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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-34438

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-30844 by Jenni Minto on 14 November 2024, when it will provide an update to Parliament on progress towards its goal of eliminating the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Progress towards eliminating hepatitis C (HCV) in Scotland is monitored by Public Health Scotland (PHS). PHS’s latest HCV surveillance report, published in January 2025, described progress as “hugely encouraging”. The number of deaths and cases of severe disease reduced by over 65% between 2015 and 2022, with the vast majority of those diagnosed (89%) having cleared their infection through treatment (exceeding the World Health Organization’s target of 80%).

However, the latest report only includes data up to 2023/24, so it is too early to say conclusively whether every indictor for HCV elimination has been reached. Work continues across key sectors to ensure we achieve and sustain elimination. I will provide a further update to Parliament once we have a fuller picture of our position and next steps post-March 2025.

Question reference: S6W-34351

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to distribute the additional £4.5 million in its draft Budget 2025-26 for long COVID, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and other similar conditions.

Work is ongoing to determine how the additional £4.5 million announced in the draft 2025-26 budget to deliver new specialist support across the country for Long Covid, ME, Chronic Fatigue, and other similar conditions will be allocated.

Allocation of this resource is subject to the passage of the Budget (Scotland) (No. 4) Bill and we continue to ask Parliament to unite behind the Budget to ensure this funding reaches the people who need it.

Question reference: S6W-34313

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done to remove any stigma or fears to encourage cervical screening self-sampling among the (a) under- and (b) never-screened population.

Cervical self-sampling is not yet recommended by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), the independent expert advisory group which advises all four UK nations on screening policy, and therefore is not currently offered within the cervical screening programme. However, the UK NSC are currently consulting on whether cervical self-sampling should be offered to under-screened people eligible for cervical screening.

In preparation for a positive UK NSC recommendation, Screening Oversight and Assurance Scotland are re-establishing the self-sampling working group, whose remit will include assessing implementation options in light of new evidence on the effectiveness of different approaches, and ensuring that communications around a potential roll-out are inclusive and supportive.

In the meantime, the Scottish Government and its partners continue to explore alternative interventions that seek to encourage increased uptake of cervical screening, particularly among under- and never-screened populations. We published the Equity in Screening Strategy in July 2023 that outlines a strategic approach to identifying, addressing and removing barriers to participants across the screening pathway, and ensuring that professionals working within screening are knowledgeable of and use effective interventions to reduce these inequalities. To support this, the Equity in Screening Network was also launched in July 2023, allowing individuals that work across screening to share evidence, best practice and learning around screening inequalities.

Finally, as part of the Scottish Government’s work to eliminate cervical cancer, an expert group on cervical screening is exploring the effectiveness of a range of strategies to increase cervical screening uptake, and are currently considering how different media interventions could remove stigma and fear for all participants.

Question reference: S6W-34316

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to (a) raise awareness of and (b) address alcohol-specific illnesses, in light of reports that there was a higher number of alcohol-related deaths compared with drug-related deaths in 2023-24.

The Scottish Government fully recognises the role that alcohol plays as a cause or risk factor for a number of illnesses and health conditions.

The Scottish Government has taken action to reduce the harms caused by alcohol including the recent increase to the minimum unit price of alcohol from 30 September 2024. The Public Health Scotland (PHS) evaluation of that policy estimated that it had saved hundreds of lives during the period the evaluation reviewed.
The Scottish Government has maintained a record £112m to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) for a wide range of measures, including alcohol treatment services, to ensure that local services meet the needs of people who experience alcohol and drugs harms.
The Scottish Government continues to support the online ‘Count 14’ tool which raises awareness of the UK CMO Guidance on alcohol consumption, in addition to providing an online unit calculator. Count 14 materials continue to be used by a range of partners to support public health messaging on alcohol.
The Scottish Government provides funding for the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Hub which provides support, training and advice to families, carers and professionals supporting children affected by FASD, the first of its kind in the UK.
The Scottish Government is also supporting innovation in early detection of liver disease, working in partnership with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) and local Health Boards, building on learning taken from the innovative intelligent Liver Function Testing (iLFT) pilot pioneered by NHS Tayside.

Question reference: S6W-34508

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-34507

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-32666

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 14 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its work on the prevention and detection of public sector fraud and corruption, how it (a) assesses and (b) responds to any corruption risks associated with financial markets and infrastructure projects linked to foreign governments.

a) The Scottish Government’s Counter Fraud Toolkit within the Counter Fraud Framework contains a range of processes for assessing risks associated with fraud and corruption in all areas of public sector spending. These are aligned with the UK Government's Counter Fraud Standards and international best practice on the effective prevention of public sector fraud and corruption.

b) The Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) contains the requirements for assessing and responding to the risk of corruption in all areas of public finance and infrastructure spending. Where the risk of fraud or corruption of any kind is identified, the SPFM requires that appropriate measures are put in place to prevent these risks.

Question reference: S6W-34067

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 14 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks; what was discussed, who attended, and when the next meeting will take place.

At the time of writing, the Scottish Government last met with Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) on 4 February 2025. Scottish Government officials met with SSEN’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Head of Public Affairs and Policy colleagues to discuss recent regulatory and policy developments.

The following items were discussed at the meeting:

Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP)
Upcoming community engagement events for SSEN’s proposed projects
Transition Impact Assessment (TIA) thresholds
Biodiversity funding

The next meeting is scheduled to take place on 26 February 2025.

Question reference: S6W-34538

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 14 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much just transition funding has been allocated to the whisky industry in the last three years.

The Just Transition Fund has within the last three years provided £988k in capital funding support to the following projects:

£361,767 over 2022-23 to the Cabrach Trust for development of the Cabrach Distillery. The project aimed to create permanent skilled employment opportunities in the area, attract tourism, and support local economic growth and regeneration.
£626,734 over 2022-24 to Ripcell for its pilot Sustainable Solvent Recovery for EV Battery Recycling project utilising pot ale a whisky waste product.

Question reference: S6W-34501

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 14 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its response to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee report, Follow-up inquiry into salmon farming in Scotland, which was published on 17 January 2025.