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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-11651

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the first meeting of its National Care Service Lived Experience Experts Panel to be held.

The Lived Experience Experts Panel doesn’t reflect traditional policy panels, which meet together on a regular basis. It is most similar to the Experience Panel in place for Social Security. It functions as a pool of people with lived experience who can be called upon to take part in co-design and research to support service development.

This means that the panel don’t have meetings together, although members will often attend group sessions with a small number of other people in the panel.

Panel members are currently being invited to introductory sessions to support their participation in co-design sessions. The first introductory session is scheduled for15 November, with up to 20 of the panel attending. We expect the co-design sessions to begin shortly after that.

Question reference: S6W-11676

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 21 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10790 by Neil Gray on 3 October 2022, whether it will provide the information requested regarding how many nights' accommodation have been booked for Ukrainian refugees under the Super Sponsor scheme with Hotels.com since 1 March 2022, and for any such bookings, what the (a) lowest, (b) highest and (c) average cost per night is, and what the (i) shortest, (ii) longest and (iii) average length of a stay in a hotel is.

Question reference: S6W-11571

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that any decisions regarding Ardrossan harbour are communicated effectively to mainland and island residents.

Question reference: S6W-11498

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what obligations NHS boards have each year to elevate their performance in each of the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme priority areas, and whether there is a minimum performance of stroke care that NHS boards have to achieve to be able to admit stroke patients.

The Scottish Stroke Improvement Team supports Managed Clinical Networks to evaluate Board performance, identify areas of concern and work with them to implement local action plans with strong managerial support to improve the delivery of stroke care across Scotland.

This support includes visiting all NHS Boards at least once per year to review stroke care with NHS Board representatives to assess performance, highlight achievements and good practice and to formulate an improvement plan for areas of concern where necessary.

The Scottish Government has not set a minimum standard of performance but expects NHS Boards to deliver the best possible care for those who have experienced a stroke. We expect care provided to be safe, effective and person-centred and reflect the needs of local populations.

Question reference: S6W-11503

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what support it can provide to healthcare assistants who wish to become qualified nurses.

The Scottish Government supports our healthcare support workers (HCSWs) to train to become registered nurses while remaining in the workforce in their local NHS Board area. The Open University offer this pathway and Scottish Government provides £10,000 backfill funding to NHS Boards per student for each of the three years of study. For the 2022-23 academic year, the Scottish Government has increased the target number of Open University places by 12% to 123 places.

The Scottish Government also provides support to enable HCSWs to undertake a HNC Healthcare Practice programme by providing £8,000 in backfill funding to NHS Boards per student per year. Completion of the HNC programme can lead students to progress to nursing or allied health pre-registration degree programmes, on which there may also be the opportunity for advance entry to year 2.

On behalf of the Scottish Government, and as part of their review of career pathways, NHS Education for Scotland have produced a Development and Education Framework for Bands 2-4 nursing, midwifery and allied health professional HCSWs. The framework is available at the following link: https://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/our-work/health-and-care-support-worker-development-programme/

This ongoing work has focused on a national framework as a ‘Once for Scotland’ approach which outlines the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to enable HCSWs to deliver safe, effective and person centred care. The framework also provides information on how to progress into a registered practitioner role, including as a nurse.

Question reference: S6W-11765

Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11743 by John Swinney on 25 October 2022, what discussions the Deputy First Minister has had with the (a) Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and (b) Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development on the impact of the Emergency Budget Review on the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture portfolio, on what dates any such discussions were held, and what issues were discussed at any such meetings.

Question reference: S6W-11749

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service latest court backlog statistics showing that the average time taken between pleading diet and evidence led trial for the High Court has more than doubled compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.

There has been promising progress in reducing the backlog of cases in the criminal courts, and the total number of scheduled trials outstanding has fallen by over 10,000 since January this year. In the High Court, the number of trials called where evidence is led has equalled or exceeded pre-pandemic monthly averages throughout 2022. However, progress has been greatest in the summary courts. The Criminal Justice Board, composed of leaders across the sector, is now considering proposals to ensure the allocation of resources is directed towards delivering similar progress in solemn courts.

We are supporting measures that allow victims and witnesses to give their evidence before trial, helping to mitigate the impact of trial delays. For example, we have invested over £2 million across the High Court estate to facilitate the pre-recording of evidence, and there is now capacity to conduct 1,250 of these ‘evidence by commissioner’ hearings every year.

Question reference: S6T-00951

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to mitigate the threat of avian influenza outbreaks among domestic poultry populations, in light of its impact on wild bird populations in Scotland.

Question reference: S6T-00942

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of misuse of fireworks and pyrotechnics on Bonfire Night.

Question reference: S6F-01506

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 November 2022

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to mitigate the impact and prevalence of fires in Scotland caused by accelerating climate change such as those seen during the high temperatures last summer.