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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-33528

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS Scotland facilities in rural areas are accessible by public transport, and what steps are being taken to improve accessibility.

Scottish Government does not hold information centrally on public transport to health facilities.

The Scottish Government's Transport to Health delivery plan aims to ensure access to healthcare facilities is fully considered within regional and local planning, including planning for our rural communities.

Our vision is that all disabled people can travel with the same freedom, choice, dignity and opportunity as other citizens. The Accessible Travel Framework launched in 2016, is focused on improving the overall journey experience for disabled people by removing the barriers which prevent them travelling.

The delivery plan for 2024-2026 has been published in early October 2024. This covers delivery for the final two years of the Framework, and includes Transport to Health as a workstream.

Question reference: S6W-33536

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the current average response time is for emergency medical services in rural areas.

Question reference: S6W-33542

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the needs of rural areas are considered in the planning of national healthcare strategies.

The Scottish Government considers the varying needs of all parts of our population when developing plans and strategies, including the needs of people living in rural and island areas. We recognise that our rural and island communities have specific, place-based needs when it comes to the effective delivery of public services, including healthcare.

That is why we have established an NHS Board-led working group which is considering ways to improve delivery of safe, quality and sustainable healthcare services across rural and island Scotland.

More broadly, work is underway to develop a systematic approach to mainstreaming rural policy, the Rural Assessment Toolkit, which will support identifying and addressing the needs of rural communities and economies in our work.

Under the Islands Act 2018, the Scottish Government has a duty to consider issues that affect island communities in the development and delivery of all policies, strategies and services. We are also working with island communities and local authorities to develop a new National Islands Plan to be published later this year.

These workstreams support our endeavours to meaningfully improve outcomes for our rural and island communities across portfolios.

Question reference: S6W-33789

Asked by: Meghan Gallacher, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to invest in (a) mobile and (b) other modes of training for heat pump installation in rural areas, to increase local expertise, tackle any disparities experienced in rural areas, and remove any barriers to improving energy efficiency.

We are committed to supporting Scotland’s workforce develop the skills needed for the clean heat transition. We have invested in a mobile training centre, launched in August 2023, for heat pump installation to ensure training is equally available across all locations. We also support clean heat installers through our Low Carbon Skills Grant which funds heat pump training in colleges across Scotland. It allows heating and plumbing apprentices to include heat pump training modules as part of their qualification at no additional cost to their employer. A number of colleges with likely rural catchments have delivered these modules.

Question reference: S6W-33526

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of healthcare staff currently working in rural areas are locum staff, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-33663

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to attract healthcare professionals to remote and rural areas, including Aberdeenshire.

The Scottish Government have a number of initiatives already in place to attract healthcare professionals to rural areas, including Aberdeenshire.

These include the Scottish Government funded “Golden Hello” scheme, administered by NHS Scotland Boards, which provides up to £10,000 to every GP taking up an eligible post in a rural area.

Furthermore, to support GPs to develop the skills required to work in rural areas, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) offers the Rural GP Fellowship. The fellowship provides qualified GPs with direct experience of working in rural and island areas across rural and island Health Boards, with the fellowship lasting a full year.

The Scottish Government funds ScotGEM, a unique four-year programme tailored to meet the current and future needs of NHS Scotland with a focus on rural medicine, healthcare improvement and developing interest in General Practice. ScotGEM students are eligible to apply for and receive a ‘Return of Service’ bursary of £4,000 per annum which commits them to working for NHS Scotland for the corresponding number of years following graduation. The Scottish Government also pays the tuition fees for eligible students, offering an attractive package for potential applicants.

To attract dentists to rural areas we have made available a range of grants and allowances including the recruitment and retention allowance, which allows new trainee dentists practicing in eligible areas, to qualify for a ‘Golden Hello’ payment of up to £37,500 in the first three years of practice.

In collaboration with NES’ Centre for Workforce Supply and National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care, we are developing a sustained model of direct support that will provide the long-term whole-system approach which is necessary to provide rural and island employers the help they need to recruit successfully. To improve attraction, this includes supporting employers to design roles that fit their organisations’ needs, ensure that job adverts speak to the right audience and helping employers in welcoming new recruits and providing effective pastoral support.

Question reference: S6W-33662

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what innovations it is pursuing to improve patient transportation in remote areas, including any initiatives piloted in Aberdeenshire.

On 30 October, the Scottish Government published the Transport to Health delivery plan which sets out commitments against transport and healthcare across the work of Health and Social Care and Transport Scotland. The plan was informed by the 2019 Transport to health and social care report prepared by the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) on behalf of Ministers.

As set out in the plan, we will support Regional Transport Partnerships to develop their own plans around Transport to Health. An example of this will be continuing to support the work of the Health and Transport Action Plan led by NESTRANS and partners in Aberdeenshire.

Transport Scotland have included Transport to Health as one of seven thematic workstreams in their approach for delivery of the Accessible Travel Framework.

Question reference: S6W-33564

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to make emergency surgery accessible to patients in rural areas.

Throughout NHS Scotland, patients who require urgent or emergency surgery will always be given clinical priority as determined by the clinicians involved in their treatment and care.

In the event that a patient requires transport to an appropriate facility for treatment, there are several resources available including the Scottish Ambulance Service’s patient transport service for scheduled care, or emergency ambulance for life threatening incidents. Scotland’s rural communities are also supported by air assets from the Scottish Ambulance Service (helicopters in Inverness and Glasgow), Scottish Charity Air Ambulance (helicopters in Aberdeen and Perth) and HM Coastguard helicopters based at Prestwick, Inverness, Stornoway and Sumburgh in Shetland.

Question reference: S6W-33552

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are being taken to improve diagnostic services in rural healthcare facilities.

This year we invested £30m which is driving targeted action to address the longest delays. This will see around 24,000 New Outpatient Appointments and Inpatient/ Day-Case procedures as well as over 40,000 diagnostic procedures. The funding has included diagnostic services in NHS Grampian, NHS Shetland and NHS Orkney.

We are currently developing plans for 2025-26 to ensure patients across Scotland receive the diagnostic services they require.

Question reference: S6W-33595

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the article Infinite and Everywhere, which was published in August 2024 by These Islands, and the reported view that "renewables are a low return on capital business", that they represent a different economic opportunity to oil and gas, and that "It is the Union which unlocks Scotland’s potential in renewables".

The Scottish Government does not share this view.

The returns to Scotland from renewables are substantial. For example, the Fraser of Allander Institute estimates that in 2021 Scotland’s renewable energy sectors and supply chain supported over £10.1 billion of output, more than 42,000 full time equivalent jobs, and over £4.7 billion of Gross Value Added across the Scottish economy.

The reality is of course that some factors influencing our energy potential are governed at the UK level and decisions about that are taken in Whitehall. The Scottish Government is working collaboratively with the UK Government to ensure that decisions resulting from the ongoing Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) will be beneficial for Scotland’s people and economy.

The Scottish Government believes that an independent Scotland which maximises local renewable power generation can create greater energy self-reliance, reduce our exposure to the volatility of global gas prices, and ensure the lower cost of renewables is passed through to customers.