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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-22637

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the shortages of ADHD medication, including what is causing these shortages, and what action it is taking, in conjunction with NHS boards, to mitigate the shortages.

The Scottish Government is aware that there are ongoing global supply issues affecting the availability of various products which are licensed for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is anticipated that the shortages will be resolved by end of December.

The shortages are caused by a combination of manufacturing issues and an increase in global demand. The pricing and the supply of medicines is currently a reserved matter for the UK Government. We continue to engage with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and we will continue to monitor the situation.

The Scottish Government recognises the impact of these global shortages on people living with ADHD and their families. NHS Scotland has robust systems in place to manage medicine shortages when they arise and anyone affected by this issue should speak to their usual clinical team.

Question reference: S6W-22626

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the medium-term action to "Implement and raise awareness of current national guidelines on endometriosis and develop and implement further pathways for care where these don’t currently exist", as set out in its Women's Health Plan 2021-2024.

Question reference: S6W-22571

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether any funds realised from the apprenticeship levy are used to fund the Flexible Workforce Development Fund, and, if so, what proportion of such funds are used in this way.

As noted earlier in the year in a similar parliamentary question , the UK Government Apprenticeship Levy is a reserved tax on employers which was implemented by the UK Government. Scotland receives a proportionate share of tax revenues via the block grant as per the Fiscal Framework agreement with UK Treasury.

On 14 November 2016, the UK Government announced the Scottish Government’s settlement from the UK Apprenticeship Levy based on a population share of projected revenue for the first three years only. From 2020-21, the normal operation of the Barnett Formula has applied. As a result, the Scottish Government has no direct control or responsibility for its operation and we have not had a breakdown of Levy funding for Scotland since 2020-21. This means that we cannot directly link funds realised from the apprenticeship levy to any funding stream, including the Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF).

Question reference: S6W-22553

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what funding plans are in place to implement and begin construction of the Clyde Metro.

Clyde Metro will be transformational for the region. It is likely to be a programme which will be delivered over a number of years, with the scale and capital costs required making it one of the largest programme of works Scotland will have ever seen.

It is too early to comment on the longer term funding of Clyde Metro, however, it is envisaged that the funding model for implementation of Clyde Metro will be determined as part of the next stage of development.

Question reference: S6W-22760

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of prisons currently have full-time access to dedicated mental health professionals, in line with Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. This is a matter for individual health boards who are responsible for providing healthcare in prisons and police custody suites.

The Action 15 commitment was intended to provide additional mental health recruitment to support A&E, police station custody suites, GP practices and prisons. Decisions on where posts were located were for Health Boards, based on their local priorities.

Question reference: S6W-22557

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) which ministers have been issued a ministerial mobile phone since the ministerial reshuffle in March 2023.

Following the appointment of the First Minister and formation of government in March 2023, 12 Ministers accepted a government issued mobile device. Please see the following list.

Minister	Ministerial Role
Angela Constance MSP	Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs
Jenny Gilruth MSP	Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
Siobhian Brown MSP	Minister for Victims and Community Safety
Natalie Don MSP	Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise
Richard Lochhead MSP	Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade
Fiona Hyslop MSP	Minister for Transport
Emma Roddick MSP	Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees
Graeme Dey MSP	Minister for Higher Education and Further Education (Min for Veterans)
Gillian Martin MSP	Minister for Energy and the Environment
Joe Fitzpatrick MSP	Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning
Jenni Minto MSP	Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health
Paul McLennan MSP	Minister for Housing

Question reference: S6W-22615

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to adding blood cancer to the list of cancer types included in Public Health Scotland's data publications, to help facilitate comparison between blood cancers and solid tumours.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes incidence and mortality data on leukaemias, Hodgkin lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma annually.

PHS previously published survival data on these same cancers. However in the 2023 release, a different approach was taken to assess the short-term impact of COVID-19 on cancer survival for a select few cancers. It utilised a much smaller cohort than the usual methodology which meant an estimate of survival for rarer cancers could not be calculated. Some estimates for blood cancers are available for the 2016-2020 cohort upon request to PHS.

In future cancer survival publications, these same blood cancers will be included again, as survival publications will revert back to previous methodology.

Question reference: S6W-22634

Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what it considers the definition of invasive non-native species to be, and whether this aligns with the definition given by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

The Scottish Government considers the definition of invasive non-native species to be that provided in the GB Invasive Non-Native Species Strategy and that this does indeed align with the definition given by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. The Strategy defines an invasive non-native species as any non-native species that has been intentionally or unintentionally introduced outside its native range by human actions and which has the ability to spread causing damage to the environment, the economy, our health, or the way we live.

Question reference: S6W-22759

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many dedicated mental health staff have been recruited to work in (a) prisons and (b) custody suites in each quarter of 2023 to date.

Question reference: S6W-22761

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 14 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of police custody suites currently have full-time access to dedicated mental health professionals, in line with Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027.