Questions and answers

Question reference: S6F-03982

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 April 2025

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reported comments made by the chair of the North Sea Transition Task Force that the North Sea’s future should be a “national mission”.

Question reference: S6F-03976

Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 3 April 2025

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S6W-35999

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 21 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 31 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what communications it has had with the (a) UK Government and (b) Maritime and Coastguard Agency to improve the welfare of seafarers and offshore workers on vessels that use Scottish ports.

The Scottish Government has regular communication with the UK Government and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) on a variety of issues affecting the maritime industry in Scotland including related to seafarer welfare.

Whilst shipping safety, seafarer welfare and employment conditions are reserved functions, the Scottish Government is committed to working with the UK Government and the MCA to ensure that these matters are given the highest priority on those vessels accessing Scotland’s waters and ports.

Question reference: S6W-35981

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 31 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost to date has been for the development of the NHS Scotland app, including the cost of any contracts awarded, and whether there has been any budgetary overspend compared with initial projections.

Delivery of the health and social care app for Scotland is being taken forward by NHS Education Scotland (NES) as part of the wider Digital Front Door programme. The majority of costs to date have been on mobilising the team required and developing the Outline Business Case. NHS NES staff have participated in the Civtech Challenge, which has allowed NES to understand what is required to develop the app in a way that integrates into Scottish Government plans to digitise postal communications. More information about this can be found at: https://www.civtech.scot/civtech-9-challenge-8-secure-individualised-and-effective-communications-channel.

The bulk of development costs on the app specifically will be incurred from 2025-26 onwards, as part of the indicative programme budget for 2025-26 set at £12 million.

The Scottish Government has provided NES with the following funding for the Digital Front Door Programme:

Financial Year	DFD spend £m
2021-22	0.75
2022-23	2.0
2023-24	1.5
2024-25	1.4
Total	5.650

Scottish Government has also awarded no contracts associated with this work, although NES, as the delivery partner, did spend £210,000 from their allocated budget on a contract to develop the Outline Business Case and further contracts will be awarded by NES as they move into this delivery phase. There has been no budgetary overspend compared with projections to date.

Question reference: S6W-35942

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 31 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that children and young people with cancer, and their carers and families, receive clear, timely and accessible communication from Social Security Scotland regarding their disability benefit applications.

Social Security Scotland continues to review and improve how people access its service, including how the organisation communicates with applicants and clients.

The application forms for Adult and Child Disability Payment were designed and developed in consultation with stakeholders to ensure the values of dignity, fairness and respect were embedded throughout.

The application forms allow clients, and their representatives, to tell the organisation how they would prefer to be contacted. It also asks specific questions to help Social Security Scotland understand and respond to any additional accessibility needs.

Through client feedback surveys and panels, clients have told Social Security Scotland they would like choice in how they are contacted. With the client, or their representative’s permission, Social Security Scotland will automatically acknowledge receipt of an application form and provide updates via text and/or email as the application proceeds through the key stages.

The latest Client Survey shows the majority of Adult and Child Disability Payment respondents said their experience of applying for disability benefits was “very good” or “good”. The full survey results can be found at: Social Security Scotland - Client Survey 2023-2024

Question reference: S6W-35924

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 31 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that all patients across Scotland who have Parkinson’s disease have equal access to all appropriate Scottish Medicines Consortium-approved therapies, taking into consideration geographical variation in access to care.

The Scottish Government is committed to increasing the availability of safe and effective medicines that people in Scotland would benefit from. The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) assesses the clinical and cost effectiveness of newly licensed medicines on a once for Scotland basis and publishes advice for Health Boards to consider. It is expected that Health Board Area & Drug and Therapeutics Committees (ADTCs) will consider making a SMC recommended medicine, or an equivalent, available on their local or regional formulary for routine prescribing within 90 days of SMC advice being published.

Health Boards are expected to apply common principles and processes in the introduction of newly licensed medicines to facilitate consistency of approach to local decision-making. The decision to prescribe a medicine, and which medicine to prescribe, is entirely for the clinician in charge of a person’s care, having considered their clinical condition, their safety, and any relevant clinical guidance.

Question reference: S6W-35926

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 31 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether all NHS boards have assessed the needs of patients with advanced or complex Parkinson’s disease in their area and ensured that services have been designed to meet patients’ needs.

While the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, it is NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally who have responsibility for both service delivery and ensuring people receive the right care for them, taking into account relevant guidance, local service needs and priorities for investment.

It is therefore for NHS Boards to determine what clinical interventions they offer, while giving regard to the considerations above.

