilepsy, and in 2023 published a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy jointly with COSLA, which incorporates a focus on wellbeing and prevention.

One of the Strategy’s priorities is that “People with mental health conditions, including those with co-existing health conditions, experience improved quality and length of life, free from stigma and discrimination.”

Our Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults has been a key development on prevention and early intervention in recent years, addressing a number of mental health and wellbeing concerns. It has a focus on at risk groups including those with a long-term health condition or disability.

Question reference: S6W-30261

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 27 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to protect the public's right to privacy, in light of Police Scotland's reported decision to use live facial recognition surveillance technology for the first time.

The use of live facial recognition technology is an operational matter for Police Scotland, under the scrutiny of the Scottish Police Authority. Police Scotland must also abide by the relevant laws; the European Convention on Human Rights; and the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner’s statutory code of practice.

The Scottish Government recognises that assurances are required in order to secure public trust and support for any future use of new technology by Police Scotland, including live facial recognition.

We stand ready to work with Police Scotland, the SPA, the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner and others to develop an approach to the use of facial recognition technology which is lawful, effective, proportionate and rights-based.

Question reference: S6W-30262

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 27 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 8 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of the privacy and human rights implications of live facial recognition technology.

Technological advances in biometrics have brought huge benefits to police and other justice agencies in detecting, preventing and prosecuting crime.

With regard to live facial recognition technology, the Scottish Government is aware that concerns have been raised about privacy and inaccurate results for the faces of people from racialised minorities. That is why it is important that in adopting new technology, it is done in a way that secures public confidence. Any deployment of new technologies should be lawful, effective, proportionate and compliant with the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).

The use of live facial recognition technology is an operational matter for Police Scotland, under the scrutiny of the Scottish Police Authority. Police Scotland must also abide by the relevant laws; the ECHR; and the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner’s statutory code of practice.

Question reference: S6F-03447

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 07 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 October 2024

To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.

Question reference: S6W-29274

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 26 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 23 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in each NHS board area are currently on a waiting list for (a) a kidney and (ii) any other organ transplant.

As at 31 July 2024, the numbers of people active on the waiting list for a kidney transplant by NHS Board are:

Kidney Transplant Waiting List

NHS Board
Ayrshire & Arran	45
Borders	10
Dumfries and Galloway	12
Fife	35
Forth Valley	43
Grampian	36
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	125
Highland	17
Lanarkshire	75
Lothian	72
Orkney	<5
Shetland	<5
Tayside	33
Western Isles	0

As at 31 July 2024, the numbers of people waiting for any other organ transplant by NHS Board are:

NHS Board	Heart	Lung	Liver	Pancreas	Bowel
Ayrshire & Arran	<5	<5	5	5	0
Borders	0	0	0	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5
Fife	<5	<5	<5	<5	0
Forth Valley	0	<5	<5	5	0
Grampian	0	<5	6	6	0
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	6	7	12	17	<5
Highland	0	<5	<5	<5	0
Lanarkshire	5	<5	<5	<5	0
Lothian	<5	5	10	<5	0
Orkney	0	0	0	0	0
Shetland	0	0	0	0	0
Tayside	<5	<5	<5	<5	0
Western Isles	0	0	0	0	0

To note:

If an NHS Board has less than 5 people waiting on an organ transplant the figure has been presented as <5.

Question reference: S6W-28975

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 20 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether any companies on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights database of companies involved in certain activities relating to settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory will be prevented from securing public contracts in Scotland.

The Scottish Government expects companies which are awarded public contracts to maintain high standards of business and professional conduct. Public procurement legislation, implementing the UK’s international obligations in this field, provides that companies may be excluded from bidding for contracts in certain circumstances, including where they have engaged in grave professional misconduct which renders their integrity questionable.

The exploitation of assets in illegal settlements could be regarded as constituting grave professional misconduct for the purposes of procurement law, but a decision to exclude a company from a competition must be taken on a case-by-case basis by the public body awarding the contract in question, in full consideration of all of the evidence available to them at that point in time. Decisions must be proportionate and are subject to challenge in the courts.

Scottish Ministers have no power to require that any company is excluded from all competitions.

Question reference: S6W-28970

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish any correspondence that it has sent to public bodies regarding the need for them to consider the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights database of companies involved in certain activities relating to settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in their human rights due diligence; whether any public bodies have responded to any such correspondence identifying any potential issues, and, if so, whether it will publish these responses.

Question reference: S6W-28973

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government which companies that have a relationship with Scottish public bodies that are listed on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights database of companies involved in certain activities relating to settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory it has contacted to ask what they are doing to cease the activities that led to their inclusion.

Question reference: S6W-28972

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has identified any companies that have a relationship with Scottish public bodies that are on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights database of companies involved in certain activities relating to settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and, if so, which companies.

Question reference: S6W-28968

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the First Minister's statement during the debate on motion S6M-11342 on 21 November 2023, what action it has taken following the publication of the revised Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights database of companies involved in certain activities relating to settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, regarding any companies that have a relationship with Scottish public bodies.

The constraints under which the Scottish Government operates in this area limit what we can request Scottish public bodies or businesses to do. We cannot lawfully impose a blanket ban on companies based solely on the fact that they are on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights database (“UN Database”). Specifically with regard to public contracts, any action we take must be compliant with national UK and international law such as the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, of which Israel, like the UK, is a signatory.

What we can do – and have done for the original UN Database - is instruct public bodies to take the UN Database into account in their case by case due diligence. The Scottish Government wrote to Scottish Public Bodies at the time of the publication of the original UN Database, instructing them to take it into account when carrying out their routine human rights due diligence and asking them to provide information on any relationships they had with companies on the Database. The then Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise subsequently wrote to identified companies in June 2022, asking what they were doing to cease the specific activities which had led to their inclusion on the Database.

Following the publication of the revised Database, the Scottish Government has been assessing the options available to it. The revised Database did not add any new companies, and none of the small number of companies identified by Public Bodies through the previous exercise were removed.

Prior to the UK General Election, it was expected that the already tight legal constraints affecting the Scottish Government and Public Bodies in this area would increase, due to the then UK Government’s Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) (EAPB) Bill.

However, a definitive view could not be taken at that time as the Bill was still subject to amendment. The Bill subsequently fell following the announcement of the General Election. The Bill falling, however, does not change the fact that the Scottish Government is still very constrained in what action we can take, and we are currently considering next steps.