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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-12770

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12034 by Michael Matheson on 28 November 2022, what steps it is taking to address any uncompetitive government support for refund guarantees and performance bonds that are inhibiting the growth of commercial shipbuilding in Scotland relative to other countries.

The Scottish Government supports the growth of commercial shipbuilding in Scotland and has welcomed the UK Government’s intention to introduce a Home Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme (HSCGS) as part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh.

We look forward to the launch of the HSCGS and once the final details are known we will work with the industry to establish how best to utilise the scheme and maximise its potential to support the growth of commercial shipbuilding in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-12607

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many new post-foundation specialty training posts for junior doctors in NHS Scotland there have been in each of the last 10 years.

725 additional training places have been created for trainee doctors since 2014. This includes 152 posts which were agreed to this year and will be recruited to in 2023. This represents the largest annual expansion to date, exceeding last year’s record by 13 places. An annual breakdown is included in the following table.

Data is not held for years prior to 2014.

Year	Number of posts created
2014	58
2015	15
2016	117*
2017	21
2018	26
2019	53
2020	70
2021	74
2022	139
2023	152
Total:	725

* includes 100 additional GP training places

Question reference: S6W-12662

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many clinical trials in NHS Scotland were run for brain tumour patients in 2020-21, and how many patients took part in any such trials.

Question reference: S6W-12663

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 12 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the level of research being undertaken in Scotland into the (a) understanding and (b) treatment of brain tumours.

The Scottish Government does not directly hold information on the research spend of other funders.

An interrogation of the NCRI (National Cancer Research Institute) database indicated that £17,631,882 was spent on brain tumour research in the UK in 20/21 by charity and public funders.

This breaks down to £6,290,512 on biology, £872,201 on aetiology, £67,606 on prevention, £2,846,401 on Early detection, diagnosis and prognosis, £6,690,871 on treatment and £864,290 on cancer control, survivorship and outcomes research.

Question reference: S6W-12608

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many registered doctors in NHS Scotland have applied to the General Medical Council for certificates of good standing in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-12581

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the total number of doctors have permanently left NHS Scotland in each of the last five years.

The information requested on what percentage of the total number of doctors have permanently left NHS Scotland in each of the last five years is not centrally available. We do not hold data on the number of staff that have permanently left NHS Scotland.

Information on the number of leavers by financial year, broken down by job family and NHS Board, can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at: NHSScotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence

Question reference: S6W-12664

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients are currently receiving treatment for brain tumours in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-12308

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria for Scottish or UK workshare has been specified by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited in its request for tenders for the detailed design, construction, testing, survey, equipping, completion and delivery of two Ro-Pax ferries for UK domestic waters, which has a deadline for responses of 6 December 2022.

CMAL have used a closed tendering process through the Public Contracts Scotland portal for the procurement of 2 further Islay Class RoPAx vessels. This procurement allows for local content to be considered as part of the evaluation process amongst many other commercial and technical aspects. No specific criteria has been set.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12306 on 5 December 2022 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-12463

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 8 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many active working groups there are that have a role in enterprise issues that fall within of the responsibilities of the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise.

A number of active groups have a role in enterprise issues that fall within of the responsibilities of the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise.

These include sectoral groups coordinating work to transform different segments of Scotland’s economy:

Financial Services Growth and Development Board
Industry Leadership Chairs Group
Life Sciences Scotland Industry Leadership Group
Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council
Strategic Leadership Group for Advanced Manufacturing
Tourism and Hospitality Industry Leadership Group
Aerospace and Defence Industry Leadership Group
Construction Leadership Forum

There are also groups which help support the delivery of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation:

New Market Opportunities Partnership Delivery Group
Productive Business and Regions Delivery Board
Business Support Partnership

To support regional economic development, the following groups exist:

Scottish City Region and Growth Deal Delivery Board
Regional Economic Policy Advisory Group

There are additionally groups where the Scottish Government draws on external experience to inform policy decisions:

• Scottish Government and Business Organisations Meeting

• Ministerial Trade Board

• Scottish Taskforce for Green and Sustainable Financial Services

• Innovation Strategy Steering Group

Question reference: S6O-01683

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what impact industrial action by public sector workers will have on the delivery of its Covid Recovery Strategy.