The majority of Scottish health boards participated in the 2022 UK Parkinson’s Audit which measures the quality of Parkinson’s services against international best practice. This includes Patient Reported Experience Measure (PREM) data from people who use Parkinson’s services.

The 2022 Audit showed Scotland outperforming the UK in terms of future care planning, and access to essential professionals such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists.

Question reference: S6W-35665

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 31 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35018 by Alasdair Allan on 24 February 2025, whether it will provide an update on what engagement and analysis it has undertaken with the UK Government to understand what the financial impact will be on consumers facing a change in tariff as a result of the ending of the Radio Teleswitch Service, such as those with Total Heating Total Control meters.

The Scottish Government has no powers over the Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS). It is the responsibility of the UK Government, Ofgem, and energy suppliers to carry out analysis of the impact of the RTS switch-off and take appropriate action.

However, we are committed to raising awareness and working with those responsible to ensure that consumers are not negatively affected by the switch-off. This includes contributing to RTS related engagement, consultations, and roundtables as well as raising the profile of the switch-off across the media.

We have written to and engaged with the UK Government, Ofgem, and industry on several occasions to press them to take the necessary steps to protect consumers in Scotland from detriment. This includes highlighting the unacceptable situation whereby consumers are unwittingly penalised for upgrading their meter.

The recent Ofgem consultation on RTS related changes to license conditions proposed that suppliers must take all reasonable steps to provide a tariff that leaves the consumer ‘no worse off’ than their existing arrangements as a result of a RTS meter replacement. The Scottish Government supports this position and has also been pressing for the introduction of a fund to support households and businesses facing expensive re-wiring through no fault of their own.

Any consumers experiencing difficulties with their supplier, including questions relating to tariffs, should contact Advice Direct Scotland (ADS). ADS receives funding from the Scottish Government as part of our devolved responsibilities for consumer advocacy and advice. Services include the free national energy advice helpline, available on 0808 196 8660 or at energyadvice.scot.

Question reference: S6W-35797

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 31 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to prevent future financial distress at universities, and whether it is considering a review of the higher education funding model.

We have a world-leading higher education sector to be proud of, and I value greatly the contribution that universities make to our economy and society. Ministers have been clear that the Scottish Government’s position on tuition fees will not change. The policy ensures that access to higher education is based on the ability to learn and not the ability to pay.

The Scottish Government do not accept that the current model is broken, but we accept that it is under severe pressure, largely because of circumstances that are outwith our control. Universities across the UK are facing financial challenges due to a range of factors, including the hostile immigration policies enacted by the UK Government in recent years hampering the ability of universities to welcome the brightest and best talent from across the world; inflationary pressures and the current UK Government’s increase to employer national insurance contributions, which has resulted in a £48m million pressure across the sector.

Despite the challenging financial circumstances, our commitment to Scotland's universities is demonstrated through our investing over £1 billion every year in the sector since 2012/13. This is continued in the 2025-26 budget which provides over £1.1bn of investment in teaching and research in Scotland’s universities. In addition, since February we have also announced a further £25 million to support universities facing financial challenges. The university funding allocations for 2025-26, which institutions will receive sight of in the next few weeks, will also show an uplift in the teaching price.

We are committed to engaging constructively with the sector to future proof the funding approach. The Cabinet Secretary and I have had a preliminary conversation with Universities Scotland on this and have agreed to return to the subject before the summer. While the sector is keen to lead on the development of potential solutions, Ministers wish to encourage others who want to engage constructively on the issue and bring forward ideas, albeit starting from the position that we will not reintroduce tuition fees. In addition, the Scottish Government fulfilled a Programme for Government commitment by publishing its first International Education Strategy (IES) on 7 February 2024, setting out how we will work with partners to promote Scotland’s education offer globally, including how we will maintain our links with the EU.

While universities are autonomous institutions with responsibility for their own strategic and operational decision making, the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council will continue to work closely with the sector and offer appropriate support as institutions develop plans to mitigate their financial challenges.

Question reference: S6W-35799

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 31 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to claims that the current restrictions on alcohol sales at football matches, while allowing sales at rugby matches, concerts and other major sporting events, unfairly targets football supporters.

The Scottish Government is aware of a range of views from football supporters when it comes to the availability of alcohol in football stadiums, and recognises there is an argument for football supporters to be afforded the same opportunities as fans at other sporting and cultural events. However, we currently have no plans to amend the legislation but remain open to discussions on this issue and will consider any proposals put forward.

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