- Asked by: Siobhian Brown, MSP for Ayr, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 17 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to reflect the urgency of climate (a) mitigation and (b) adaptation in the final version of its Future Catching Policy.
Answer
The Future Catching Policy (FCP) is being developed to deliver increased selectivity and sustainability across Scotland’s diverse and varied fishing fleet. Once implemented, the FCP will support increased confidence in, and an increased accountability of, Scotland’s fishing fleets. The consultation on the FCP closed last year and analysis of responses is now complete with a full report, and government response, to be published this year.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14973 by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2023, what action has been taken following the meeting on 15 February 2023 regarding the use of diesel generators at Arecleoch and Glen App wind farms.
Answer
The rules and regulations that govern the resilience of the GB electricity grid are a matter reserved to the UK Government and the Scottish Government has no responsibility in relation to the operational management of wind farm sites.
At the meeting on 15 February 2023, Scottish Government officials were given reassurances by Scottish Power Renewables that they are taking forward work on alternatives to the use of diesel generators.
Scottish Government officials continue to seek regular updates from Scottish Power Renewables on this work as it progresses.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what future visits Sir Lewis Ritchie plans to undertake in relation to his 2018 review of Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross out-of-hours services.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware that Sir Lewis Ritchie intends to undertake further visits to Skye, Lochlash and South West Ross, within the coming 6 months, to engage with clinical colleagues, members of the local community and NHS Highland officials This will likely include virtual meetings as well as in person visits.
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether its work to prepare Scotland for any future pandemics is conducted (a) across Scottish Government portfolios and (b) alongside the work of other governments in the rest of the UK.
Answer
Preparation for outbreaks of infectious disease is an ongoing part of health protection. That work is led by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care but the breadth of response required to respond to pandemic events is laid out in the 2022 Strategic Framework Update for COVID-19 and the four-harms approach to decision-making used by the Scottish Government for the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Scottish Government regularly engages with the UK Government and the other Devolved Administrations on a range of risks including pandemic preparedness. The Scottish Government works closely with the cross-government Pandemic Disease Capabilities Board to keep Scotland’s readiness up to date.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have accessed the COVID-19 prevention drug, Evusheld, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
Evusheld ® was developed and tested before the emergence of the Omicron variant. The RAPID C-19 group and the COVID-19 UK expert panel have considered a full range of evidence, including clinical trial data, in vitro (in the lab) analysis and observational studies, and have advised that there is insufficient evidence available to support procurement and deployment of Evusheld ®. As a result, there is currently no established NHS supply arrangement for Evusheld ® in the UK.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC, as part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS)) have agreed to maintain the collaboration that started through RAPID C-19 by collaborating on a single health technology appraisal (STA) of Evusheld ® for the prevention of COVID-19. NICE and the SMC will produce separate guidance and advice documents, but the recommendations will be aligned. Draft guidance was published on 16 February 2023, and does not recommend its use. Final guidance on the STA is expected to be published in June 2023.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many of the recommendations made by Sir Lewis Ritchie in his 2018 report, Independent External View of Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross Out of Hours Services, have been delivered in full.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware that, following the publication of the independent external review, 4 of the recommendations have been delivered in full. These include resolving local provision of urgent care in Glenelg & Arnisdale and Raasay, in-patient hospital provision, workforce capacity and capability for the Scottish Ambulance Service and a Centre of Excellence for learning, education and training has been established.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the implementation of the recommendations made by Sir Lewis Ritchie in his 2018 report, Independent External View of Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross Out of Hours Services.
Answer
The Scottish Government remains engaged with the review process, however, the responsibility for the implementation of the recommendations falls to NHS Highland, working closely with the local community, NHS 24, the Scottish Ambulance Service and other agencies as recommended in Professor Ritchie’s original review.
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what the current average waiting time is for a gynaecological consultation in (a) Scotland and (b) each NHS board, and how it plans to reduce these waiting times.
Answer
Statistics relating to the waits patients experience for a new outpatient attendance and inpatient or day case appointment at NHS Board and specialty level are published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) up to 31 st December 2022 and can be found using the following links:
New Outpatients - https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/18024/newop_feb23.xlsx
Inpatients/Daycases - https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/17838/ipdc_feb23.xlsx
The statistics published in the tables above include the median and 90th percentile waits in days for:
- New outpatients waiting (‘1.1 Table’)
- New outpatients seen (‘1.2 Table’)
- Inpatients/day cases waiting (‘2.2 Table’)
- Inpatients/day cases seen (‘2.1 Table’)
We continue to work intensively to clear long waits, which have been exacerbated by the impact of the global pandemic and are determined to provide NHS Boards with support necessary to drive improvements. This includes targets announced in July 2022 to address the backlog of planned care, maximising theatre productivity, optimising Golden Jubilee National Hospital capacity, and the delivery of the £1 billion NHS Recovery Plan to support sustainable improvements and new models of care, such as the National Treatment Centre Programme.
We are also working with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CFSD) and boards to embed regional and national working to ensure that long waiting patients can access treatment more quickly.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Ben Macpherson on 17 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many young carers have not received the Young Carer Grant in each year since it was established, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
Scottish Government published analysis in October 2022 estimating around 73% of people eligible for Young Carer Grant received the payment in 2021-22. These figures are available at:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/take-up-rates-scottish-benefits-october-2022/
In addition, information relating to Young Carer Grant applications is routinely published by Social Security Scotland as part of Official Statistics releases. The statistics currently include a breakdown of received applications, as well as authorised applications, by local authority and financial year. These statistics are available at https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/about/statistics/social-security-scotland-statistics-publications .
As part of work to continuously improve Official Statistics outputs, the forthcoming Young Carer Grant statistics release will include a local authority breakdown expanded to report denied and withdrawn applications. These Official Statistics will be published on 21 March 2023.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 17 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is undertaking preparations for legal challenges to any potential action by the UK Government that may prevent the implementation of Scottish Government legislation or policy, in light of reports that the UK Government is considering refusing to grant exemptions under the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 to allow the implementation of the Deposit Return Scheme and a potential ban on single-use vapes.
Answer
The Scottish Parliament approved the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations in 2020. The Regulations are wholly within devolved competence. There is an agreed and published process between UK Government and devolved governments for excluding certain areas from the UK Internal Market Act.
We have been following that process for excluding the deposit return scheme regulations from the Internal Market Act and this has been the subject of discussion with the UK Government for many months. I will keep Parliament updated on the exclusion process.
On single-use vapes, we expect Zero Waste Scotland to submit its report on the review of the environmental impacts and management of single-use vapes in May, and we will consider its findings. Should our preferred course of action require an exclusion we will follow the agreed process.
