- Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve diagnosis for (a) idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and (b) interstitial lung disease.
Answer
Our Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland (RCAP) sets out our vision for driving improvement in the prevention, diagnosis, care, treatment and support of people affected by respiratory conditions including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and interstitial lung disease.
There is also a significant respiratory work programme managed by the Respiratory Speciality Delivery Group within NHS Golden Jubilee. They have pathways under development for severe asthma, COPD and sleep apnoea. ILD will continue to be considered within any new respiratory programmes.
Our new Prescribing Guideline set out our ambitions for better access to respiratory care and we also have national workstreams focusing on access to pulmonary rehabilitation and smoking cessation.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason its paper, Scotland’s Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030, does not appear to address artificial turf and crumb rubber.
Answer
The Circular Economy & Waste Route Map to 2030 provides a framework to tackle the environmental impact of priority products, and take a targeted, coordinated approach to managing materials across the waste hierarchy. This approach recognises the variation in emissions or environmental impact of production, consumption or waste management of different materials and products.
As part of the delivery of the Route Map’s priority actions, we will give full consideration to research regarding specific products or materials, such as artificial turf, to ensure we are prioritising action based on products’ environmental and economic impact.
Sportscotland, our national agency for sport, is part of the UK Artificial Grass Pitch forum monitoring work on the long-term viability of these products. Sportscotland continues to engage with sporting bodies, educational bodies and key partners across the sporting sector in the development of synthetic pitches and surfaces.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of zonal pricing in the electricity market on (a) electricity prices for consumers in Scotland, (b) investment in renewable energy projects in Scotland and (c) the overall development of Scotland's energy infrastructure.
Answer
The Scottish Government is working closely with the UK Government on their review of electricity market arrangements (REMA), including on any potential impacts that zonal pricing could have on all market participants, including consumers, communities and industry. The UK Government is working on modelling to further understand this, and we will continue to scrutinise this closely. Modelling conducted for UK Government by LCP Delta and Grant Thornton indicates that indicates that Scotland’s consumers could potentially benefit from lower wholesale electricity prices. However, we are also aware of modelling which suggests potentially negative impacts for Scotland’s renewables industry.
We are engaging with a range of stakeholders, including the renewable industry and consumer organisations to ensure that the impacts of zonal pricing are fully considered by the UK Government ahead of any decisions on market reform. We have also gathered views on electricity reform via the first Scottish Forum on Future Electricity Markets held in December 2024 and our Scottish Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) which meets four times a year.
The Scottish Government commissioned independent research through ClimateXChange to assess the potential impact of locational pricing for a just transition to net zero, which was published on 12 August 2024.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many alcohol-specific deaths have been recorded in each of the last five years, also broken down by what proportion were attributed to liver disease.
Answer
Data on alcohol-specific deaths are published annually by National Records Scotland (NRS) and can be found here: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/alcohol-specific-deaths-2023/
Data on alcohol-specific deaths for 2024 are not yet published. The number of alcohol-specific deaths for the five year period 2019-2023 are listed in the following table, alongside the number and proportion of these deaths where the underlying cause of death was alcoholic liver disease.
Year | Number of alcohol-specific deaths | Number where underlying cause of death was alcoholic liver disease | Proportion where underlying cause of death was alcoholic liver disease |
2019 | 1,020 | 660 | 65% |
2020 | 1,190 | 759 | 64% |
2021 | 1,245 | 795 | 64% |
2022 | 1,276 | 778 | 61% |
2023 | 1,277 | 805 | 63% |
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many hospital admissions in each of the last five years have been directly attributed to alcohol consumption, and how much this has cost.
Answer
The number of hospital admissions wholly attributable to alcohol is published on the Public Health Scotland’s (PHS) website. For the five year period, the number of hospital admissions wholly attributable to alcohol is presented in the following table.
Financial year | Number of hospital admissions wholly attributable to alcohol (acute and psychiatric hospitals combined) |
2023-2024 | 32,301 |
2022-2023 | 31,218 |
2021-2022 | 35,274 |
2020-2021 | 35,148 |
2019-2020 | 39,174 |
Currently, there is no data available on the overall cost of hospital admissions wholly attributable to alcohol.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of strokes recorded in each of the last five years were posterior circulation strokes, and what information it has on how many of these were initially missed despite using the FAST (face, arms, speech, time) test.
Answer
The requested information is not held centrally. The Scottish Stroke Care Audit (SSCA) does not routinely collect information on posterior circulation strokes or data on whether there has been a FAST “pre-alert” before arrival at hospital.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what regulations and checks are made regarding any local authorities that are seeking to close rural schools, in relation to the veracity of their decision-making processes, including the consultation process.
Answer
Local authorities are responsible for the management of their school estate including decisions about the closure of schools. Local authorities are required by the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 (“the 2010 Act”) to carry out a full public consultation where they are proposing a permanent school closure.
Local authorities must also undertake specific additional steps when they propose to close a rural school. These include clearly demonstrating that they have considered alternatives to closure, an assessment of the likely impact on the community and impact on travel to school arrangements for local pupils. The local authority must also set out the educational benefit of the closure which is subject to an independent report by HM Inspectors. The local authority must respond to HM Inspectors’ assessment of the educational impact on those affected. If a proposal to close a school is rejected, then the local authority cannot repeat the process for five years, providing stability for the local community. These protections are intended to ensure that local authorities think very carefully before closing a rural school and consult extensively with the local community about their proposal.
Where it appears to Scottish Ministers that the local authority may have failed, in a significant regard, to comply with the requirements imposed on it by the 2010 Act, or to take proper account of a material consideration relevant to its decision they may “call-in” the decision for review by an independent School Closure Review Panel.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many stroke patients have required mechanical thrombectomy in each of the last five years, and what proportion of these procedures took place outside daytime hours.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this information.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what role it envisions for its economic agencies, such as Scottish Enterprise and Business Gateway, in addressing the reported gender export gap and supporting women-led businesses to expand internationally.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to addressing the gender export gap in Scotland, confirmed by the findings in the recent Gender Export Gap research report.
Recognising the significant economic potential of women-led businesses, we are determined to ensure they are supported to expand internationally.
Our delivery agencies, including Scottish Enterprise, Business Gateway, and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, play a pivotal role in delivering this support. Working with the Scottish Government, they will be instrumental in implementing the report's recommendations, providing tailored advice, assistance, and international market access opportunities to help women-led businesses succeed on the global stage. Through these efforts, we aim to foster a more inclusive and dynamic exporting landscape in Scotland.
The Gender Export Gap report and Scottish Government’s response to it is available here: Gender export gap report: response - gov.scot.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 February 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Peel Ports regarding the potential development of a cruise ship berth on the upper Clyde.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not held discussions with Peel Ports regarding a potential development of a cruise ship berth on the Upper Clyde. Transport Scotland officials communicate with ports, including Clydeport, on a wide range of issues including development opportunities. Ports are deemed to be commercial businesses, and decisions on how best to utilise their resources are the responsibility of the port authority.