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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-28730

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the report in The Scotsman on 2 July 2024, which stated that the Scotland director of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland had said that they are experiencing a "stress and anxiety crisis", what action it is taking to support the mental health of health and social care workers.

Scottish Government funding of over £2.5m has been committed to support the mental health and wellbeing of health and care staff in 2024-25. These resources include a 24/7 compassionate listening service, confidential mental health treatment through the Workforce Specialist Service and access to psychological therapies and interventions.

Prioritising these treatment and therapeutic programmes reflects our commitment to offer care and support to those staff suffering from stress, anxiety and other conditions. In addition, the National Wellbeing Hub offers a range of self-care wellbeing resources and signposting to relevant mental health and support services.

Question reference: S6W-28645

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported rise in cases of pertussis (whooping cough) from four in 2021 to more than 5,000 in 2024 so far.

In response to the increasing number of laboratory-confirmed cases of pertussis that have been reported in Scotland as well as other parts of the UK and Europe, the Scottish Government is working closely with Public Health Scotland (PHS) and NHS Maternity Services to raise awareness of the risks of pertussis, particularly to young infants and to promote timely vaccination uptake as well as emphasising the importance of pertussis vaccination during pregnancy to protect newborn infants.

A National Incident Management Team (IMT) was convened by PHS on 23 May to ensure best practice across all Boards, including addressing any issues locally that might cause vaccination to be delayed.

The National Pertussis Incident Management Team continues to meet regularly to consider and review all actions in response to the increase in pertussis cases.

The Chief Midwifery Officer wrote to Maternity Services on 15 May 2024 encouraging midwives to promote the offer of vaccination to pregnant women.

The Chief Medical Officer wrote to Immunisation Coordinators and Directors of Public Health on 27 May 2024 about the importance of timely vaccination of infants and young children. He also wrote to Medical Directors and health professionals on 30 May 2024 to encourage all health care staff in priority groups working with infants and pregnant women to keep up to date with their own pertussis vaccinations via their occupational health services.

Question reference: S6W-28646

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government by what date Healthcare Improvement Scotland will publish the national healthcare standards.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) is the national health and social care improvement organisation for Scotland which develops standards and indicators to support health and social care organisations improve the quality of care and support they deliver.

To support nationwide improvements in the quality of care, work is currently underway to develop a set of healthcare standards which outline the requirements for all healthcare services across Scotland.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland will publish draft National Healthcare Standards for consultation by 31 January 2025. It is anticipated that the final National Healthcare Standards will be published by end summer 2025.

Question reference: S6W-28649

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the pause on providing gender-affirming hormones for under-18s, what discussions it has had with (a) the Chief Medical Officer and (b) NHS clinicians regarding reports that there has been a significant rise in the number of testosterone prescriptions for women.

Decisions on prescribing medicines are a matter of clinical judgement for the prescribing clinician in consultation with their patient. These should be based on individual clinical need, informed by relevant advice such as that issued by the General Medical Council (GMC) and guidance for the medicine.

The Scottish Government’s Menopause Clinical Reference Group, Chaired by Dr Heather Currie, has discussed the prescribing of testosterone for women in menopause. This group is exploring supplementary guidance for healthcare professionals on prescribing testosterone for loss of libido in menopause, in line with the British Menopause Society and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance.

Question reference: S6W-28648

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 2 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many certificates of exemption for XL Bully dogs have been issued each month.

As set out in The Dangerous Dogs (Compensation and Exemption Schemes) (Scotland) Order 2024 , from 1 August 2024 it is illegal to own an XL Bully dog in Scotland without a certificate of exemption, or without having applied for a certificate of exemption where a decision has not yet been made.

XL Bully dog owners had from 1 April 2024 to 31 July 2024 to apply to the Scottish Government for a certificate of exemption for their dog, to allow them to continue to legally own the dog.

3,308 certificates of exemption for XL Bully dogs have been issued to dog owners by the Scottish Government during the period 1 April 2024 to 31 July 2024.

454 were issued in April 2024

243 were issued in May 2024

479 were issued in June 2024

2,132 were issued in July 2024

Question reference: S6W-28731

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 July 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 1 August 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated to the National Wellbeing Hub for health and social care workers in each year since 2020.

Question reference: S6W-28257

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reported increase in COVID-19 cases between May and June 2024, and what its position is on whether the uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations during the winter vaccination programme was sufficient.

As part of the 2023- 24 COVID-19 and flu winter vaccination programme NHS Scotland delivered over 3.57 million winter vaccines, including 1,387,766 COVID-19 vaccines. Uptake of the COVID-19 vaccines dropped across all groups, but remained strong in the highest risk groups, with 85.6% of care home residents and 84.1% of those aged over 75 vaccinated which we know from recent statistics are the groups mostly likely to be admitted to hospital.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) is responsible for delivering Scotland’s Infectious Respiratory Diseases Plan 2023–2024 (publichealthscotland.scot) with the support of the Scottish Government. The Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme (SVIP) has already undertaken various pieces of work to understand why uptake has decreased, and this is part of an ongoing drive to ensure that people can take up offers of vaccine easily and equitably. Should the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommend a 2024 winter COVID-19 programme, we shall incorporate that learning into planning for any future campaign.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) is responsible for COVID-19 surveillance. Given the recent increase in circulation of COVID-19 observed in Scotland, PHS has returned to weekly updates to their viral respiratory dashboard from 27 June 2024 ( COVID-19 & Respiratory Surveillance (shinyapps.io) .Periodic peaks in COVID-19 are expected, not just in the winter.

COVID-19 is not a seasonal virus and circulates all year around and with the vaccine optimum protection period lasting up to 3 months, it remains essential that those who are eligible, come forward for vaccination when offered.

Question reference: S6W-28255

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 July 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on student finance for nursing and midwifery students, in light of reported concerns by both the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwifery in Scotland regarding the viability of these courses.

The Scottish Government understands the financial challenges faced by all students, including nursing and midwifery students, and recognise that this has been exacerbated by the cost of living crisis.

The Scottish Government package of support for Scottish student nurses and midwives is currently at its highest level, and is the highest level of support available to nursing and midwifery students across the UK. The annual £10,000 bursary is non-means tested and non-repayable. Eligible students receive free tuition, free uniforms, free disclosure and health checks as well as the reimbursement of clinical placement expenses (travel and accommodation).

Both the Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Midwifery Officer have participated in roundtable events hosted by the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwifery, where they have heard first hand student testimony around financial hardship.

Following those discussions, but alongside the work of the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce and the findings from the royal colleges’ student surveys, the Scottish Government has committed to carrying out a review of nursing and midwifery student financial support.

Question reference: S6O-03585

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will review the process for admitting visitors to the public gallery in the chamber.

Question reference: S6F-03209

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 June 2024

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government will prevent further GP practice closures, in light of reports that the number of surgeries has declined in every NHS board since 2015.