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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-16848

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 4 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the National Treatment Centre – Highland, whether a booking system is operational for all NHS boards to refer their (a) orthopaedic and (b) ophthalmic patients, and which NHS board is ultimately responsible for overseeing any such booking system; what mechanisms are currently in place for prioritising (i) orthopaedic and (ii) ophthalmic patients on the waiting list, and whether any priority system will be used to order NHS board applications to the (A) orthopaedic and (B) ophthalmic waiting lists, and what the (1) date of the first booking and (2) total number of patients on the waiting list is, broken down by NHS board.

There are currently no plans for a dedicated booking system for the referral of patients to the network of National Treatment Centres (NTCs).

Through on-going engagement with NHS Boards, the Scottish Government’s Planned Care Team actively monitor speciality-by-speciality throughput across NHS Scotland, including patients being seen at the NTCs. NTCs are key in the NHS Scotland approach to tackling the backlog of planned care, and activity going through the centres will be focussed initially to support treatment of the longest waiting patients.

NTC-Highland has been commissioned to support Orthopaedic activity for NHS Grampian, which will provide capacity to treat 434 patients from NHS Grampian who are waiting for Hip and Knee Replacement Surgery.

In line with the national clinical pathway approved for NTCs, NHS Grampian is responsible for providing a list of appropriate patients who have been pre-operatively assessed and NTC-Highland will oversee the booking of patients into both consenting clinics and for surgery. NHS Grampian’s Orthopaedic patients will be referred to NTC-Highland in batches of approximately 50 patients per month. The first batch was referred at the beginning of April for operating from the week commencing 15 May.

Numbers of patients waiting for Orthopaedic and Ophthalmic treatment can be found online on Public Health Scotland's website.

NTC–Highland treated its first patient on 17th April 2023.

Question reference: S6W-16397

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 4 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact on training providers has been of the reported apprenticeship freeze in early 2023.

As we have previously set out, there was no freeze on apprenticeships. In line with standard practice, Skills Development Scotland (SDS) reviewed changing demand for Modern Apprenticeship starts in-year and between December 2022 and February 2023 reallocated starts to providers as appropriate within their budget. During this period, and as part of their contract management process, SDS remained in close contact with training providers. Providers with any questions were also advised to contact SDS.

Question reference: S6W-16937

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 4 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to take regarding regulating the sale of disposable vape cartridges.

The Scottish Government is considering the health and environmental impacts of disposable vape cartridges. Zero Waste Scotland is undertaking an urgent review into the environmental impacts of disposable vapes and we expect the review report to be received in May. We have also recently published our consultation analysis on proposed restrictions on vaping products and are considering next steps. The findings from the consultation are being used to inform the refreshed Tobacco Action Plan, which is due to be published in 2023.

Question reference: S6W-16912

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 4 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that English craft beer is being labelled as “not for sale in Scotland” due to concerns over the Deposit Return Scheme.

It is for individual businesses to determine whether or not they wish to sell products in Scotland following the launch of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that businesses of all sizes can participate in our DRS. As part of this I announced on Thursday 20 April 2023 in Parliament that changes are to be made to the DRS Regulations so that any product which sells less than 5,000 articles a year in Scotland will no longer have to place a deposit on the product. This change was asked for by business and will apply to producers of all sizes. However, it will particularly help small producers and hospitality businesses.

Question reference: S6W-16911

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 4 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) ministers, (b) civil servants and (c) Special Advisers travelled overseas to learn more about how deposit return schemes operate in other countries; how much this cost for each of the individuals who travelled, broken down by (i) flights, (ii) accommodation and (iii) other costs, and how any knowledge gathered was disseminated more broadly to support the implementation of its Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-16803

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 4 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to tackle any stigma associated with receiving welfare benefits.

We are committed to challenging stigmatising narratives in everything we do – taking a rights-based approach to social security, and embedding this in all of our communications. By embracing person-centred approaches to service design and delivery, and by collaborating with organisations working directly with people, we aim to tackle stigma and increase the take-up of Scottish benefits.

We continue to carry out user research to better understand and tackle stigma, and to ensure that Scotland’s social security system is designed with input from the people who will use it. Their experiences are central to tackling stigma through the design of the application process, from communication material (including factsheets, posters, flyers, social media and marketing campaigns), web content on mygov.scot, application forms, decision letters as well as operational guidance for staff.

Question reference: S6W-16831

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many tasers are currently available for use by Police Scotland officers.

Question reference: S6O-02223

Asked by: Edward Mountain, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, prior to the signing by the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity of the Memorandum of Understanding between NatureScot and financial partners, how much financing it had identified would be required to meet its net zero targets for tree planting.

Question reference: S6O-02225

Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to promote free bus travel through the National Entitlement Card scheme, particularly amongst people with a qualifying social security entitlement.

Question reference: S6O-02224

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to ensure the involvement of Scotland's financial sector in efforts to tackle the climate emergency.