- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2025
To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2025
- Asked by: Russell Findlay, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 17 March 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2025
Question to be taken in Chamber.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2025
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 17 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the impact of proposed employer national insurance charge increases on GP practices in Scotland, including whether there is an option for applying exemption thresholds.
Answer
Scottish Government continues to call on the UK Government for analysis and mitigation of the impact of National Insurance changes on all commissioned services in the public sector, including GP practices.
Since the Autumn Statement published on 30 October 2024, Scottish Government has made continued representation to the UK Government on the significant impact that the changes will have on the health and social care landscape. In particular we note the continued inequity which leaves many commissioned services unable to claim the Employment Allowance, despite its extension to more businesses from 6 April due to the relaxations announced in the Budget.
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government wrote to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury last month again highlighting the risks to GPs and other contractors and asking for specific consideration and review of the Employment Allowance to allow them to claim this relief. She further pressed the Chief Secretary on the impact of the National Insurance changes in a meeting on 27 February.
It remains the view of Scottish Government that mitigations are essential to safeguard existing service provision, and that greater recognition is needed of the impact to these vital public services – and the people who rely on them – if appropriate compensatory funding or extension of existing tax reliefs is not afforded.
- Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to take to address and improve fertility and reproduction rates in Glasgow, in light of reports suggesting that the city has the fifth lowest in the UK.
Answer
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and Health Boards across Scotland, provide access to fertility services for those within their population who may be unable or finding it difficult to conceive.
Falling birth rates are a demographic trend replicated across many high-income countries, with significant future implications for our economies, communities and public services.
The Family Friendly Nation strand of our 2021 Population Strategy sets out our ambition to ensure Scotland is the ideal place to raise a family, and to support people to have the number of children they wish to have. We are clear that it is not for government to attach value judgements to different families.
In delivering this Strategy, during 2024 the Ministerial Population Taskforce undertook new analytical work to further explore family friendly policies internationally. This was presented to the Taskforce in December 2024 and next steps are now being undertaken to scope their application within the Scottish policy context.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 17 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35124 by Angela Constance on 4 March 2025, whether any of the liquidated damages provisions contained in the contract for HMP Barlinnie have been triggered, and if so, how much was paid.
Answer
I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:
I can confirm that to date, the liquidated damages provisions have not been triggered.
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how it is improving knowledge and training regarding gastrointestinal issues for primary care professionals to improve their awareness of asymptomatic, vague, acute or non-colorectal symptoms.
Answer
NHS Education for Scotland provide a range of resources and training programmes for GPs and the current GP curriculum comprehensively covers gastrointestinal issues.
A new primary care cancer education platform – Gateway C – was launched on 30 April 2024 in NHS Scotland, supported by NES. Gateway C provides innovative and tailored information to support earlier cancer diagnosis efforts and enable effective decision-making. This free online platform is accessible to all primary care clinicians including pharmacists, dentists, and optometrists.
We have also funded the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP) with a specific workstream continuing to promote improvements in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) care, which is being taken forward through the MPPP’s National Gastroenterology Speciality Delivery Group (SDG). They have developed a national IBD pathway for NHS Scotland which was published in January 2025: inflammatory-bowel-disease-ibd-pathway.pdf. The Gastroenterology SDG is also developing a lower gastrointestinal pathway which will provide primary care guidance about testing and diagnosis for people with IBD and Coeliac Disease in Scotland.
The Scottish Referral Guidelines (SRG) for Suspected Cancer have also been developed to support primary care clinicians to identify those with symptoms suspicious of cancer and identify those who require urgent assessment by a specialist. A clinical refresh of these guidance is underway to help ensure the right person is on the right pathway at the right time and includes updated guidance for colorectal and Upper GI cancers.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) it has and (b) any of its agencies have consulted muirburn training providers about NatureScot’s reported plans to remove the requirement for the completion of practical muirburn training from the approved training course for muirburn in (i) 2025-26 and (ii) future years.
Answer
NatureScot has discussed training and the challenges of ensuring that all those who need to be trained can undertake training ahead of the next muirburn season with the Muirburn Code Working Group. The Group, which is made up wide-range of relevant stakeholders, also includes training providers.
For the first year of muirburn licences, only the online knowledge-based training will be required. The intention is that practical elements will be required before a licence is issued in future years. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as this develops.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 17 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government when it first began including assumed council tax revenues in its calculation of average per person funding for local authorities as part of the policy, as stated in the Scottish Public Finance Manual, that each local authority receives at least 85% of the Scottish average revenue funding per head.
Answer
Assumed council tax revenues are a key element of the needs-based distribution formula that is discussed and agreed with COSLA on behalf of all 32 local authorities each year.
An Assumed Council Tax of £911 at Band D has been included in the calculation of the 85% funding floor since the 85% Floor was introduced in the 2012-13 Settlement (see Annex I of Local Government Finance Circular 11/2011).
Local Government Finance officials would be happy to meet with you to discuss the assumed council tax calculation in more detail, if required.
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding what proportion of an agricultural officer’s time is dedicated to (a) agricultural wages inspection and (b) rural payments.
Answer
Agricultural Officers do not all carry out the same duties and the type of work is not evenly distributed across Scotland. This means a single reply applicable to every Agricultural Officer is not possible.
Resource planning information shows that agricultural wages inspections currently take between 5% to 20% of time for those officers who carry out this duty. Rural payments take between 5% to 60% of an Agricultural Officers time for those officers who carry out this duty.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 17 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Housing (Scotland) Bill, what contact it has had with (a) individual landlords and (b) representative landlord bodies.
Answer
The Scottish Government has engaged with individual landlords and representative bodies and more information can be found in the Housing Policy Memorandum and Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA)
Since introduction of the Bill, the Scottish Government continues to engage with landlords and their representatives.