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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-20972

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which officials are responsible for designing the approaches taken in the processing of applications for grants and the allocation of grants to third sector organisations.

Scottish Government grant making is allocated across portfolios to various parts of the third sector to improve a wide range of outcomes. Some Scottish Government funding will also be issued through independent grant makers or intermediary organisations. Each grant funding programme will have its own specific application criteria related to desired policy outcomes. This information is not centrally collated.

Question reference: S6W-20975

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what impact assessment is undertaken when a decision on a third sector grant application has not been taken, or payments are not made, by the beginning of the relevant financial year.

Question reference: S6W-20971

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it provides guidance to officials and civil servants whose duties include the processing of applications for grants and the allocation of grants to third sector organisations, and, if so, what (a) formal and (b) informal guidance has been provided in the last five years, and whether any new or updated guidance was provided ahead of the new funding application window for the 2023-24 financial year.

Scottish Government grant making is allocated across portfolios to various parts of the third sector to improve a wide range of outcomes. Some Scottish Government funding will also be issued through independent grant makers or intermediary organisations. General guidance is available for grant makers across Scottish Government but each grant funding programme will have its own specific application criteria related to desired policy outcomes. This information is not centrally collated.

Question reference: S6O-02550

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to start accepting applications for the £10 million fund for Changing Places toilets that was announced in the 2021-22 Programme for Government.

Question reference: S6W-19879

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19059 by Jenni Minto on 22 June 2023, what actions it is proposing or considering to examine and address the underlying causes of the 19% increase in terminations.

There is no single reason behind the increased rates of terminations of pregnancy shown in the 2022 Public Health Scotland statistics. Scottish Government is working with NHS Boards to explore this further.

Whilst the Scottish Government believes that all women should have access to abortion services should they require them, the Women’s Health Plan published in 2021 sets out a number of ways to reduce the risk of unintended pregnancies. This includes ensuring that women across Scotland have timely access to contraception, and to information which allows them to make informed decisions about their own sexual and reproductive health. We are working with NHS Boards to improve contraception provision for post-partum women, and also to encourage the take up of Long Acting Reversable Contraception (LARC) post-abortion care.

The Scottish Government’s Sexual Health and Blood Borne Viruses (SHBBV) plan for 2023-2026, which is due to be published towards the end of summer 2023, will include a focus on improving access to sexual health services across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-19853

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding in total it has provided to the Progress Educational Trust.

Question reference: S6W-19319

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 11 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the UK Dolphin and Porpoise Conservation Strategy will be finalised and adopted, and what it is doing to safeguard cetaceans in the meantime.

Scottish waters are home to a diverse range of cetaceans (e.g., whale, dolphins and porpoise) and their protection is a high priority for the Scottish Government.

The developing UK Dolphin and Porpoise Strategy will play an important role in identifying action that can be taken to maintain the conservation status of these species in our waters. The Scottish Government is working in partnership with the other UK administrations and members of the working group, with the aim of publishing the strategy in early 2024.

In the meantime, the Scottish Government continues to support work across a range of areas to safeguard cetaceans in Scottish waters.

Our vision for future fisheries in Scotland has sustainable fisheries management at its core. Through the Future Catching Policy and the Marine Wildlife Bycatch Mitigation Initiative, we will continue work to monitor fisheries and, take concrete action to support fishers to avoid catching or minimise interaction with sensitive marine species (including cetaceans) through a suite of technical and spatial measures where required. We anticipate the analysis from the Future Catching Policy consultation to be published in summer.

Furthermore, the Scottish Government will be launching a consultation imminently on proposals to close fishing for sandeel in Scottish waters. Sandeels play an important role in aiding the long-term sustainability and resilience of the marine ecosystem and are an important food source for many species, including marine mammals.

These measures, and other ongoing work to address marine litter, improve marine enhancement, and protect our marine wildlife in Marine Protected Areas, all contribute to achieving the Scottish Government’s vision for clean, healthy, safe, productive and diverse seas.

Question reference: S6W-19380

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the potential impact of increasing the number of centres that offer magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) treatment on the NHS in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring all people living in Scotland with neurological conditions, such as Essential Tremor, are able to access the best possible care, support and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) was taken through the initial stages of the National Service Division’s National Specialist Services Committee assessment in 2018, which concluded there was insufficient evidence to support a formal national service at that time.

MRgFUS treatment is therefore currently provided on a trial basis in Scotland to help inform the evidence-base for the treatment and ensure that it is subject to rigorous clinical assessment to establish patient safety and efficacy before any decision on adopting it in the NHS. NHS Tayside have informed National Services Division that an application for national designation of the MRgFUS service in Dundee is expected to be submitted for 2024/25.

All decisions on a further referral to NHS England for any patient are the responsibility of the NHS Board where the patient resides. Specialist treatment outwith NHS Scotland is managed by the National Services Division as part of NHS National Services Scotland (NSS).

In the meantime, NSS is engaging with both clinicians in Dundee and colleagues in NHS England to determine how treatment might be made available more widely for eligible Scottish patients.

Question reference: S6W-19059

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 22 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the most recent abortion figures published by Public Health Scotland, which show that there were 16,584 terminations in 2022, representing a 19% increase on 2021.

The Scottish Government welcomes the publication of the abortion statistics for 2022. The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with NHS Boards to help improve access to abortion services for those who wish to have a termination.

‎In particular, the Scottish Government is working to deliver actions in the Women’s Health Plan, which includes a range of measures to ensure all women have access to timely abortion care should they require it, and to increase choice for women accessing this care.

We are also committed to ensuring that women across Scotland have timely access to contraception, and to information which allows them to make informed decisions about their own sexual and reproductive health.

Question reference: S6O-02384

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide continuity in education for children leaving the MS Victoria in the coming weeks.