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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-33234

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 27 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, as part of the guarantee that it provided for the purchase of the Lochaber smelter, whether there were any conditions placed on (a) Alvance and (b) GFG Alliance to submit fully audited accounts every year.

Question reference: S6W-33973

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-33389

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress the Scottish Ambulance Service has made on commissioning a new pre-hospital service to cover the east and south east of Scotland, to replace Medic One.

Following the withdrawal of medic 1 by NHS Lothian the Scottish Ambulance Service, working with other Health Boards, has put in place contingency arrangements to provide a prehospital Emergency Critical Care response across the east of Scotland.

Working through the National Trauma Network the Scottish Ambulance Service has agreed to take the lead in writing the business case for this replacement service. This work is ongoing recognising this is a complex undertaking with multiple stakeholders involved and there is a requirement to ensure that options within the business case are evidenced based, sustainable and meet the needs of patients in the East of Scotland and our population as whole.

The current project plan is working to have this business case completed by summer 2025. This will then need to be presented and reviewed through the appropriate governance processes.

Question reference: S6W-33314

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to address respiratory problems that are associated with smoking illicit drugs.

We know that there are links between smoking illicit drugs and some respiratory conditions. For example, smoking cannabis can lead to chronic bronchitis and clinicians sometimes see destructive emphysema in younger people.

To prevent harm in future generations, we are taking forward education work on substance abuse in our schools through the Curriculum for Excellence. Through educating young people about substance use and the impact it can have on their life and health, this will prevent them making unhealthy choices.

As part of our cross-government response to the final Drug Deaths Taskforce Report, we are investing £1.5 million in piloting Planet Youth in up to 35 schools across eight areas in 2025. Planet Youth is a universal approach to prevention that empowers communities to take action that will work for their specific circumstances to support young people to reduce the risk of substance use and its harms.

We are committed to ensuring that anyone living with a respiratory condition in Scotland receives the best possible care and treatment and will continue to ensure this takes account of areas of particular concern relating to drugs.

Question reference: S6W-33336

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in clinical research into (a) dementia, (b) neurodegenerative conditions, (c) non-neurodegenerative conditions and (d) other neurological conditions in each of the last five years.

Within the Scottish Government, funding for Health and Care Research comes under the policy remit of the Chief Scientist Office (CSO)

CSO directly funds research through its research project and fellowship schemes. These are open to applications from across the clinical spectrum. All applications go through the same independent expert review process to enable funding decisions to be made

For multi-year projects and fellowships, the funding figure is allocated to the year corresponding to the start date and is the total amount committed to the project or fellowship

The 4 categories listed have been interpreted as follows:

Dementia - category including Alzheimer's; Frontotemporal Lobe Dementia; Lewy Body Dementia

2024-25	28,115
2023-24	299,999
2022-23	592,437
2021-22	260,978
2020-21	20,000

Neurodegenerative Conditions - category including MND/ALS; Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's

2024-25	132,368
2023-24	356,955
2022-23
2021-22	1,947,038
2020-21	73,325

Non-neurodegenerative conditions - category including Epilepsy; Migraine; Seizures

2024-25
2023-24	501,704
2022-23
2021-22	379,814
2020-21

Other neurological conditions - category including Ischaemic and Haemorrhagic Stroke; Cerebral Small Vessel Disease; Acquired Brain Injury

2024-25	550,919
2023-24	300,000
2022-23	856,698
2021-22	762,439
2020-21	78,744

In addition to directly funding research projects and fellowships, CSO also funds the NHS Research Scotland infrastructure that supports the running of Clinical Trials in the NHS here. This infrastructure includes topic-specific research networks which act as the interface between the research community, the NHS and patients themselves, facilitating the set up, delivery and completion of clinical studies across Scotland within their specific clinical areas

The research networks in Dementia/Neuroprogressive Conditions; Stroke; and Pain support the delivery of clinical studies across one or more of the above categories.

