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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-02863

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 December 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what value it places on the role of trade unions in delivering and sustaining a wellbeing economy.

Question reference: S6O-02786

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jackson Carlaw (on behalf of the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body) on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when it will make a decision on the Staff Cost Provision uprating for the financial year 2024-25.

Question reference: S6O-02800

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of the Food Security Unit in relation to the monitoring of food system resilience.

Question reference: S6T-01639

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that stagnating workforce numbers, amongst other factors, are contributing to increased pressure on midwifery services.

Question reference: S6W-22435

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 7 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government by what stage of pregnancy it expects women to have had a face-to-face meeting with their named midwife.

The antenatal booking appointment is usually the first contact point between the primary or named midwife and pregnant women. We expect all women to have an initial assessment of their health, obstetric and social needs completed, and be offered appropriate screening referrals and other care options by the 12th full week of pregnancy.

The Scottish Government Local Delivery Plan standard for early access to antenatal care states that at least 80% of pregnant women in each Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) quintile will have booked for antenatal care by the 12th week of gestation. This standard has been met or exceeded consistently since 2013-14. Public Health Scotland published its latest annual statistical report on antenatal booking, Antenatal Booking in Scotland , in March 2023, which shows that 92.8% of pregnancies were booked by 12 weeks in the year ending 31 December 2022.

Question reference: S6W-22002

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been on abortion care services, and what steps still need to be taken to meet the aspirations outlined in its Women's Health Plan.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on all NHS services to an extent, including abortion services.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving access to abortion services and the Women’s Health Plan includes a range of measures which aim to achieve this. Several abortion-related actions within the Women’s Health Plan have been progressed, including:

making telemedicine consultations a permanent option for patients,
continuing to allow women under 12 weeks’ gestation to take mifepristone and misoprostol at home where that is clinically appropriate and also now allowing women to take mifepristone at home at later gestations in certain circumstances,
ensuring patients are offered the progestogen-only pill with their abortion medications, and
working with stakeholders and Gillian Mackay MSP to introduce the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill into the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Government commissioned NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) to develop a specification to deliver a national service for abortions between 20 to 24 weeks gestation within Scotland. NSS has been discussing its specification with NHS Boards and is also exploring other delivery options for the service. We anticipate that the long-term action within the Plan to review the provision of abortion services in Scotland will be considered as part of the forthcoming review of abortion law.

Question reference: S6W-22005

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how the reported pressure on bed spaces in hospital wards across Scotland is impacting on NHS abortion care services.

The great majority of abortions in Scotland are early medical abortions, where one or both medications are taken at home. These patients do not require bed spaces. Only a small minority of abortion patients require inpatient treatment, mostly as a day patient.

Whilst factors, including access to a bed, may sometimes cause a delay, Health Boards do their best to ensure patients can access abortion treatment as quickly as possible.

Question reference: S6W-22004

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to address the rise, reported by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), in the number of women travelling to England to access abortion services pre-20-weeks' gestation, in light of its commitment to provide NHS abortion services within Scotland and the Women's Health Plan progress report stating that all mainland NHS boards in Scotland are now able to deliver services up to 20 weeks' gestation.

All mainland Health Boards now offer abortions for all patients up to at least 20 weeks’ gestation in line with the recommendations in the 2022 Healthcare Improvement Scotland Sexual Health Standards.

The abortion statistics for England and Wales show that from January to June 2022, 19 patients resident in Scotland were treated in England or Wales who were over 20 weeks’ gestation and 5 patients who were between 13 and 19 weeks’ gestation. It is not possible to confirm how many of those patients sought treatment in England or Wales by choice and how many were referred there by their Health Board.

We understand that there will be rare occasions where waiting times mean that women under 20 weeks’ gestation are required to travel to England as they would not be able to access the service in Scotland before 20 weeks. We are working with BPAS to seek data on this, but the majority of patients needing to travel are over 20 weeks.

We continue to encourage Health Boards to ensure that patients close to 20 weeks’ gestation are prioritised for appointments.

Question reference: S6W-22003

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS boards in all parts of Scotland are now able to offer surgical abortions where requested by patients and clinicians during the (a) first and (b) second trimester.

During the first trimester, all mainland NHS Boards within Scotland are able to offer surgical abortions, although access to surgical abortion is limited in some Health Board areas.

Currently no Health Board in Scotland is able to provide second trimester surgical abortions; if a patient is unable to access a medical abortion locally in the second trimester (over 20 weeks’ gestation), their Health Board will refer them to a service in England for treatment.

Question reference: S6W-21710

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 25 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards implementing article 5.3 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The Scottish Government is committed to its obligations under the Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

In line with the WHO Guidelines for implementation, the Scottish Government Tobacco Control Team is undertaking a number of measures to support compliance. This includes, but is not limited to:

Continuing to raise awareness of Article 5.3 across Scottish Government, Local Government and related bodies.
Asking consultation respondents to make a declaration of any links to the Tobacco Industry within tobacco and vaping consultations, including the 2022 consultation on tightening rules on advertising and promotion of vaping products. and the recent 4-nations consultation on mandating quit information messages inside tobacco packs.
Sharing UK Government guidance on engagement with the tobacco industry with internal and external stakeholders.

Further information on implementation of Article 5.3 will be included in our refreshed Tobacco Action Plan which will publish later in autumn.