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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: S6W-32870

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions is had with the Scottish Ambulance Service in response to the recently implemented level four resource escalation action plan following reports of some patients waiting up to 12 hours for a vehicle, and what plans the Scottish Ambulance Service has to reduce waiting times overall.

The Scottish Government meets with the Scottish Ambulance Service regularly to discuss demand, capacity, and pressures. Since escalating to REAP level four the Service has been submitting twice daily situational reports on pressures and we have been meeting with their operations Director on a frequent basis.

The First Minister has also Chaired several meetings to discuss NHS pressures more widely which were attended by SAS and other key partners.

The Scottish Ambulance Service has implemented a number of actions to mitigate the effects of pressures throughout the healthcare system over the past few weeks and continues to maintain its focus on improving response times to patients.

Question reference: S6W-32871

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 16 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans ScotRail has to review Inter7city trains to ensure that carriages (a) meet their expected capacity and (b) are fit for purpose.

Trains that currently serve Intercity routes are going to be replaced as the Scottish Government has instructed ScotRail to commence the procurement process, which will secure a replacement for these trains.

Until then, the Scottish Government has funded ScotRail to recruit additional train maintenance staff as part of its programme to improve the availability of existing refurbished Inter7City rolling stock.

Question reference: S6F-03675

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2025

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

Question reference: S6W-32233

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 6 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether students under the age of 22 from outside of Scotland who are studying at Scottish universities and colleges qualify for the discretionary free bus travel card, and, if so, what the annual cost of this is to the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-32042

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 06 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that financial claims submitted to it by people who have been impacted by the building of the Queensferry Crossing are addressed.

All valid claims under Part 1 of The Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1973 submitted to Transport Scotland in respect of the Queensferry Crossing have been passed to the Valuation Office Agency to negotiate the level of compensation due with the claimants’ appointed agents. As soon as Transport Scotland receive the reports from the Valuation Office Agency, payments will be forthcoming as has already been done in a number of cases.

Question reference: S6W-31955

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for those in rural areas, who would like to access telehealth appointments but lack the digital skills to do so.

In addition to the answer provided to question S6W-31954 on 17 December 2024, Near Me video consulting access has been expanded into local community hubs and libraries, providing additional accessibility and support from staff for people who wish to access services in this way. An information resource is available here for patients to understand where they can go to get additional support to attend a Near Me appointment.

In addition, in 2022 the Digital Health and Care Innovation Centre (DHI), secured a £5 million investment from Moray Growth Deal to establish a Rural Centre of Excellence for Digital Health and Care Innovation. This seeks to address health and care issues across rural areas including understanding of skills requirements and local capabilities.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-31954

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to develop training programmes to support digital literacy and telehealth usage.

Digital inclusion, of which literacy is one component, is being prioritised as part of the national Digital Health and Care Strategy and associated delivery plan. In March 2023, the Scottish Government launched the £2m Digital Inclusion Programme. Delivered through SCVO, it has developed a framework to support digital inclusion to enable people to access digital services across health and social care. The programme has funded projects in remote and rural areas (see map), supported provision of devices and developed Digital Champions Training to support local literacy advice and support.

The Scottish Government also recently published the Digital and Data Capability Framework to support the development of digital capabilities for everyone working in health and social care in Scotland. The framework identifies the skills, knowledge and behaviours that are essential for the workforce and will be used to improve individual and team learning requirements.

Near Me video consulting was recently highlighted in the Audit Scotland report as a good practice example of supporting inclusive service development. As part of our national digital skills commitment, the Near Me Team have worked in collaboration with NHS Education Scotland (NES) to produce resources, including two video consulting modules on the TURAS learning platform for professionals.

Question reference: S6W-31952

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has published a remote and rural workforce recruitment strategy for the NHS, in light of its commitment to do so by the end of 2024.

I refer the member to the Committee debate of 12 December 2024 where I set out that to help employers address all potential barriers to recruitment in rural and island areas, a whole system approach was required.

I announced that in partnership with NHS Education for Scotland’s Centre for Workforce Supply and National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care, we will develop a model of sustained ongoing direct support. A strategy paper detailing this model of direct support will be published in early 2025.

Question reference: S6W-31953

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many telehealth appointments have been conducted in each of the last four years.

Question reference: S6W-31786

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 9 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are being drafted or implemented in relation to (a) mental health support and (b) pay awards for Police Scotland.

The mental health support for police officers and police staff is a matter for the Chief Constable.

In line with Police Scotland’s ‘People Strategy 2024–27’, a ‘Health and Wellbeing Action Plan’ was developed by Police Scotland to provide officers and staff with a range of tools and services that will enable them to take positive action in relation to their health and wellbeing.

In relation to pay for officers and staff, claims are currently being taken through the appropriate negotiating mechanisms, those being, the Police Negotiating Board for Scotland (PNBS) for Police Officers and the Joint Negotiating and Consultative Committee (JNCC) for Police Staff. The PNBS is undertaking a period of conciliation and if agreement can still not be reached, the two Sides of the PNBS would enter into an arbitration process through ACAS. Police Staff pay is also going through a process of negotiation and conciliation; this is a matter for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority.