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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-29968

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 24 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on the removal of unsafe cladding from buildings in each year since 2017.

Question reference: S6W-29963

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 24 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many individual buildings in Scotland have been identified as having unsafe cladding.

There are 107 entries in the pilot phase of the Cladding Remediation Programme. Entries in the pilot can comprise a single block or building, or a development, or part of a development consisting of multiple blocks or buildings.

Only a Single Building Assessment meeting the Scottish Standards can identify what cladding if any, a building has and further identify whether the cladding is unsafe.

Developers, homeowners or other organisations could have commissioned assessments without informing the Scottish Government. Therefore, the true number may be higher and could increase as further information becomes available.

Question reference: S6T-02115

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding whether the early release scheme for prisoners has been a success.

Question reference: S6W-29535

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 19 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking following reports that at least 16 children and young people have died of suicide or drugs overdoses in Scotland's care system since 2021.

Creating Hope Together: suicide prevention action plan 2022 to 2025 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) our joint suicide prevention strategy with CoSLA, has a concerted focus on understanding and meeting the needs of those who face a higher risk of suicide. This includes the care experienced community. Our Creating Hope Together – Year 2 Delivery plan (2024-26) - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) includes specific commitments to support the care experienced community ensuring, where appropriate, connection is made at local level with the relevant Promise leads. As part of our work with high risk settings, we are also working with secure care providers to develop a suicide prevention action plan framework for use in the care experience sector.

Any death of a young person due to drugs is a real concern to this government and we are currently developing a set of Standards for local areas, co-designed with young people, to ensure there is sufficient support in place for young people who take drugs. As part of our cross-government response to the final Drug Deaths Taskforce Report, Changing-Lives-updated-1.pdf (knowthescore.info) we are investing £1.5 million in Planet Youth Home | Planet Youth Scotland, sometimes referred to as the Icelandic Model, which is an evidence based model for substance use prevention.

Since October 2021 we have commissioned and funded a National Hub to review and learn from the deaths of all children and young people in Scotland and ultimately help reduce future preventable child deaths. The first Data Overview report: National hub for reviewing and learning from the deaths of children and young people – Data overview report: March 2024 – Healthcare Improvement Scotland from the National Hub was published by Healthcare Improvement Scotland in March 2024.

Question reference: S6W-29524

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the recent announcement by ScotRail that it plans to reduce services to Largs station will have on rail users who plan to attend the Largs Viking Festival.

ScotRail matches its resources to best meet passenger needs during expected grow in demand, for example when special events are happening.

ScotRail advises that it added extra carriages for travelers attending the Largs Viking Festival at the weekend of 31st August and 1st September 2024 and maintained an hourly service to Largs on 7th September. Extra carriages were added to services ran on Sunday the 8th September to provide better capacity.

Question reference: S6W-29457

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 02 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation took place with (a) residents of and (b) people who are employed in Largs, Fairlie and West Kilbride before the recent announcement by ScotRail that it plans to reduce services to Largs station.

Question reference: S6W-28915

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 19 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the annual spend is on the NHS iMatter survey.

Question reference: S6W-28914

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 05 August 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 16 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that nursing graduates are able to reduce the NHS vacancy list.

Health Boards are autonomous institutions and as such, are responsible for their own recruitment activity taking into account, retention, absence rates and budgets when making decisions.

Scottish Government officials have however been engaging with Health Boards about their current position in relation to job offers and supply, with Boards remaining committed to maximising the opportunities for newly qualified nurses to find employment and reduce vacancies across nursing.

Question reference: S6W-28579

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to investigate reports of dangerous beauty products causing blindness or disfigurement.

The investigation of reports relating to dangerous beauty products, such as counterfeit prescription only medicines (POMs) e.g. unlicensed botulinum toxins, is reserved to the UK Government.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for compliance with the regulatory requirements which govern the manufacture, distribution, retail sale/supply and advertisement of medicinal products, and the Scottish Government continues to work with and raise concerns to MHRA on these issues.

Other forms of potentially dangerous beauty products, that are not classified as medicinal products (e.g. non UKCA or CE marked dermal fillers), are not subject to the same laws. These should be reported to Local Authority Trading Standards (LATS), as they are responsible for investigating allegations of all forms of dangerous products.

Question reference: S6W-28577

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what discussions it has had with Healthcare Improvement Scotland regarding regulation of the carrying out of non-surgical cosmetic procedures, such as Botox and dermal fillers, by people who are not healthcare professionals.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) is represented on, and contributes to the discussions at the Scottish Cosmetic Interventions Expert Group, which meets regularly to discuss and advise the Scottish Government on options for the potential regulation of non-surgical cosmetic procedures in Scotland.

However, as a regulator, HIS only regulates independent clinics where services are provided by a medical practitioner, dental practitioner, registered nurse, registered midwife, dental care professional, pharmacist or pharmacy technician.