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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-24570

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many working groups it has established in each year since 1999.

Due to the scope and timeframe of the question, the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as this data is not available from a single source. However, the Scottish Government has responded to FOI requests seeking information in relation to working groups in September 2021 and September 2023 which may be helpful. Links to those FOI responses can be found below:

Various questions relating to Scottish Government working groups: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Breakdown of Scottish Government groups: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ”

Question reference: S6W-24576

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made to ensure (a) equity in data availability across cancer types and (b) the frequent publication of emergency presentation data for blood cancers, as outlined in its Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023-2026.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the quality, frequency and usage of a number of datasets, including emergency presentation data, across cancer types.

Blood cancers often present in different ways. A wide range of data on blood cancers are regularly published by Public Health Scotland, including Incidence, Quality Performance Indicators (QPIs), Mortality, and Survival. We will continue to work with key partners to identify any gaps in understanding and inequity in data availability, to drive improvements.

For example, we expect to review cancer types measured and reported on with regards to time to first treatment as part of the clinical review of Cancer Waiting Time standards ahead of 2026.

Question reference: S6W-24188

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 18 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many university students have been registered with a GP in each NHS board in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-24189

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many cases of graffiti on public buildings have been reported to Police Scotland in each year since 1999.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.

The data we receive from Police Scotland for production of the Recorded Crime in Scotland National Statistics is a simple count of the numbers of crimes and offences, for each local authority, which the police have recorded and cleared up. We do not receive further details on the characteristics and circumstances of individual crimes, therefore we are unable to identify how many crimes of vandalism were in relation to graffiti or the location of these crimes.

Time series information on the total number of crimes of vandalism recorded by the police is available from the Recorded Crime in Scotland Accredited Official Statistics.

Question reference: S6W-24190

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had regarding personal health alarms and the move to digital calls only by the end of 2025.

Since 2017, the Scottish Government has commissioned COSLA’s Digital Office for Local Government to implement a national programme for the transition of analogue to digital telecare. This approach has ensured a Scotland wide approach, the efficient use of resources and sharing of best practice in managing its complexity.

The Scottish Government, alongside COSLA’s Digital Office, continue to hold regular discussions with key partners including the telecoms industry, the Telecare Services Association (TSA), Ofcom and Local Authorities. Scottish partners are also actively sharing best practice and guidance with the other devolved nations.

At this point in time, telecare services across Scotland are on track to meet the end of 2025 analogue switch off.

Question reference: S6O-02971

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the finance secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the allocation of funding for the development of a national funding framework for adult and child hospices in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-24192

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 10 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many people who applied for a free personal care package have not received one in each year since 1999, also broken down by local authority area.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on the number of people who have applied for free personal care packages but have not received it.

However, numbers of people who have received a personal care package are published as part of the latest statistical release on Free Personal and Nursing Care (2022-23) and are broken down by local authority area here: Supporting documents - Free Personal and Nursing Care, Scotland, 2022-23 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6W-23850

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many eye patients in NHS (a) Lothian, (b) Borders and (c) Fife have had to receive treatment in Glasgow due to a reported lack of theatre capacity at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh.

This information is not held centrally. We do not hold the information that would allow us to identify the reason for an ophthalmology patient to receive treatment in Glasgow.

The table below provides information on the number of inpatient and daycase hospital admissions to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde for patients residents in NHS Lothian, NHS Borders and NHS Fife and for the specialty of ophthalmology only, for the past three financial years.

Table 1: Number of inpatient and daycase hospital admissions to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde for patients residents in NHS Lothian, NHS Borders and NHS Fife and for the specialty of ophthalmology only, from April 2020 to March 2023.

Health Board of Residence	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
NHS Borders*	17
NHS Fife	11	14	15
NHS Lothian	20	22	18

Source: SMR01, Public Health Scotland, extract: 15 December 2023.

These figures are based solely on admissions to hospital for acute care as an inpatient or day case. Figures related to ophthalmology treatments carried out in other healthcare settings, such as accident and emergency department, out of hours, outpatient or general practice services, are not included here.

Please note that figures include the period of Scotland going into emergency measures due to COVID-19. During this pandemic, NHS boards, hospitals and healthcare providers have been required to change their normal way of working to allow them to focus their efforts locally on their COVID-19 response. As such, this is directly impacting on the volume of hospital activity and trends observed over the past three years.

Data included in this table are provisional as NHS Boards update their current and historical data monthly. This may result in changes in the recent data, and, on a much smaller scale, in older years data. For details on known data issues please refer to the Data Issues and Completeness document:

https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/22221/data-issues-and-completeness-sep23.pdf

*Please note that NHS Borders figures for the three financial years have been aggregated to protect patient confidentiality, in accordance with our PHS Statistical Disclosure Protocol

Question reference: S6W-23856

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W- 21565 by Natalie Don on 4 October 2023, whether it will publish the outcomes of the research by The Lines Between before the end of 2023.

Question reference: S6W-23852

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many training opportunities have been available for students at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh in each year since 1999.

The University of Edinburgh advised approximately 200-250 of their students per year attend undergraduate medical placements at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion since 1999. The University of Aberdeen advised that one student had attended in 2023 with no other Scottish Medical School reporting sending any students.

It should be noted that undergraduate medical students in Scotland other than those from the University of Edinburgh are not routinely sent to Edinburgh for Ophthalmology placements.