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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-26057

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-25937

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides for the creation and expansion of wild salmon hatcheries.

Question reference: S6W-25936

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on delivering the Wild Salmon Strategy Implementation Plan.

Question reference: S6W-25810

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to review the Microchipping of Dogs (Scotland) Regulations 2016, with particular consideration given to enforcement, consistency of processes and punishments across local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-25898

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is assisting local authorities to establish investment savings bonds, as has reportedly been done elsewhere in the UK, including by Southwark Council.

Scottish Government are not aware of any local authority that is considering establishing such bonds.

A local authority's capital financing and investment arrangements are a matter for the authority. Whilst we would expect councils to engage appropriate specialist expertise to assist them with their capital financing and investment plans, the Scottish Government would be happy to support any council considering innovative capital financing and investment propositions for the good of their local communities.

Question reference: S6W-25886

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government which specific funding allocation is being used to reduce orthopaedic waiting lists, which reportedly account for one-third of inpatient/day cases and have the highest number of ongoing waits lasting over 18 months.

We remain committed to eradicating long waits to ensure all people receive the treatment they need as soon as possible.

We opened two new National Treatment Centres in Fife and Highland in Spring 2023, and NTC-Forth Valley and the second phase expansion of NTC-Golden Jubilee will open in 2024. These centres will deliver eight orthopaedic theatres and will provide additional and protected capacity for hip and knee replacements.

This year NTC Highland is providing 1,500 orthopaedic procedures and NTC-Fife plans to deliver more than 700 orthopaedic procedures by 2025/2026.

Significant progress is also being made in the delivery of same-day discharge arthroplasty, allowing patients to be safely discharged home on the same day as their procedure, increasing capacity within Orthopaedics.

Question reference: S6W-25881

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Ayrshire and Arran regarding the future use of Carrick Glen Hospital, in light of work on the National Treatment Centre having been paused.

The UK Government did not inflation-proof its capital budget which has resulted in nearly a 10% real-terms cut in the Scottish Government’s capital funding over the medium-term between 2023-24 and 2027-28. The result of this cut is that new health capital projects have currently been paused.

Work is underway to update the pipeline of projects and programmes relating to the 2021 Infrastructure Investment Plan to ensure it is affordable and deliverable and provides best value for money. Our emphasis for the immediate future will be on addressing backlog maintenance and essential equipment replacement.

Question reference: S6W-25885

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made on the allocation of the £300 million that it committed to tackle NHS waiting lists, which was to be targeted to reduce waiting lists by an estimated 100,000 patients by 2026.

We remain committed to driving down waiting times. We have increased investment in frontline NHS boards by more than half a billion pounds in the draft Budget. We will continue to target resources to reduce waiting times, particularly for those waiting longest for treatment, through maximising productivity and additional resources.

We are working with Health Boards on detailed annual plans to demonstrate how waiting lists will be managed to see reductions, improved productivity and clear evidence on how this will help free additional capacity.

Question reference: S6W-25870

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what impact it anticipates the announcements in its Budget will have on digital investment within health services.

The Scottish Government continues to protect investment in digital within health services, as shown in the published budget. Planning remains underway to fully assess the impact on planned activity for 2024-25 that takes into account the considerable financial challenges facing the Scottish Government in the forthcoming financial year, and we will publish our Delivery Plan for Digital Health & Care in April 2024. This will confirm delivery priorities for the year ahead using the investment available.

Question reference: S6W-25884

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS boards currently use the system, TrakCare; in which clinical services they use the system, and how many staff are employed to maintain the system.

TrakCare is used as the main patient management system by 13 Health Boards:

NHS Ayrshire and Arran;
NHS Borders;
NHS Fife;
NHS Forth Valley;
NHS Great Glasgow and Clyde;
NHS Grampian;
Golden Jubilee National Hospital;
NHS Highland;
NHS Lanarkshire;
NHS Lothian;
NHS Orkney;
NHS Shetland; and
NHS Tayside.

All 13 Health Boards use TrakCare for waiting lists, Outpatients and inpatients, clinical coding, national Scottish Morbidity Records and new ways returns. Various Boards also use TrakCare for Emergency Departments, maternity services, mental health, community services, radiology, and theatres.

In addition, the system supports order request functionality for the service departments to manage the provision of laboratory, X-ray and diagnostic services; and Allied Health Professionals, observations, and clinical data recoding in clinical forms to varying degrees.

The Scottish Government does not collate or hold information on how many staff the Health Boards employ to maintain TrakCare.