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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-24045

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many children and young people are currently living with long COVID.

The best available data about long COVID prevalence among children and young people comes from the Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) 2022 (respiratory chapter) , published in December 2023, which reported on people who had ever had long COVID. This data shows that 4% of children aged 0-15 were reported to have ever had long COVID. This is the lowest prevalence rate among all age groups shown in this survey. In January 2024, a breakdown will be published to distinguish between people who were currently experiencing, and had ever experienced, long COVID.

Question reference: S6W-23900

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health during the members’ business debate on motion S6M-11352 on 6 December 2023, in relation to the publication of the new palliative care strategy in 2024, that she “would love to give a more precise indication” and “will go back to [her] officials to get the date”, whether it will provide the publication date for the strategy.

Question reference: S6W-23782

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 21 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether cabinet secretaries and ministers have ever paid for personal usage of government-issued (a) mobile phones and (b) other electronic devices, and whether any sums involved have ever exceeded £50 in the course of a month.

Question reference: S6W-23781

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 20 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government which cabinet secretaries and ministers have government-issued (a) mobile phones and (b) other electronic devices.

On appointment, ministers are offered electronic equipment to assist them in carrying out their official duties. I have included table which outlines the devices used by each of the ministers.

Minister	Ministerial Role	SG Laptop	SG Tablet	SG Mobile	SG Mi-Fi
Humza Yousaf	First Minister	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Shona Robison	Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance	Yes	No	Yes	No
Angela Constance	Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs	Yes	No	Yes	No
Neil Gray	Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Mairi McAllan	Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition	Yes	No	Yes	No
Mairi Gougeon	Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Angus Robertson	Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Michael Matheson	Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Shirley-Anne Somerville	Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice	Yes	No	Yes	No
Jenny Gilruth	Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills	Yes	No	Yes	No
Siobhian Brown	Minister for Victims and Community Safety	Yes	No	Yes	No
Natalie Don	Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise	Yes	No	Yes	No
Richard Lochhead	Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade	Yes	No	Yes	No
Fiona Hyslop	Minister for Transport	Yes	No	Yes	No
Elena Whitham	Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy	Yes	No	Yes	No
Tom Arthur	Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance	Yes	No	Yes	No
Maree Todd	Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Emma Roddick	Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees	Yes	No	Yes	No
Graeme Dey	Minister for Higher Education, Further Education and Minister for Veterans	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Gillian Martin	Minister for Energy and the Environment	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Jamie Hepburn	Minister for Independence	Yes	No	Yes	No
Joe FitzPatrick	Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Jenni Minto	Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health	Yes	No	Yes	No
Paul McLennan	Minister for Housing	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Patrick Harvie	Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenant’s Rights	Yes	No	Yes	No
George Adam	Minister for Parliamentary Business	Yes	No	Yes	No
Christina McKelvie	Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development	Yes	No	No	No
Lorna Slater	Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity	Yes	No	No	No
Dorothy Bain KC	Lord Advocate	Yes	Yes	No	No
Ruth Charteris KC	Solicitor General	Yes	No	No	No

Question reference: S6W-23628

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK National Screening Committee's recommendation in June 2022 that a national targeted lung cancer screening programme be implemented across the four home nations, for what reason this programme has not been rolled out to date in Scotland, and when this screening programme will commence.

The Scottish Government welcomes the UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) recommendation that the four nations should move towards implementing a targeted lung screening programme for those aged 55-74 with a history of smoking. However, the roll-out of any screening programme is a complex undertaking, and the UK NSC acknowledged in its recommendation that there remain a number of significant issues that must be worked through before a full programme of lung screening can be implemented. Scotland is a member of the four nations group established to explore some of these issues, and has also established its own targeted lung cancer screening Scottish Expert Advisory Group (SEAG).

The SEAG’s remit is to provide the Scottish Government with advice on the scoping, implementation, establishment and delivery of a targeted lung cancer screening programme. The first stage of this work is underway and will support development of an evidence-based assessment of timescales for design and implementation.

Question reference: S6W-23823

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what funding has been allocated to support patients with dystonia.

Question reference: S6W-23822

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 19 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what resources are available for patients with (a) dystonia and (b) other conditions due to neurological illness.

We are working to implement the commitments of our Neurological Care and Support – National Framework for Action 2020-25 , to improve the provision of co-ordinated health and social care and support, develop sustainable workforce models and ensure high standards of person-centred care.

Whilst the Framework is not condition specific, it covers issues affecting people with all types of neurological conditions, including dystonia.

Despite the disruption to health and social care services during the pandemic, we have sustained our efforts to deliver the commitments of the Framework, awarding £2.6 million since October 2020 to fund innovative projects working to improve outcomes for people living with neurological conditions. A midpoint progress report was published in July 2022.

The Scottish Government has been further working in partnership with NHS24 to update accessible public-facing information about dystonia , and other neurological conditions, for the NHS Inform website.

Question reference: S6W-23169

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 18 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support will be provided to residents of Argyll and Bute who have been unable to return home following damage caused during Storm Babet.

The Scottish Government recognises the significant impact of Storm Babet on people, businesses and communities. The Government has been working closely with affected local authorities on a package of support to help people whose homes and businesses were flooded. This package includes extending the Bellwin scheme’s application window to help all Councils, including Argyll and Bute, cover eligible expenditure for urgent repairs.

The Scottish Welfare Fund also provides emergency support to those on low incomes in Scotland, including in Argyll and Bute. Support may be provided through the provision of Crisis Grants and Community Care Grants, including to those who have experienced a disaster situation, such as a flood. Residents can apply to the Scottish Welfare Fund through their Council.

This support is in addition to Scotland’s longer-term investment in flood resilience, where we have committed £150m over the course of this Parliament to deliver improved flood resilience, in addition to the £42m provided annually to councils for flood resilience through the general capital grant.

Question reference: S6W-23565

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 14 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s mid-year registration data reports, which show that Scotland has the lowest recruitment rate of nursing and midwifery staff in the UK.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council’s mid-year registration data report covers a six-month period and reflects those with a Scottish address who have registered, it does not indicate actual employment in Scotland’s health sector. The report itself therefore cannot be used as a true reflection of recruitment in Scotland.

Whilst the report shows a 22% increase in registration in Scotland compared to a 27.7% increase in registration across the UK in the last six months relative to the same period last year, nursing and midwifery levels per head of population show that we have 8.4 qualified Nurses and Midwives per 1,000 population, compared to 6.3 in England, 8.2 in Wales and 9.1 in Northern Island. This means nursing and midwifery levels are 32% higher, per head of population in Scotland than in England. Overall Nursing and Midwifery staffing in Scotland is at a record high and remains the best paid across the UK.

Question reference: S6O-02915

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether its plans for the delivery of Employment Injury Assistance include support for firefighters diagnosed with cancer, in light of reported calls for this welfare benefit to be made available to this workforce.