Seòmar agus comataidhean

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

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 48968 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-12541

Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is any duty on those operating in Scotland or its waters to report gas escapes, and if this is the case, what the threshold escape volume of CO2-equivalent gas for reporting is, in light of The Guardian article from 8 November 2022, World’s ‘most potent greenhouse gas’ escaped during work on UK windfarm.

Question reference: S6W-12527

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS patients have been treated in private hospitals in each of the past five years, broken down by NHS board.

The total number of NHS patients that have been treated in private (independent) hospitals in each of the last five financial years and reported to PHS is presented in the following table.

Number of NHS patients treated in Private (independent) hospitals 1 by NHS board of residence; 2017-18 – 2021-22

	Inpatients or Daycases (SMR01)					Outpatients (SMR00) 2
Health Board of Residence	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Ayrshire and Arran	247	44	145	499	705	-	-	-	-	434
Borders	59	55	62	52	86	68	136	109	93	121
Dumfries and Galloway	5	6	6	19	29	38	29	27	16	34
Fife	63	582	157	502	91	26	7	7	10	7
Forth Valley	429	808	689	558	319	1	220	-	135	1
Grampian	742	510	290	1081	446	774	293	507	381	124
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	818	752	841	643	539	306	393	408	197	203
Highland	171	201	161	16	3	18	23	17	14	12
Lanarkshire	1951	1703	2919	1389	1389	271	151	480	176	208
Lothian	828	374	839	713	361	2348	1916	1672	146	366
Orkney	2	2	4	22	2	-	-	2	-	1
Shetland	2	-	-	13	2	-	1	-	1	1
Tayside	55	155	203	108	54	60	18	77	263	294
Western Isles	42	39	39	36	19	-	1	-	-	1
Not Known	2	2	1	5	2	20	9	10	9	1
Outwith Scotland	2	3	-	1	1	2	1	1	2	-
Grand Total	5418	5236	6356	5657	4048	3932	3198	3317	1443	1808

- denotes zero
1. relates to patients treated in non-NHS locations such as private hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, care homes, etc. The data recording/completeness of Non-NHS Provider data varies from year to year.
2. Outpatient data only include patients that attended their outpatient appointment and were seen.

Question reference: S6W-12556

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS shifts have been covered by private agency staff in each of the last 10 years.

The information requested on how many NHS shifts have been covered by private agency staff in each of the last 10 years is not centrally available.

Information on Medical & Dental and Nursing & midwifery bank and agency spend by NHS Board since March 2014 can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at: NHSScotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence Bank and Agency) tab.

Question reference: S6W-12438

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £10.6 million allocated to the Capacity and Recruitment Strategy in its 2022-23 budget, which was announced on 9 December 2021, has been (a) allocated and (b) spent to date, broken down by expenditure.

The majority ofthis budget is directly allocated to Health Boards to support international recruitment and domestic recruitment. All of this budget is earmarked for allocation by financial year end, with £4.5 million of this funding already allocated thus far. A further £0.3m supports other initiatives including refugee doctors and nurses, marketing of NHS Scotland, and employability programmes.

Question reference: S6W-12593

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether work is underway to deliver on its commitment to produce an ancient woodland register.

Question reference: S6O-01675

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the timeframe for the implementation of the recommendations of the 2016 Sludge Review into the spreading of sewage sludge on land.

Recommended actions from the 2016 sludge review already completed include publication last year, of the James Hutton Institute's report on the impacts on human health and the environment arising from the spreading of sewage sludge to land, and implementation of the remedial actions that were recommended be taken by Scottish Water.

The legislative changes recommended by the review are being implemented via the Integrated Authorisation Framework regulations. Development of these regulations was delayed due to Covid-19 and other priority work, however work has now recommenced.

A consultation on the proposed regulations is due to be published in 2023 and stakeholders will have the opportunity to comment on the proposals relating to sewage sludge.

Question reference: S6W-12817

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it expects to publish its draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.

Question reference: S6W-13045

Asked by: Jackie Dunbar, MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when the final report containing the recommendations of the Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2) will be published, and what the next steps are.

The suite of final reports presenting the recommendations of the Second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) will be published on the Transport Scotland website on 8 December 2022. This represents a key milestone for strategic transport planning in Scotland. Setting out a 20 year framework for capital investment to drive the change we need to achieve the Scottish Government’s strategic vision and move towards Net Zero – the majority of the 45 recommendations contribute directly towards achieving emissions reduction.

This marks the culmination of over three years’ intensive work.

The evidence gathering and robust objective-led appraisal work feeding in to this review has been informed by stakeholder engagement from the very outset. The public have been provided with several opportunities for involvement, not least the three month statutory consultation on draft versions of the reports during January to April 2022. All responses to this have been carefully considered and used to inform refinement of the final recommendations.

The intention was to publish a Delivery Plan for these recommendations, alongside the final report. However, due to the current huge lack of certainty around available capital budget and fiscal policy over recent months, this has not been possible as yet. As such the Delivery Plan will follow in 2023, which will include more detail on prioritisation and delivery timescales, however, I am pleased to note that work is already underway on 38 of the 45 recommendations.

Question reference: S6W-12210

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason rural connectivity has reportedly not received more priority when funding has been allocated.

Despite telecoms legislation being wholly reserved to Westminster, the Scottish Government continues to prioritise significant funding for digital connectivity. We are investing over £600 million in the R100 contracts that are currently delivering gigabit capable broadband connections across rural Scotland at pace. Through the Scottish 4G Infill programme, we are investing £28.75m to deliver 4G infrastructure and mobile services in up to 55 notspots across Scotland with 30 masts currently live in rural and island areas.

Question reference: S6W-12893

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10006 by Michael Matheson on 23 August 2022, whether it is the case that it has now assessed the cost of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, and, if it is not the case, when the full costing is expected to be completed.

As stated in answer to PQ S6W-10006, the next Climate Change Plan, a draft of which will be published next year, will include costs of delivering emissions reductions to meet the statutory targets between 2024 and 2040. The Scottish Government has published the updated Climate Change Plan for the period up to 2032 but has not yet set out a pathway for the other years to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 and hence does not yet have a basis for a cost assessment of achieving that goal. That will be covered as part of subsequent Climate Change Plans.