Seòmar agus comataidhean

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

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 48968 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-26338

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 9 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many whole-time equivalent advanced nurse practitioners are currently employed within primary care.

Advanced Nurse Practitioners are employed within a range of settings within Primary Care.

The 2023 General Practice Workforce Survey ( https://turasdata.nes.nhs.scot/data-and-reports/official-workforce-statistics/all-official-statistics-publications/general-practice-workforce-survey-2023/annual-report/?pageid=10709 ), reports that there are 553.7 whole-time equivalent (WTE) Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs) employed by and working in General Practices.

Alongside this, the ‘Primary Care Improvement Plans - Implementation Progress Summary’ ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/primary-care-improvement-plans-summary-implementation-progress-march-2023/ ) reports that a total of 219.9 WTE ANPs employed by Health Boards within Urgent Care services.

The latest NHS Scotland Workforce data published by NES ( https://turasdata.nes.nhs.scot/data-and-reports/official-workforce-statistics/all-official-statistics-publications/05-march-2024-workforce/ ) shows that there are 4.8 WTE ANPs employed by the Scottish Ambulance Service, as well as 1.0 WTE ANP employed by NHS 24.

Question reference: S6W-26375

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with (a) Port of Cairnryan, (b) P&O Ferries and (c) Clyde Marine Recruitment regarding the application of the Fair Work Convention to ferry services between Cairnryan and Larne.

The Scottish Government has not held recent discussions with the Port of Cairnryan, P&O Ferries or Clyde Marine Recruitment regarding the Fair Work Convention and ferry services between Cairnryan and Larne.

While employment law remains reserved to the UK Government, we will use our Fair Work policy to promote fairer work practices across the labour market in Scotland. In December 2022, we announced the strengthening of our conditionality approach, and now recipients of public sector grants awarded on or after 1 July 2023 are required to pay at least the real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for effective employee voice.

Both shipping and employment law remains reserved to the UK Government and we would expect all ferry operators to ensure compliance with UK regulations on employees’ pay and conditions.

Question reference: S6W-26242

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown by local authority of how the £16 million of funding for access to counselling services in all secondary schools will be allocated in 2024-25.

All allocations in the Local Government Settlement are published on the Government Website at: 4 Tables and Interactive Dashboard - Scottish Local Government Finance - Green Book: 2024-2025 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The allocations for school counselling services for 2024-25 is as follows:

	£000s
Aberdeen City	513
Aberdeenshire	771
Angus	328
Argyll & Bute	372
City of Edinburgh	1,052
Clackmannanshire	165
Dumfries & Galloway	497
Dundee City	404
East Ayrshire	347
East Dunbartonshire	404
East Lothian	330
East Renfrewshire	403
Falkirk	467
Fife	1,006
Glasgow City	1,361
Highland	1,015
Inverclyde	237
Midlothian	297
Moray	279
Na h-Eileanan Siar	173
North Ayrshire	418
North Lanarkshire	986
Orkney Islands	186
Perth & Kinross	434
Renfrewshire	509
Scottish Borders	324
Shetland Islands	260
South Ayrshire	328
South Lanarkshire	959
Stirling	312
West Dunbartonshire	283
West Lothian	579
Total	16,000

Question reference: S6W-26270

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is has any further plans to purchase or hire ferries from other countries, in light of reports of the successful delivery of the MV Isle of Islay from a company in Turkey.

Question reference: S6W-26253

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 9 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of canine breeding services operating in Scotland over the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-26191

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24425 by Jenny Gilruth on 22 January 2024, whether it will provide an update on whether it has established the cost of (a) consulting on, (b) establishing, (c) launching and (d) the ongoing running of the Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE); whether it will publish any updates regarding the work to establish the CTE by the Education Reform Programme, and, in light of its previous answer confirming that the costs had not been established at that stage, on what basis it determined that there will be sufficient funding for the CTE through "repurposing investment currently directed to Regional Improvement Collaboratives".

The Scottish Government has been engaging with stakeholders since the intention to establish a Centre for Teaching Excellence was announced in October last year. The Co-Production Group has also now been established and stakeholders are involved in detailed discussion around the role and remit of the Centre. The group met on 27 February and 26 March. Minutes of meetings and other material will be published on the Scottish Government website. The only anticipated cost of the co-production process are the staffing costs for the team working on the Centre’s development.

The Centre for Teaching Excellence is initially being resourced through funding previously allocated to the Regional Improvement Collaboratives. The Scottish Government is working with the Co-Production Group to ensure the Centre maximises its impact and complements wider work across the education sector. It is anticipated that the co-production of the Centre will conclude by the summer, following which there will be a formal process to determine hosting arrangements.

Question reference: S6W-26377

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list any payments that it has made to P&O Ferries since 17 March 2022 to date.

Question reference: S6W-26342

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 9 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS Education for Scotland has undertaken any work to support (a) the development of best practice guidelines and (b) training opportunities for GP receptionists.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) support the development and delivery of healthcare education and training for the NHS, health and social care sector and other public bodies. This includes the development of best practice guidelines as appropriate.

With regards to GP receptionists, NES published the Core Competency Framework for General Practice Administration Staff and Practice Managers in September 2023, which includes an accompanying learning needs analysis tools and training packages.

Question reference: S6W-26272

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that Strathclyde Partnership for Transport has agreed to begin work on local bus franchising in the west of Scotland.

We have delivered all the powers within the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, which enables each local transport authority to determine which of the options they want to use to improve bus provision in their area. While some may opt for a franchising approach, others may choose to progress with a partnership or run their own services. It is for each local transport authority to determine which of these powers they want to use.

In the case of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, I welcome their decision to explore all available bus powers, including franchising, as part of their Strathclyde Bus Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-26216

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 18 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on what the (a) shortest, (b) longest and (c) average duration was in the academic year 2022-23 that (i) a teacher and (ii) an educational worker was suspended from their duties following allegations made against them and pending investigation.