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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: S6O-04309

Asked by: Kenneth Gibson, MSP for Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the importance of the A737 to North Ayrshire.

Question reference: S6O-04307

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-04294

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what factors it considered when determining not to introduce any new bands or increase the rates of Scottish income tax for the remainder of this parliamentary session.

Question reference: S6O-04310

Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding Ineos proceeding with the closure of Scotland's only refinery at Grangemouth, in light of the UK Government's reported £600 million loan to the company for a project in Belgium.

Question reference: S6O-04291

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it will do to address any difficulties with recruitment and retention in local government due to the reported declining value of pay.

Question reference: S6W-33707

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 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work on the National Digital Platform, and when patients will (a) have digital access to their medical records and (b) be able to digitally book appointments.

We continue to develop the capabilities of the National Digital Platform (NDP), with core components that will enable individual access, such as standards-based data storage and integration, and access controls and user authentication for the workforce now largely in place.

However, the Platform itself will not provide patients digital access to their medical records or the ability to book appointments, rather it will power the underlying data requirements and systems integration for digital services that are public facing such as the Scotland-wide national vaccine service or the development of a Digital Front Door.

The Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment digital application that is deployed on NDP is currently live in multiple health boards. In the past year, the platform has supported the delivery of the ANIA Digital Dermatology Pathway and will be providing the single source of the truth for Medical Devices Data as part of the Scan for Safety Programme in 2025-26.

The platform will be used to deliver the Digital Front Door service - an online app for patients which will begin to be rolled out in December 2025. The national roll out of this service will be incremental, starting in Lanarkshire. It will allow people to access and manage their hospital appointments online, receive communications, find local services, and access and update their personal information from day one. This will be the first step in a nationally committed, five-year programme for the Programme for Government 2024-25 commitment in launching a new personalised digital health and social care service.

Question reference: S6W-33752

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of its communications budget has been allocated to social media management and related activities in each of the last five years.

Social media management includes the management of Scottish Government social media accounts across platforms, and the directly related services comprise organic content production and outreach to secure content from creators and influencers.

The majority of the Scottish Government’s social media management and organic content creation is managed by internal teams, supported by agencies where required.

The Marketing Services Framework covers the provision of all marketing services, including the development of materials to deliver targeted messaging, engagement with audiences and to support behaviour change.

The relevant lots specifically for social media management support and content production as detailed above are Lot 3 Digital Marketing Services and Lot 4 Public Relation Services. The Media Planning, Buying and Associated Services Framework covers planning and buying services for a full range of media including television, radio, press, digital, online, cinema and out of home.

Total annual Scottish Government marketing spend on these contracts for PR Services, Digital Services and Online media buying as a proportion of total annual marketing spend is below.

It is not possible to refine down to solely social media platform management, social media content creation and social media advertising spend within the timescales required for this response.

Combined spend on PR Services, Digital Services and Online Media spend as a % of total marketing spend over the last five years (NB not solely social media spend) is below:

2019-2020 –27%
2020-2021 -24%
2021-2022 – 31%
2022-2023 – 26%
2023-2024 – 32%

Question reference: S6W-33717

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 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to NHS boards in relation to giving patients access to their own medical records, and what data it has on compliance with any such guidance.

The Scottish Government, through the National Information Governance Programme and the Digital Health and Care Directorate, supports NHS boards by providing comprehensive guidance on enabling patients to access their medical records. Guidance includes the Records Management Code of Practice, the Confidentiality Code of Practice, and patient-facing guidance on NHS Inform explaining to patients what happens to and how they can access their personal data. Guidance is co-produced through a collaborative Information Governance community from across the NHS landscape, ensuring it reflects shared best practices and is centred on patient needs. This engagement with the NHS Information Governance community provides a valuable feedback loop to monitor compliance with such guidance, alongside direct interactions with patients, ensuring issues are addressed and mitigated accordingly.

A reassuring indicator of compliance within this feedback loop is the positive outcome of the recent ICO audit of health boards, underpinning our determination to ensure full transparency to patients and the wider public.

Question reference: S6W-33753

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on paid promotions and advertisements on social media platforms in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-33247

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-30182 by Jenni Minto on 8 October 2024, whether its draft Budget 2025-26 will impact on the National Thrombectomy Planning Board's plans for a phased approach to expanding thrombectomy services.

The Scottish Government remains committed to expanding the national thrombectomy service, and ensuring access to this treatment is as equitable as possible.

Through the National Thrombectomy Programme Board, and Thrombectomy Advisory Group, work is being undertaken to drive expansion of the thrombectomy service.

Planning is ongoing to establish how the £16 million funding announced in the Scottish budget, once scrutinised by the Scottish Parliament, will be best used to maximise the number of patients able to benefit from thrombectomy.