Details of CSO funding for these 3 research networks is provided in the table below:

Network / Specialty	FY 2020-21	FY 2021-22	FY 2022-23	FY 2023-24	FY 2024-25	Total per area
Neuroprogressive & Dementia	£506,000	£677,000	£777,000	£829,000	£855,000	£3,644,000
Stroke	£616,000	£641,000	£689,000	£734,000	£757,000	£3,437,000
NRS Pain	£14,404	£14,821	£18,000	£28,500	£30,000	£105,725
Total per Financial Year	£1,136,404	£1,332,821	£1,484,000	£1,591,500	£1,642,000	£7,186,725

Question reference: S6W-33281

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will update section 19 of the Historic Environment (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2011 to increase the maximum fine for offences in relation to unauthorised works and listed building consent above the current maximum of £50,000, recognising the effect of inflation, and whether it will consider pegging the fine to the independently assessed cost of restoring any damage.

Question reference: S6W-33335

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people with a terminal neurological condition have met the criteria for requiring palliative care in each year since 2021-22, broken down by how many received specialist palliative care.

Question reference: S6W-33303

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what NHS digitalisation projects it is taking forward.

The refreshed Digital Health and Care strategy sets out our digitalisation ambitions and its associated delivery plan highlights our achievements to date and summarises the key commitments to be achieved.

The specific actions being taken can be read in the Strategy at: https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/strategy-plan/2021/10/scotlands-digital-health-care-strategy/documents/enabling-connecting-empowering-care-digital-age/enabling-connecting-empowering-care-digital-age/govscot%3Adocument/enabling-connecting-empowering-care-digital-age.pdf

Our most recent update to our deliver plan is available at:

https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/strategy-plan/2024/05/care-digital-age-delivery-plan-2024-25/documents/care-digital-age-delivery-plan-2024-25-scotlands-digital-health-care-strategy/care-digital-age-delivery-plan-2024-25-scotlands-digital-health-care-strategy/govscot%3Adocument/care-digital-age-delivery-plan-2024-25-scotlands-digital-health-care-strategy.pdf

Question reference: S6W-33353

Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the health budget in the 2025-26 financial year will be allocated to the provision of healthy foods, out-of-hours catering and rest spaces for doctors working in hospitals, and what practical steps it will take with NHS boards to ensure the daily operation of such facilities.

The allocation of funding for healthy food provision, out-of-hours catering or rest spaces for doctors remains the responsibility of individual Health Boards, who will manage their facilities effectively within their individual budgets.

NHS employers are encouraged to ensure, wherever feasible, that staff have access to nutritious food, out-of-hours catering and appropriate rest spaces.

Evaluation of the EnergyPods was provided through surveys conducted by Victoria Hospital in Fife, along with usage data from the supplier provided to Scottish Government as requested up to May 2023, demonstrating the ongoing value to staff. The EnergyPods continue to be used regularly within NHS Fife offering a valuable addition to their facilities.

The Scottish Government continues to work with stakeholders to consider further initiatives across health, social care and social work to enhance staff wellbeing.

Question reference: S6W-33375

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 24 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will authorise a review of fire safety procedures at waste management facilities.

Following the fire at the WEEE Solutions site in Linwood in June 2024, I asked my officials to consider the safety of these sites and battery energy storage (BESS) sites. In particular, this was to examine whether existing safety provisions and regulations are sufficiently robust, whilst also considering compliance and enforcement aspects. This concluded that the current legislative and regulatory framework is sufficiently robust, recognising however that it is complex and requires interagency cooperation to be effective.

The investigation into the cause of the recent fire at Friarton is still underway and I will decide once the findings are known whether to take any reviews forward. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, the Health and Safety Executive and SEPA will continue to engage with the site and my officials liaise with them on any issues of safety at BESS sites.

It would not be appropriate to commit to a review of fire safety procedures at waste management facilities until HSE, SEPA and SFRS have had time to look at the particular case and can give informed information to governments if required.